The more projects like these I plan and execute, the more I find the need to account for external parties affecting timelines.
In the case of the author's payment system, say they go with a vendor. At that scale, there may be weeks of contract negotiations for fees, rates, minimums, etc. What if some piece of documentation is flawed and you need to have a back-and-forth with their support? What if they need time to onboard you into their systems?
It makes me appreciate Apple's supply chain mastery that allows them to deliver exactly on time because they own their whole process inside and out and demand similar rigor from any vendors that supply them. If we could imitate that in software, we could eliminate a huge source of uncertainty in many projects.
In the case of the author's payment system, say they go with a vendor. At that scale, there may be weeks of contract negotiations for fees, rates, minimums, etc. What if some piece of documentation is flawed and you need to have a back-and-forth with their support? What if they need time to onboard you into their systems?
It makes me appreciate Apple's supply chain mastery that allows them to deliver exactly on time because they own their whole process inside and out and demand similar rigor from any vendors that supply them. If we could imitate that in software, we could eliminate a huge source of uncertainty in many projects.