Home: Message List - The Cost of Scope Creep

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

DomainDiva — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:32:12 GMT

Evidently you did not read my response to Lighthouse. The creep in the scope was explained there. There is nothing to be 'sorted out'. We are on track for beta test and then launch.

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

xenopod — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:17:07 GMT

These aren't consultants they are apart of your internal team correct?

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

RickFelten — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:52:39 GMT

Diva, you should be able to get the help you need at about $125 per hour. PM might bill out at $150 or slightly higher.

If the project was properly scoped, you shouldn't have experienced any scope creep. Often, contractors/consultants will bid low with a limited scope and then "surprise" you with critical aspects that were not in the SOW. Very unethical.

If you need any help (we don't do IT work) in sorting this out I'd be glad to assist.

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

crossfoot8 — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:02:17 GMT

scope is a word used in audit engagement letters too

Scope of the project or scope of the business focus?

Need to get ground school finished and then take to the sky

and yet, have limo business that needs a shot in the arm too.

Crossfoot8
815-444-6724
Rich

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

DomainDiva — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:57:34 GMT

Thanks Lighthouse, those numbers are in the ballpark. Do I have a fabulous group or what????

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

caffeinated — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:46:47 GMT

Ah beyond my capabilities but interesting to see what other small business owners in other industries have to content with

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

Lighthouse24 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:57:06 GMT

Diva, that sounds like agile development -- so if it's any help, a scrum master in your area would earn $80-150K depending on experience and the number of developers and technologies involved.

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

DomainDiva — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:07:02 GMT

Actually the 'scope creep' came about as a result of the application becoming much simpler to manage which meant more code on the backside. (the simpler the user interface..the more complicated the code). The entire group..meaning "all of us" as a team are responsible in one way or another.

The visual designer did some concept visuals and the code guys realized that if we made a few changes the user 'interface' could go away and users could input their data directly into the application and then link from line items. We have also helped to develop a custom security system with another start up and are in the process of a second upgrade prior to beta testing.

No one saw any of this coming as of last October. The Domain Narrative was straightforward...the system just de-kluged (de-evolved) into simple and basic. So simple that once we started putting the domain narrative into flash we realized it was obsolete...like the third screen....

The CTO says we saved ourselves a boatload of money by letting the application follow the design..that the first product is what we would have had to upgrade to in 18 months to 2 years.

One member would say what if...another one would say cool...I would say wow another one would say lets do it....theres the story. Everone believes in the application so much that they are willing to stay on to product launch and support.

These members have stated that no additional compensation is necessary..I however hold a different opinion. Everyone on the team is either family or long time business associates, or associates and friends that that jumped in when they saw the product concept two years ago.

I guess the best way to describe the team would be 'ant colony'. All working towards that goal. We really have all become family.

Every team member knows that I will lay on the railroad tracks for each and every one of them.

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

Lighthouse24 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:47:58 GMT

This may just be semantics, but to me "scope creep" means that someone has added requirements (new products, features, or deliverables) to the project without changing the budget or schedule. Your description makes it sound like you were aware of the changes and knowingly slipped the schedule -- and are now trying to compensate developers in some way for the extra time worked.

Whatever the case, on large scale software development or customization projects, my M&O costs have typically run around 20 percent of the total labor cost that's spent for analysis, coding, testing, and deployment -- with about half of that 20 percent being billable as project manager and/or team leader time. So that's one way to look at it.

For "bleeding edge" projects or in cases where we knew going in that the scope was poorly defined (for example, developing/implementing a system that was required to restart a mothballed facility or a plant shut down for regulatory violations) I've sometimes managed the project for direct costs, plus up to a 5 percent award or performance based incentive. So figuring something like that on the basis of your projected ROI for the additional work might be another approach.

If I've totally misunderstood what you're trying to do, I apologize.

Re: The Cost of Scope Creep

DomainDiva — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:01:27 GMT

Thanks Lighthouse, I would like to get some kind of an idea of how much a project manager would charge for overseeing a project that had gone into 'scope creep time of about one year' past the initial bid. A flat number is OK.

Thanks Diva