[DAB]

Originally Posted by datawiz

You're right, nobody wins, but we had to cross the finish line and satisfy the client. The contract was fixed price, and the guy who sold it completely missed the boat on estimating data architect time. In fact, the contract was written on the parent company's paper, not my division's. His original estimate was for me only being HALF time to complete this project, or 500 hours. Day 1, hour 1, when I was onsite with the client I raised a major red flag and said this was 2 full time data architects....it fell on deaf ears. Well, guess what, my forecast hours for the completion of this project are now at 2,091....do the math.

Fortunately for our division, the parent company has many many dealings with the client in both directions, so there is much more at stake for sure. Parent company is ensuring that the division is made whole on the numbers, thus I get credit for every hour worked. They have been live for a week now, so I'm out of the woods. I guarantee this won't happen to this magnitude again, as my voice will carry a whole lot more credibility the next time I call out a project.

i worked for a company long ago, and the sales guys would sell a job for a fixed fee, they'd get a % of that fee as part of their compensation, and i'd get stuck doing the actual work until it was done correctly. no tie back to the job being profitable. and when I pointed out that they underbid it....well, suck it up and work some unpaid time in the evenings and weekends to get things done.

same idea here. no accounting for what the "expert" says it will take to get done, and no incentive to bring it in on time and under budget.

you get what you reward. sales guy gets rewarded for making a sale. washes his hands of it, collects his commission, not his problem anymore.