Symbian for Software Leaders: Principles of Successful Smartphone Development Projects

Chapter 22. The essential role of the support network

Pros and cons of support consultants

One of the hardest things to do – especially for a company that is highly successful – is to ask for help. Asking for help is perceived as an indication of weakness. Companies like to think that they have very smart people working for them, who should be able to figure out, by themselves, everything involved in creating winning smartphones. For this reason, they are reluctant to engage specialist consultancy companies for help with their smartphone projects.

I can well believe that there are lots of bright people working in your company. And, given time, these people will figure out, by themselves, a way of making progress of a sort. However, the harder question is whether that rate of progress will be sufficient to finish the whole project in good time. It won't be at all clear whether your team is paying sufficient attention to all the many hidden variables involved in completing a smartphone development project. And the chances are that the progress you do make is being achieved at far too high a price in terms of resources exerted. With the right guidance, your development team can utilize Symbian OS to create stylish smartphones in leaps and bounds; without the right guidance, your team will make all kinds of unnecessary errors.

Despite their pride, most companies do recognize the advantages of engaging with support consultants. But still they hesitate – for two reasons:

• They are fearful ...