Everyone knows that computers are really fast, unless you are checking in at the airport, and they know everything except the one fact you want. It should also be no surprise that they tend to be expensive, not just the purchase but also the maintenance.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear that on my latest project the client had decided to use an automated test tool to ensure each time we install a new patch from the vendor we can verify that the existing functionality still works. To write such software on site to track every mouse move and click is more than we could handle so the project started looking for an existing out of the box solution.
I guess it wasn’t that much of a contest as the package that was found would fulfill all of our requirements – all, not just some, but it cost six figures. Ouch. Not only that, the software license was tied to a single project and for a single PC. In general the most restrictive licensing that I had heard of, then or since.
It turned out that the IT department actually had a couple of unused license keys, so we don’t even have to go very far to get it. There is just one catch, IT wants 50% more for the software than to purchase it directly from the vendor.
It is not clear to me what additional benefit the IT department could add in this situation and the project management felt the same way. The project purchased the software directly from the vendor. I guess the project saved 50% but I guess the company spent a lot on software they already owned.