3 ms·
> the amount of seconds/minutes saved per lookup, productivity/salary costs Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that decisions like this are made using an ob
by orev 5y ago
> the amount of seconds/minutes saved per lookup, productivity/salary costs
Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that decisions like this are made using an objective cost/benefit comparison with all data fully and accurately collected. The fact is that things like this happen because a decision-maker just demands it. It doesn’t mean it makes logical sense, other than the salesperson needed to agree to it in order to close the deal.
- knightofmars 5y agoYes, 100%. A salesperson on commission does not care about the long-term maintenance costs of a decision of this nature. And I don't blame them, it's not something they should care about. A product owner? They may care if they're actually invested (stock options, co-ownership, etc) but they also may just leave after a few years after a better offer comes along or a buyout happens. A software engineer? It's the same as the product owner, they may care for some period but why not just leave when a better offer comes along. I've pondered this issue as the "Peter Gibbons" problem. Why would anyone in the chain of software development care about the software itself? There's no incentive to consider the long-term cost impact of implementing a custom feature because you can always just find a new job if the product gets unwieldy.