Monday, March 31, 2008

Déjà vu All Over Again

In recent years, developers have introduced new tools for the end-user in the form of: (1) user-defined special sorts, (2) filters to limit viewed or reported data, (3) recorded procedural steps, (4) difficult calculation routines; or, (5) a combination of these processes. 

In addition to saving time, they reduce the chance of errors and, possibly, eliminate supporting spreadsheets.  Kudos to the developers for these features!

Having said that, these tools present a big problem.  I am amazed at the number of these user-developed tools that a typical work site can acquire in just of couple of years.  Why is that?  Here are a few scenarios that may be the reason:

• The tool was written by someone no longer there, and nobody knows how to use it. 

• The tool is so complicated that nobody can determine how it works.  This usually happens because of the above.

• The list of tools is so long, that it takes forever to find.  It is quicker to do the task without it.

• Nobody remembers writing a tool for the task, so they write a new one.

• No naming-standards are in place for identifying these tools, so no one knows what “Amy’s Fixer-Upper” really does, so they write the same tool under a different name, like “Bruno’s Bonus.”

Most software used to create these tools is not self-documenting unless you are a programming geek.  Using a word-processor or other text editor doesn’t link the documentation to the actual tool.  Will this ever end?

Neither software developers, nor end-users are anxious to address this issue.  The solution won’t bring developers any more revenue, and end-users just don’t have the time.  So, users keep rewriting the same tool, over and over again, because it’s easier. 

As Yogi Berra so eloquently put it, “This is like Déjà vu all over again.”