Getting Started

After all is said and done, more is said than done.

Unknown.

It's all very well to live in an esoteric consulting world of process and structure, but how does one get started on a real-live project? At TMS, we feel that the best way to begin is to define a target process and structure for the organization and to evolve toward this off the back of a pilot, or, as mentioned above, a Pathfinder project. On balance, the Pathfinder approach is better than attempting to set up the new process and structure prior to the first project. And of course, it's essential to have the right people with the right skills.

Skill Requirements

Table 15-1 shows the skills that key personnel require to make a first Visual Basic 6 distributed project a success. This information should form the basis of individual training plans.

Table 15-1 Skills Required for a Successful Project

Skill or Knowledge	Business Analysis	Development	Technical Services
Business knowledge and business analysis	High	Medium	Low
Project management	High	Low	Low
Database modeling	High	High	Medium
Help files, user documentation, and the like	High	Medium	Low
Awareness of component availability	Medium	High	High
Systems analysis	Low	High	Low
GUI design skills	Medium	High	Low
Visual Basic prototyping	Medium	High	Low
Distributed design	Medium	High	High
GUI testing	Medium	High	Medium
Visual Basic/VBA programming	Low	High	High
Diagnostics, logging, trace, error handling	Low	High	High
Windows operating system and the PC architecture, memory, and so on	Low	Medium	High
Connectivity, performance	Low	Medium	High
Networking	Low	Medium	High
Server operating system and database, DBA	Low	Medium	High
Security, back-out, recovery	Medium	Medium	High
Implementation, installation	Medium	Medium	High

Infrastructure Requirements

As well as finding people who possess the necessary skills to work on your project, you need to put an appropriate infrastructure in place. These infrastructure requirements should be implemented in parallel with the development of the pilot project. Be sure to allow adequate time in the schedules for these extra tasks.

This is the minimalist list of infrastructure requirements that we recommend:

• Corporate Visual Basic 6 distributed architecture and strategy

• General application design standards

• Data design standards

• Distributed guidelines (such as connectivity method, use of stored procedures)

• GUI style guide

• Coding standards

• Distribution, installation, implementation, and upgrade guidelines

• Development environments (such as development, test, and production servers)

• Source control software and associated procedures

• Powerful, standardized developers' PCs fully configured with Visual Basic, Microsoft Access, relevant (and tested) custom controls, and a range of supporting utilities and tools

• Fully configured and tested server database with associated tools to add test data, stored procedures, and the like

• Fully implemented and tested workstation-to-server connectivity (should include network software, drivers, and so on)

• Education and training of those providing any of the above or filling technical roles