We've invented waterfall
Here's what I would like to see from a consulting company for once. Don't interview the stake holders of the company, they don't use the software like their employees do. They have a high level overview based on feedback from their employees. When you interview them, you're getting second hand information that will likely be missing key points that they forgot to mention or just simply think is obvious and doesn't require mentioning.<p>So here's what you should do. Over the shoulder review of a representative employee of each department. HR, AP, AR etc. Actively watch and understand the processes they go through. FOR AN ENTIRE 8 HOUR SHIFT.<p>No, seriously.<p>Now, you've got a good idea of how its done current.<p>Then do the stake holder interview to find out what they want to do differently.<p>Then plan, develop and deploy your software.<p>I seriously don't get why despite there being a recognized need for understanding the problem scope which everyone one will invest hours in meetings and conference calls talking about, no one actually invests any (significant) time doing, or reviewing the actual process. It's the fastest most efficient way to understand the problem. It would totally diminish months of back and forth "here's what you asked for" "no, that's not what I asked for" development review process that almost _always_ occurs with consultant projects.<p>/rant