When 4C demonstrated a newly completed, large custom application for one client, the download time was more than 90 seconds. Much more complicated was the departmental managers' tailoring of the front-end layout and the arrangement of buttons. That provision comes as a surprise to many IT managers. Rather than being free to research an external partner that fits their needs, they wind up hamstrung by an existing contractual obligation. Researching such clauses and striking them from future agreements is a key move for any IT organization.
Good contracts make for good partnerships.
Several contractual provisions serve as preventive measures when partnering on new technologies such as Java. Howard Lackow, executive vice president and director of consulting at Technology and Business Integrators Inc. in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., reminds his clients that even if they don't have a lot of technical expertise, they're still running the project. Make sure the contract includes heavy parti cipation from your own staff, he advises, particularly in areas of leadership. Timely delivery of the product at an optimal cost is only part of Java development, says Lackow. Many IT departments have little knowledge of the work programmers do on a daily basis.