Author Archive: bfwebster
Webster is Principal and Founder at at Bruce F. Webster & Associates, as well as an Adjunct Professor for the BYU Computer Science Department. He works with organizations to help them with troubled or failed information technology (IT) projects. He has also worked in several dozen legal cases as a consultant and as a testifying expert, both in the United States and Japan. He can be reached at 303.502.4141 or at bwebster@bfwa.com.
The Art of ‘Ware (V 2.0, maxim 2:2): delayed release
[From The Art of ‘Ware (Version 2.0) by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming), Chapter 2, “Supporting Development”] When you release a product, if success is slow in coming, you’ll face diminishing returns on product development and exhaustion among your engineers and marketers. It is enough of a challenge to sustain energy and excitement through the process […]
The Art of ‘Ware (V 2.0, maxim 2:1): budgeting for IT staff
[From The Art of ‘Ware (Version 2.0) by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming), Chapter 2, “Supporting Development”] A parable in the Bible talks about counting the cost of something before you start to build. That truth is ancient and obvious, yet I’ve seen too many companies ignore it. Once you know what you want to do, […]
The decline in computer science students (part 1)
When I gradated with my BS in computer science from Brigham Young University in 1978, we had roughly 120 undergraduate students in the CS program. When I came back to teach in 1985 — just seven years later — there were over 1,000 undergraduate students in the program, and you actually had to apply to […]
The Art of ‘Ware (V 2.0, maxim 1:4): misdirection and stealth
[From The Art of ‘Ware (Version 2.0) by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming), Chapter 1, “Starting Out”] Successful product development required stealth and misdirection. Hide your strengths at first and appear to be weak; when actively developing, show no signs. Any concept, once viewed, can be imitated, in appearance if not in fact. There is a […]
The Art of ‘Ware (V 2.0, maxim 1:3): preparing a company for success
[From The Art of ‘Ware (Version 2.0) by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming), Chapter 1, “Starting Out”] By answering these seven questions, you can judge ahead of time how well the company will succeed: Does the board of directors have Tao?1 The common image is that the directors are only interested in the bottom line. But […]