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From: mal@PacBell.COM (Martin A. Lodahl)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Information Systems is an Engineering Discipline
Message-ID: <6043@pbhyf.PacBell.COM>
Date: 15 Sep 89 15:04:34 GMT
References: <6429@hubcap.clemson.edu> <10835@riks.csl.sony.co.jp>
Reply-To: mal@PacBell.COM (Martin A. Lodahl)
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
Lines: 26

In article <10835@riks.csl.sony.co.jp> diamond@riks. (Norman Diamond) writes:
|_Business Week_ writes:
|
|>       Put senior, nontechnical management in charge of the project to
|>       help ensure that it is finished on time and within budget.
|
|In article <6429@hubcap.clemson.edu> wtwolfe@hubcap.clemson.edu (Bill Wolfe) writes:
|
|>    Rubbish!  Managing a large information system development project is
|>    a professional skill requiring significant technical and engineering
|>    background.
|
|Absolutely true.  Business Week's advice results in products that don't
|work.  It is important to produce the wrong answer as quickly AND as
|cheaply as possible, eh? ...

It amazes me to find myself agreeing with Bill Wolfe, but I also agree
with this statement, and would like to extend it to cover any large,
technically-intensive project.  My principal assignment at the moment 
is to help salvage a collapsing data center move project that non-technical
managers had nearly run into the ground ...
-- 
= Martin Anders Lodahl       Pac*Bell Minicomputer Ops Support Staff =
= {att,bellcore,sun,ames,pyramid}!pacbell!pbhyf!mal     916/972-4821 =
= If it's good for ancient Druids, runnin' nekkid through the wuids, =
= Drinkin' strange fermented fluids, it's good enough for me!!  8-)} =