系统成功的关键The Bottom Line

    系统成功的关键The Bottom Line
    ---软件工程系列文章之二

By Russ Finney

（来自软件工程论坛 seforum.yeah.net）
 (翻译yanrj )
 
Success! The system is in the hands of the client and it is processing

real business information. Time for a project team celebration! Pats on

the back all around for everyone. High minded speeches from team

leaders, project sponsors, and various excited client participants. No

more late nights, weekends, or early mornings. The effort was long and

seemingly endless but it was all worth it. The sense of achievement

experienced from the solution of a complex business problem by the

installation of a new system is indescribable. A number of years and a

large number of people may have been involved. The time has come to

celebrate the team's victory!

成功了！系统已经交到客户手中，并且正在处理真正的商业信息。正是项目团队

庆祝
的时间。轻轻拍拍每个人的后背，由来自团队领导、项目负责人、兴奋的客户方

参与
者的有思想高度的演讲。不再有晚上的熬夜、未休息的周末、早起的清晨。付出

的努
力是漫长的且似乎无止境，但是值得的。通过安装一个新的系统而解决一个复杂

的业
务问题所获得的感觉是难以形容的。这可能要涉及到很多人数年的工作。现在是

庆祝
团队胜利的时刻了！

 
But is it always this way? Another team is exhausted. The death march

is finally over. They will never have to see each other again. Boxes

and logon IDs can't be turned in quickly enough. All references to real

names are removed from programs. "Don't call me when this thing blows

up", is muttered now and then. No team gathering is held, just a slow

disbanding as each team member disappears onto other projects or

activities. The clients seem disenchanted. An air of uncertainty and

impending difficulty surrounds the system and those associated with

it...

但结果都是这样吗？另一个团队精疲力竭。期限任务结束了。他们将不再彼此见
面了。而程序的逻辑单元和登录id还不能立即交付。所有涉及真名的参考都从程

序中
移走。“当它崩溃时不要找我”不时的被嘀咕着。没有团队的集会，仅仅是慢慢

的解
散团队，每个成员消失而出现在其它的项目或活动中。客户看起来不再着迷。不

确定
的氛围和迫近的困难环绕这系统和与之有关的人。
 
Or, the worst fate. A surprise meeting! The team has been progressing,

but somewhat without direction. The budget is slipping, the client is

unsure what is happening, and questions are raised about competence. No

one team member can be identified who has a "vision" of the system or

the system building process. The inevitable happens, the project is

cancelled. The money spent to date was absolutely, totally wasted!

或者，最坏的。令人惊讶的结果。团队在不断进步，但从某种程度说是没有方
向。目标是不可靠的，客户不能确定将要发生什么，有关能力的问题被提出。团

对中
没有一个人能够确定系统的版本或系统的建造过程。必然的事情发生了，项目被

撤
销。所有花费的钱完全彻底的浪费掉了。

Why do some teams seem to make to the end successfully, other teams

just make it to the end, and others never get the chance? Why are some

teams on a continual "high" throughout the project while the members of

a team right across the hall seem to drag into work every morning? Why

is it that some clients describe a team with words like:
 
* they understand my business
* they are right on target
* we are all a part of the same team
* we were glad to be a part of this process?

为什么有的团队成功的完成任务，而有的仅仅是完成，而另一些从没有机会。为
什么有的团队在整个项目中持续高度的状态而有的团队的成员好像是每天早晨要

被拖
来工作？为什么有些客户这样形容一个团队：
    * 他们理解我的业务
    * 他们在向着正确的目标前进
    * 我们都是一个团队的部分
    * 我们很高兴成为这个过程的一部分
 
Yet another team may be described with:
 
* we not sure what they are doing
* they don't understand how our business really works
* we are very worried about how this mess is really going to turn out.
 
Does some secret formula exist to insure success, or is it just a

matter of luck?

而另一些团队被形容成：
    * 我们不能确定他们在做什么
    * 他们不理解我们的业务是怎样真正工作的
    * 我们很担心这样一个混乱的结果是什么
    是不是存在确保成功的秘诀，或仅仅是幸运？
 
Recent observations which have been made by non-technical business

people are striking in their implications. One comes from Robert

Townsend, the author of Further up the Organization, in which he states

that "most of the computer technicians that you're likely to meet or

hire are complicators, not simplifiers. They're trying to make it look

tough, not easy. They're building a mystic, a priesthood, their own

mumbo-jumbo ritual to keep you from knowing what they - and you - are

doing". This is disturbing commentary. It gives a clear voice to the

concerns that many clients express when the computer professional's

back is turned:
 
* Will I get the results I need?
* Will my business problem be comprehended?
* Will I understand both the solution as well as the process used to

arrive at the solution?
* How will I be included in the process?
* How much control will I have?
* Will I really have anything at the end to show for the risk I am

taking?

