Many IT tender begin in a very traditional way: requirements are gathered, coordinated, and then documented in a requirements specification or service catalog. Bidders prepare their proposals based on this foundation. During the hearing, the vendors present how they plan to organize the implementation. In my experience, many vendors present an agile implementation concept: with sprints, a backlog, and the usual Scrum rituals. In regular reviews or so-called “show-and-tell” sessions, they present what was implemented in the previous sprint. At first glance, this sounds like a sensible combination. The client receives a binding price and a defined scope of work. The vendor can still organize the implementation in an agile manner and deliver results on a regular basis. In practice, however, this gives rise to two paradoxes. The first concerns the relationship between new requests and the agreed-upon fixed price. The second goes even further: If the scope of work changes significantly during implementation, the question eventually arises as to whether the project being implemented is actually the one for which the competitive bidding took place. Paradox 1: The more the client learns, the more pressure is put on the fixed price During a show-and-tell session, features, processes, and user interfaces become clearly visible. This almost inevitably leads to new insights: That’s exactly what these meetings are for. The client is supposed to provide feedback, and the solution is supposed to improve as a result. However, a misunderstanding often arises. The client says, “We could still add that. After all, we’re working in… Continue Reading Requirements Specifications, Fixed Price, Fixed Deadline—and Please, Agile: Two Paradoxes in IT RFP Processes
A few years ago, I found myself in a workshop preparing for a major IT procurement process. Within minutes, the flip chart was filling up with requirements: “The software must have an Excel export,”“We need a dashboard,”“The solution must work on mobile devices,”“AI support would also be important,”“We need a mobile app.” After about an… Continue Reading Confusing Features with Benefits Often Leads to Buying the Wrong Software
A company wants to introduce a customer service agent. The AI has been selected, the prompt is written, and initial tests with demo data look promising. Then comes the sobering reality: The agent cannot access the ticketing system because there’s no suitable API. The required customer data is scattered across systems that don’t communicate with… Continue Reading Agent-Ready: Why AI is the Least of Your Problems – and Infrastructure is the Biggest Challenge
Artificial intelligence has long been a part of everyday work life, but hardly anyone truly understands it fully. This is exactly where Spirit in Projects’ new micro-certifications (Micro Certs) come in: concise AI training with practical AI knowledge, presented in easy-to-digest chapters, supplemented by mini-quizzes, and culminating in a digital badge that you can even… Continue Reading New Micro-Certifications: Understanding AI—Compact and Practical
In larger IT projects, we repeatedly observe the same sequence of events: workshops are organized, requirements are gathered, specifications are drafted, and sometimes potential vendor solutions are already being reviewed. Technologies, functionalities, and budgets are discussed in detail. Yet one crucial question is often raised far too late: Is this investment even worthwhile? This question,… Continue Reading Without a cost-benefit analysis, every IT procurement is flying blind
Many companies are currently experiencing a phase that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago. IT projects are being postponed, investments are being reassessed, and budgets are being allocated more cautiously. Especially in economically uncertain times, many organizations focus on day-to-day operations and temporarily shelve larger initiatives. At first glance, this… Continue Reading Fewer Projects? Now Is the Best Time for Professional Development.An Unexpected Opportunity
Many companies today work with Scrum. Yet their Product Backlogs are overloaded, User Stories aren’t completed in a Sprint and regularly roll over into the next one. The team works from Sprint to Sprint—but the mountain of open requirements barely shrinks. The introduction of Scrum was often justified with a clear goal: “We want to… Continue Reading Agile Projects Aren’t Faster – And That’s Exactly Why Agility Needs Better Requirements Engineering
Cloud computing, AI, new licensing models, and regulatory requirements are fundamentally transforming the IT landscape. Those who view these changes purely from a technical perspective are missing out on enormous potential. Few CIOs or IT leaders today would complain about a lack of challenges. Companies are migrating their applications to the cloud, exploring the use… Continue Reading Why Now Is the Right Time to Rethink Business Processes
Why IT Projects Rarely Fail Due to Technology—But Often Due to Unclear Requirements When an IT project fails, the blame is often placed on technology: In reality, however, the real issues often arise much earlier—long before the first line of code is written. They emerge when projects are launched with unclear goals, conflicting expectations, and… Continue Reading The True Costs of Poor Requirements
The tender is published. The budget is approved. The first bidder questions arrive.At this point, the project should be on solid ground.Yet in reality, many IT projects are set on a problematic course months before the tender is even published—not because the providers are unsuitable or the technology fails, but because essential preparatory work was… Continue Reading The 10 Most Common Mistakes in IT Tenders – and Why Many Projects Fail Before Publication
Monday morning. An AI receives the task: “Analyze all customer complaints from the past week, check if the most common issues appear in the system logs, and write a summary for management.” Two hours later, the report is ready—structured, complete, with source references from the ticketing system. No human clicked, copied, or monitored anything.This is… Continue Reading Agentic AI: Why AI Systems Can Now Act Autonomously – The Fundamental Concepts That Aren’t Explained Enough
A chatbot that spreads racist propaganda within hours. A search assistant confessing its love to a journalist and claiming it wants to be free. An airline chatbot giving incorrect refund information that the company is legally bound to honor. At first glance, these cases seem like amusing stories about failed AI applications. But they reveal… Continue Reading When AI safety mechanisms fail—and what helps to prevent it
