ABSTRACT
General Deployment Issues Deployment problems are independent of process models. The software process model deployment has some unique challenges to overcome that I’ll cover later. In general, deploying processes is the most difficult thing to do because it involves:
Changing a company culture Fighting company inertia Fighting company politics Attacking sanctity of existing processes Overcoming possessiveness of certain individuals about any exist-
ing process basis — whether the process is working or not Fighting company fiefdoms Fighting company tribal knowledge Challenging people’s positions
These issues manifest themselves with overt and not-so-overt backstabbing, character assassinations, and even sabotage. I know because I have run into all this personally. You can walk into a company that is in total disarray for processes and people will fight you for trying to put in a successful process architectural model. The company can be in a death spiral and you can still experience people who will defend their turf no matter what. The politics of this can be fierce. At one company I was
fired for trying to fix their major process issues. The managers viewed me as a threat to their existence. One vice president wanted a “yes man” and was horrified when I wasn’t one. I had the audacity to question things and suggest improvements for the good of the enterprise.
