Automation is Expensive
Another nugget from the contracting world: automation is expensive.
Automation is hardware and/or software that performs a human task. It is usually expensive if done well. Since it is hw/sw it is a capital investment of the contractor. This investment is expected to be re-used across clients over time. You can not allocate capital expenses against a contract.
On the other hand having humans perform a task is direct labor which can be applied towards a specific contract.
In the commercial software world a big automation impact (on team performance) is usually regression testing tools. Such a tool can run through hundreds of regression tests in the time it may take a human to do one regression test. The software developers usually have little qualm over the cost once they look at the ROI.
However, in the software contracting world, you can’t. The customer foots the bill at all points. The only reason you exist is for the contract. The idea of investing for beyond a contract gets a glazed look in the accountant’s eyes (versus it usually being the other way around.
Seems like we need a new way of looking at micro-economics in the software contract world.