This will be in a few parts. So part one

I am working with some people who have some people and they are doing a rollout.

Kind of like all the ones I have done over the last 15 years (but of course, theirs is unique)

So one of the elite people, you know, the ones that are more like a higher life force than you or I, more intelligent, stronger, smarter.
What are they called? Oh yes, Project Managers.

Yes, well, he has an idea:
"Packagers are expensive, do we really need them??? Why don’t we just do manual intalls??"
Its funny how slow and shy they are about letting people know about the rates the PM's are on.

My immediate response. I agree, since we want value for money, why don’t we get rid of the PM's, I mean what value do they add???
That was a bit of a stale mate. But no one was injured, so that was quite good.

So, manual install or package? It depends. Every app is different.

But, I reckon I can package an app before you can manually install it on 5 machines. Sometimes I can do it before you can install it on 3.

So, if its 5 or less installs (today) , if you were a PM, you would put that in the slot - Manual Install. 

But then, think of things a year later on, hard drive failure, stolen laptop. Now you need to get the manual install guy or girl to repeat that task….

Or what happens if the team of 5 becomes a team of 10 or 20??

So, as I slowly return to my normal calm state, I will figure out some numbers, put in some scenarios.

Manual installations, really.

Don’t get me wrong, there are scenarios where a manual install makes sense, but for a PM to propose it as a solution??

Now that I am a bit calmer, see both sides of the story, PM just wants the Project done as cheap as possible, byt the IT manager, they want something that fits in a process and has an ROI or calculable TCO. For a time when that team goes from 5 to 20 or, after the break in, when the laptops are stolen (why are laptops left in the office?? thats another blog I think) how quickly can the manual install team process the call, get the software, arrange the time and get the app installed on the machine.....

TTFN