This is just a friendly reminder to have a contingency plan. Preparing for the best and worst case scenarios can tremendously help your confidence when managing a complicated project. When you are confident, your client is confident and everyone is happy after another successful engagement.

A Called Strike

Originally uploaded by AZHardball

First let me begin by saying that MLB and MLB Advanced Media have done a fantastic job of integrating and developing new and cutting-edge technologies. They really have an immense understanding of their fan base and what their fans want. This was illustrated by the overhaul of MLB Live product that was sunset by MLB.TV. While MLB Live allowed fans to interact with each other during live streaming games, the new MLB.TV features extras such as picture in picture and DVR technology. Good stuff, but I am here to talk about MLB At Bat 2009 for the iPhone.

MLB At Bat is an iPhone application that debuted as At Bat Lite in the beginning of 2009. The Lite version was basically the 2008 version of the hot iPhone app that provided live game scoring. I saw this as a must have for all baseball fans that happen to have iPhones. While using it they would push a notification that the full version would be available by April, 2nd.

Software Project Management is a bit of a hybrid between art and science. Where am I going with this you might ask? Stay tuned. Ever-changing dependencies, software issues and challenges often make it difficult to deliver a project on time and on budget. This is why good project managers take the following into consideration:

• Project Scope

• Project Communication

• Risk Management Planning

• Quality Management Planning

• High Performance Team Members

• Project Time Line

• Project Budget

When and if proper planning is performed, a project is delivered on time and on budget to the delight of stakeholders, customers and consumers. MLB At Bat 2009 was delivered early and it’s out right now. You can get information about the application at MLB.com or in the iTunes application portion of the iTunes Store. Not to shabby of a job from a software project manager’s point of view.

While there are an interesting number of people complaining of the price point of 9.99 for the year, let me help put things into perspective. The application boasts live scoring, streaming video, pitch tracking and will stream live audio available for every game, for every team. The only alternative that allows all audio, both home and away teams, for every game is XM Radio.

The absolute cheapest XM Radio receiver that I could find is $50 and you are looking at around another $100 for the subscription of the service. I am not sure what other cost comparisons I could really do to illustrate the value more clearly.

To MLB and MLB Software Development Team, kudos to you for a job well done. Baseball fans, check it out if you have not already.