Is it extremely rare during the software lifecycle to jettison most of the automated test tools, and then?

Alm: What is the best way to sell integrated software solutions to a client that prefer to build their own tools?

• I am trying to sell an integrated ALM (application Lifecycle Management) solution to a client in order support and streamline their software development efforts. The problem is that this client prefers to build these tools (project management, requirements management, source-code version control, timesheet, test, etc) in-house or use open-source solutions. They spend a lot of time building and maintaing these tools, but as they are a public company (i.e., it belongs to the federal government) this kind of spending doesn't seem to matter. How can I show them that building their software development support tools isn't the best approach?

• Answer:

  My guess is that you might be talking to the wrong level of management about this. How do these practices align with strategies of their CIO? I doubt that she (or he) would be happy to support this waste of resources in stead of delivering to her (his) career. Find a way to make them look good to their senior management by doing things faster and better. There are tons of metrics available how applying IT Best Practices (http://www.itpractices.org/ can help organization achieve high ROIs. Drop me an email if you want more evidence or advise.