Persuading Management on Green-Lighting In-House Software?

Raisin Bread asks: "Maybe I'm fighting a losing battle - but has anyone out there encountered an administrative resistance when it comes to giving approval to make in-house solutions for problems? I'm at a university, and we want to build a tracking system that will accommodate our needs perfectly (and can do it), but the boss wants the easy way out by contracting out to a remotely-hosted and managed solution. Sure, they are commercially supported, but the fix is only mediocre. What arguments have been used to sway the boss to use the super-cool home grown solution?"

Comments

Hmmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

When I suggest bringing in some "home grown" to my university, I usually end up "helping the police with their inquiries."

IH vs OH

[the_other_one]

Out-House solutions are full of crap

Go with the In-House solution.

Steps

[Apreche]

Follow these simple steps

1) Make the GUI really flashy and super cool. Or at least show the boss a super cool and flashy GUI, even if that isn't the one for your program. It doesn't even matter if your program is supposed to have a GUI. If the boss isn't smart enough to realize the superiority of the in house solution then he is stupid enough to be fooled by good looks.

2) Official written proposal. Official written things are good because it makes physical evidence. Make it good enough to convince any arbitrary 3rd party. That way, even if the boss says no, you can make him look like an idiot by showing the paper to someone else and saying "he said no to this".

3) Use big fancy buzzwords. It seems to work for a lot of other people.

4) Break the current solution. If it aint broke, don't fix it, is a common management philosophy. So if you want to improve on something just break it on purpose. It will give you an opportunity to present your better solution. As long as you don't get caught!

5) After you do all of the above, tell the bosses boss. Also, get fellow employees to help you. If 10 people go to the office to tell him to give the ok, he's more likely than if one goes. And nobody is a bigger influence on the boss, than his boss.

If that doesn't work, either your whole place is stupid and you should find a new job (however hard it may be). Or, your solution sucks.

Re:Invented here IS a losing battle

[jfisherwa]

"Scott Adams had a Dilbert where Wally got canned and came back the following week as a consultant on the same project and recommended exactly the same solution. As a consultant he was listened to."

Luckily, I'm a consultant. If anyone here wants me to write a "proposal" to their bosses explaining that something would be cheaper in-house, just shoot me a note. ;)

Never overlook the power of bribery or lies

[Sevn]

As a general rule, the constant debauchery and
screwing over of your fellow man you need to perform
in order to rise through the constantly churning
ranks of corporate american management acts as a
sort of "assholes with loose morals" filter. You'll
find that your typical manager type responds very
well to gifts of alcohol, cocaine, and the
occasional high priced callgirl. If you are of a
lower income bracket, lies are sometimes a good way
to proceed. If you can paint a picture in which
the manager will look like some sort of hero, and
hint that you won't mind if they take complete
credit for your hard work (like they won't anyway)
, you'll have a much better chance of getting your
idea past them. Feel free to mix and match
combinations of these techniques.

advanced technique

[Sevn]

Almost missed this one. I like to call it, the
blackmail bribe. For a sum of roughly 750 dollars,
you can hire a private investigator to dig up dirt
on the management target you wish to gain influence
with. If you are of a lower income bracket, you can
do some simple investigative work yourself. The
smallest piece of potentially harmful information
can work out in your favor.

Real Life Example:
I found out, quite by accident, that my bosses
boss was a "super secret smoker". This is a major
no-no for a corporate VP. So I'd occasionally have
a gift carton of his favorite smokes delivered to
his residence with some sort of small message, and
a plug for an idea I was having problems getting
past his subordinate (my boss). It's amazing how
something like this can grease the skids for your
agenda.