The Need

I was recently asked to help with a business case for a course. It was a “soft skills” course that would contribute to team building, collaboration, creativity and productivity. The client knew instinctively that the course was important to the development and performance of her people, but she had to convince her boss that they should spend the money now instead of next year.

A Tool is Just a Tool

Look what We Bought

“We just bought the Mark X Ultimate Extreme Project Management Tool so we don’t need Macroscope for project management,” said the freshly-appointed PMO manager.

“What you’re telling me from Macroscope isn’t identical to what My-Favorite-Guru tweeted yesterday, so you’re wrong!”

So How would Macroscope Help?

With a different tone in his voice, the PMO Manager went on, “Even so, I’m afraid I don’t see how all the Macroscope templates would solve those issues.”

“If Macroscope were only a collection of templates, I’d agree with you completely”, replied the greybeard. “How could you expect to be inspired in best practices by just filling in a template? That would be like expecting the hammer to hit the nail by itself. Macroscope is designed to work with any decent PM tool – but the tool is only a useful part of a bigger picture.”

Well okay, how about the special aspects of mobile apps?

• Non-functional requirements. I need to be particularly sure about my client’s needs for response time, peak loads, availability, and the user interface. If I look at the User and Developer Principles deliverables (P240S and P261S) – I’ll see all the non-functional questions I need to consider. And if follow the “Applicable Techniques” link – I’ll find a very nice little mini-text on how to design a user interface. And it’s all both specific and generalized enough that it works for mobile apps. Check.
• Security. Mobile apps are particularly exposed to information disclosure and malware. If I review the Security discipline drop-down in the Solution, plus the specialized System Security deliverable (P310S), again I’ll see many things we need to consider. I will need specialized knowledge from my technology architect and my security specialist to come up with the right decisions, but I think the triggers are all there. Check.
• Technology. There are many choices and several layers to consider. So I’ll need to look carefully at the Technology Infrastructure (P370S) and the Software Architecture (P219S). Again I will need specialized knowledge from my architect of course, but I think all the questions we need to consider are there in front of us.

So what doesn’t Macroscope have to support mobile apps?