Adam Thomas, Principle Solution Architect
This Thanksgiving, I’m going to have plenty of reasons to give thanks. TOPHAT LTD is growing and I’m very excited to introduce our new Director of Business Development, Charles Ogborn.
Farming Heritage
Charles grew up about a mile from my house. While we are separated a few years in age, we share the heritage of growing up on small family farms. Both Charles and I see a lot of similarities between custom software development and farming.
Work Together
When farming, you often have to work to together with neighboring farmers to get the best results. The same goes for custom software. You often have to work with other software applications and vendors to get a good solution in the end.
Be Patient, Be Ready
If you ask a farmer to tell you exactly when he is going to harvest that field he just planted, he’ll laugh at you. A farmer knows there are factors like the weather that he can’t control but he does know that when fall comes, you need to be ready to harvest. Custom software projects are very similar. There are oftentimes too many unknown factors to predict an exact date, but if you work, be patient, and make sure you’re ready to handle situations when they arise, it’ll turn out just fine.
Seasonal Work
While a farmer’s work is dictated by the seasons of the Earth, a custom software company’s work is dictated by the seasons of a software project. In the winter, farmers spend a lot of time assessing the current year’s harvest, planning for next year, and of course doing taxes. Custom software projects are similar. At the beginning and end of the projects, there’s not a lot of technical work happening. At the beginning there’s a lot of white boarding ideas, waiting for decisions to be made, and waiting to get resources in place. At the end, there’s a lot of waiting for user feedback with spurts of development while the final tweaks are made to the solution.
Relevant Experience
As indicated above not only does Charles have “relatable” experience from his farming background, he also brings valuable experience from his previous employment work as a business analyst for an agricultural software start-up company.
I’ve seen many times where a custom software project loses momentum because, in the beginning, so much time was spent focusing on the technical solution that no one really took time to dig into why the project was important. That’s where a business analyst can be a critical member of the team. He can define the business and help quantify the value to business if that need is made prior to ever discussing a technical solution. As mentioned previously, custom software projects can be unpredictable at times. When something unexpected occurs, having a clear definition of the business need being target and having a good sense of the value of that need, will enable the project team to make an effective plan to work around whatever unexpected event occurred.
I’ve seen many times where a custom software project loses momentum because, in the beginning, so much time was spent focusing on the technical solution that no one really took time to dig into why the project was important. That’s where a business analyst can be a critical member of the team. He can define the business and help quantify the value to business if that need is made prior to ever discussing a technical solution. As mentioned previously, custom software projects can be unpredictable at times. When something unexpected occurs, having a clear definition of the business need being target and having a good sense of the value of that need, will enable the project team to make an effective plan to work around whatever unexpected event occurred.
To Greener Pastures
I want to reiterate again that I’m so thankful to not be alone in TOPHAT LTD’s mission to move businesses forward through small custom software projects. I look forward to working with Charles to find those “Green Pastures” where we can deliver a top notch solution for an affordable price.