I just rolled off a 6 month project in which we built a SaaS application on the force.com platform: SaaS on PaaS on SaaS . The project was 6 months plan to launch! It’s amazingly clear the value of detailed and focused risk management and proper planning around these risks to be successful on this type of work.
To put this project in perspective for those that aren’t familiar with the force.com platform - according to Nucleus Research - this project would have taken nearly 2.5 years on a traditional platform - 4.9 times as long. The project launched without any major glitch, and the reason for success is worth sharing.
Sometimes when teams are so overwhelmed they forget to look up and scan the waters for what lies ahead. I always equate the managing and leading of web projects to a captain of an imaginary row boat going down the river. The lead knows the waters, understands the dangers, has plans for navigation around rough waters, and has contingency plans if things go awry. Most important, however, is that the leader communicates and collaborates with his/her team; and in this case, before the team launches their boat into the river.
There’s a great lyric I’ve always believed held very true, and think it applies here: “Perspective pries your once weighty eyes and it gives you wings.” Perspective provides the insight into risks and planning around those risks or challenges. We definitely gained perspective, and without a doubt, it helped us rock this project.
