I may be wrong, but I keep getting this niggle at the back of my head that we are paying the supplier for delivery, but at the same time testing their product for them.
Welcome to the bleeding edge of the New World Order. For years mankind has written about fascist dystopias and inescapable hells born of accidents, destiny or a seizing of power. Nobody predicted that weâd build one ourselves, our faces etched with a twisted, plastic grin, smiling at the construction of our own downfall lest we upset someone with our frowns. But I hear itâs very popular, so what do I know?
I havenât solved this problem myself, and I may be missing the full picture, but if someone sells me something that doesnât work Iâd take it back for a repair/replacement. Enough of those and Iâd feel it time for a refund. By that point Iâd be angry. Just saying. Iâm sure thereâs a diplomatic way to ask âwhy are we paying you for something that doesnât work?â. Maybe itâs part of the discussion âby what point do you predict this will be usable?â, or âare there normally this many problems this far into the project?â. Maybe itâs part of the discussion âweâre worried about the number of problems in the software, and weâd like to examine your test strategy/processes/procedures.â. If youâre paying then youâre in the position of power, and these questions sound totally reasonable and understandable to me. Software is an investment. Asking risk-based questions of your supplier is protecting that investment, and clearing up communication problems.
Of course I might be wrong - maybe this is your first run-in with a heavily agile project that is frequently releasing minimum-viable software to you and the software is basically in alpha. Maybe itâs a way to get great feedback to build the perfect software. Or a way to say theyâre doing that while giving you bad code. Either way, yes, youâre testing the software for them, which is sometimes not a Bad Thing - the question is are they doing their fair share? It might be that they are not communicating their expectations to you very well - maybe the softwareâs not supposed to work right now, itâs just to give you a feel of what it might look like in case you say âthis is not at all what weâre looking forâ, as opposed to âthis table doesnât sort properly when I click on the little arrowâ. If theyâre worried they wouldnât tell you. Youâre worried and you may not have told them. But youâre paying, so Iâd go knock on the door. Bring someone tall.