Technology has been a great help to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it will continue to be a great help to the Church. Many people misunderstand and are frustrated with the speed that the Church is moving at in utilizing technology. But the cautious rate of change is wise to make sure everything is in order because moving too quickly could cause more problems than would be solved. There are problems with the software that the Church produces, but these problems are gradually being solved. It isn't unusual for software to have bugs. Perfectly bug-free software is nearly impossible to come by. Maybe there are more bugs in the Church's software than other programs, but would it be wise to spend the money to hire the quantity and quality of developers that it would take to improve the software? I don't think so. Software is a nice tool that can greatly help, but it would be unwise to invest money into something that merely supplements the mission of the Church as if it were critical to the Church's mission. The Gospel can be spread without technology. Temple work could be done without technology if needs be, and perfecting the Saints doesn't require technology either. But these missions can be aided by technology. It makes sense to me that the money should be focused more on the critical aspects of the Church's mission than the supplements that aid the accomplishment of the critical aspects.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
"Perfectly bug-free software is nearly impossible to come by."
- I would remove the nearly, and we are closer to the truth. You show me bug free software that works on the magnitude of some of the software that the Church produces, and I will find a bug in it.
Maybe there are more bugs in the Church's software than other programs
- Maybe there are, or maybe there aren't. As previously mentioned, all software has bugs. How many will you leave in when you decide you need to ship so the customer can get your product, buggy though it may be?
would it be wise to spend the money to hire the quantity and quality of developers that it would take to improve the software?
- I think so. Software produced by the Church can have a great influence on its members. It can allow more time for individuals to spend with their families, it can aid investigators in seeking the truth, in can track information vital to the management of a growing church. Software of poor quality will accomplish none of these things, and will only serve to frustrate the end users.
Employment with the Church is a great blessing to many people, and software built by Church employees is a great blessing to many members. Only through quality software are we able to track the millions of members (and their financial contributions) worldwide. Only through these employees to we have the dedicated web sites many members (and non-members) have come to know and trust. Only through these employees do we have many other important projects that most members will never see or hear about, but which will ease the burden of administration of many leaders worldwide, allowing them to spend more time on the individuals under their stewardship.
It is true that the Church is frugal, but those in charge of its corporations understand the need for high quality. Joel Dehlin, the CIO for the Church, has a goal to make the IT department of the Church a world class IT department. This cannot be done without committed individuals who are dedicated to their customers and their quality. This cannot be done with mediocre products, and this cannot be done if individuals do not trust the software that is produced. Although your comments may well have applied some 5 or 6 years in the past, I do not believe that they still do.
I'm glad to hear the IT department is improving.
Post a Comment