    最近由非技术业务人员作的调查结果是显著的。一个来自Robert
Townsend,Further up the orgization的作者，写到“大多数你可能遇到或雇用

的
计算机专业人士是复杂化人士，而不是简单化的人。他们尽力使问题看起来困难

，而
不是容易。他们正在建造一个神秘的、宗教色彩的，自己拥有的繁琐的过程，使

你不
知道他们、还有你自己在做什么”。这是一个很烦恼的解释。这恰恰表明了当计

算机
专业人士转过身去时客户所关心的：
    *我能得到我需要的结果吗？
    *我的业务问题能被理解吗？
    *我能理解解决方案和达到解决方案的过程吗？
    *我将怎样被包括在这个过程中？
    *我将能控制多少？
    *在最后我能真正得到为我所付出的冒险的收益吗？
 
An even more disturbing observation comes from one of the acknowledged

"thought leaders" in the systems field - Ed Yourdon. In his book,

Managing the Structured Techniques, he writes:   Managing the

Structured Techniques
 
     "Something happened to the personality and mentality of the data

processing profession as a whole as we moved to the ultra-sophisticated

on-line, real-time, fourth-generation and fifth-generation machines of

the 1980's and 1990's. The profession began to attract people who,

regardless of their race, creed, color, or university degrees, are

clerks. They think like clerks, talk like clerks, and they approach

computer programming and systems analysis with all the enthusiasm of a

sleepy civil service clerk who knows that he's just one year away from

retirement.Having met some twenty-five thousand analysts, designers,

and programmers throughout the world, I found a surprising number of

them have never read any computer articles or even opened a copy of

Datamation or Computerworld; have never heard of ACM, DPMA, IEEE, ASM,

or any other professional organizations; can't spell Dijkstra's name

and probably have never heard of him; aren't aware of the structured

techniques and wouldn't be interested if somebody showed them."

    一个更令人烦心的观察来自于一个有名的系统领域的领导人，Ed Yourdon。

在他
的书中，《管理结构化技术》，他写到：管理结构化技术
    “当我们转向极其复杂的在线，实时，八十年代和九十年代的第四代和第五

代机
器时，数据处理专业的素质和智力作为一个整体。这种技术开始吸引那些无视他

们的
种族、信条、肤色或文化程度的人。他们象文职人员一样思考、交谈，他们与所

有积
极的，但昏昏欲睡的知道自己还有一年就退休的文职服务人员一起处理计算机编

程和
系统分析。已经遇到过整个世界的25000个分析员、设计员及程序员，我很吃惊的

发现
他们中的很多从来没有读过任何计算机的文章甚至是公开的Datamation或
computerworld的拷贝；没有听说过ACM,DPMA,IEEE,ASM,或者是其它任何专业组织

；
不能拼出Dijkstra的名字，可能从来没有听说过他；不清楚结构化技术，即使是

有人
告诉他们也不感兴趣。”
 
What makes this even more distressing, is that fact that business

executives are now turning to the IS professionals on an ever

increasing rate in order to provide them with systems which give the

business a strategic as well as a competitive advantage. The major

problem here is that computer programming clerks who are enamored with

the technology and who could care less about the business itself, will

not make this happen. A new breed of computer professional is required

who has a balance of people skills, technical skills, and business

skills.

    更悲伤的是，为了给他们提供业务的策略和竞争性的特点，行政人员现在正

在以
前所未有的比例不断转向信息系统的专业人士的事实。这里的主要问题是那些着

迷于
技术而不管新业务本身的计算机编程人员将不会让这个事实发生。新一代的具有

人员
素质、技术技巧、业务技巧平衡的计算机人士需要出现。
 
Some Required Thinking Shifts:
 
* Stop automating existing ways of doing business without assisting in

improving the business processes first.
* Stop thinking in terms of departmental processing.
* Start thinking in terms of cross-organizational systems and business

clients.
* Start adjusting to the fact that business processes are changing at

an ever increasing rate, and the development team must be prepared to

keep up - even as a system is being designed and constructed.
* Start embracing new forms of technology which show significant cost

savings potential.
* Start recognizing that if the business client's demands can't be met

by you, countless other service providers exist who will be willing to

meet those needs.

    需要考虑的问题：
    *首先停止不需要辅助提高业务过程的现有的自动化方法。
    *停止在部门处理方面的思考。
    *开始跨组织及商业客户方面的思考。
    *开始向业务过程以高速变化的事实调整，同时开发团队必须准备跟上-即使

是系
统已经设计和构建。
    *开始采用具有低耗费的新型技术。
    *开始认识到如果你不能达到业务客户的要求，存在无数的其它服务提供者希

望满
足这些要求。
 
In today's information based society, the system building professional

is faced with even greater challenges than ever before. Exploding

technological innovation, relentless complexity increases, faster paced

business changes, and increasingly sophisticated business clients are

placing greater demands on the talents on the business system

professional. In addition, a true spirit of trust and teamwork must

exist and perpetuate between the business clients and the business

systems professionals. This is the first real quest. The next is even

more critical. In the end, a business system must be delivered. A

system provides no benefit to anyone unless it is in an accepted

technical environment and actually being utilized by the business.
 
That is the creed of this site. All of the analysis and design, or the

blood, sweat, and tears, won't amount to anything if a working system

does not exist in the end as a result of the effort.

    在现在以信息为基础的社会，系统建造人士面临着比以前更大的挑战。技术

革新
不断涌现，复杂性不断增加，快节奏的业务变化，不断老练的业务客户对业务系

统人
士的才干提出了更高的需求。另外，在业务客户和业务系统人士之间的真正的信

任何
团队精神必须存在并且长久。这是第一个要求。下一个更加苛刻。最后，一个业

务系
统必须发布。直到系统被技术环境接收并被使用，它才真正的发挥作用。
    这就是我们的信条。如果是在所有努力做出后，而而结果是不存在一个运行

的系
统，则所有的分析和设计，或者是血、汗水、眼泪都是无用的。