For any Salesforce project, there are 3 competing factors
- Cost: how much the client needs to invest
- Scope: which features are included in the project
- Timeline: when the project needs to be completed
The client can only control one of these factors. The chosen one is called the immutable factor, as it “cannot” change. Note: The “cannot” is in quotes because it’s rare for something to be absolutely unchangeable, but let’s just make this assumption for now.
So the client makes their choice first and you are able to manage the other two.
This means
- If the cost is immutable, you can mostly determine what is the scope and for when it’s delivered. This allows you the flexibility of adding or removing features to keep the cost in check.
- If the scope is immutable, the cost and timeline can fluctuate. This means the client has to be open to adjusting their wallet accordingly, and the timeline may slip to include the entire scope.
- If the timeline is immutable, then the cost and scope are malleable.
Obviously, the two other factors need to be decided alongside the client, but the client cannot own more than one.
The takeaway
Keep these three factors and their considerations in mind. When the client wants to own all of them, it’s time to push back in order to keep the project successful.
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