I feel that software projects are taking same amount of time compared to what they used to take 12-13 years ago. Please note that I am making apples to apples comparison considering technology, process and people maturity. Please do not confuse this comparison using "time to market" dimension. e.g. People used to spend 6-9 months to develop reports. Today it may be taking few weeks. I am not comparing on that ground. I am comparing based on complexity of the work. I am considering complexity as a combination of technology, process, and people.
This means projects with very matured technology components are taking same amount of time compared to what they used to take 12 years ago. Projects using new technology are also taking same amount of time compared to what they used to take 12 years ago. This comparison also applies to process maturity as well. Although we did not have Agile 12 years ago, some projects were using this process without labeling it as Scrum or XP. I feel that today's Agile projects and Agile like projects 12 years ago are taking almost same amount of time for completion. This story is also true for People.
Did innovations in communication methods really help project duration? In last decade, we have seen Video conferencing, IM on any device, hi-speed Internets, blogs, social networking. These communications also enabled 24/7 work model with outsourcing across the globe. We think that we can achieve something very quickly but we quickly realize that it was an illusion.
I think innovations in communication helped us a lot but they also introduced lot of "noisy" information to our life. A "noisy" information is a piece of information that does not add any value to the project but sometimes distracts people. A lot of information is available constantly to project teams. Communication technologies have enabled constant status reporting in all pockets of the project. We can spot any person at any time to ask a question or seek information. However continuous status reporting becomes an information spam and does not help us in concrete decision making. The volume and speed of "noisy" information have gone up significantly in last 12 years. We get distracted and spend too much time in processing that information.
If we try our parent's office lifestyle and use technology then also we will accomplish quality results more efficiently and peacefully. E.g. If we work during office hours only and do not check emails and make phone calls during non-working hours then we will not produce and consume noisy information. If you know people are available for limited amount of time then we will be careful in terms of producing and receiving information.
In a nutshell, we should not allow new technologies to create a noise in our life.
