Episode 20 Cheap, Fast, and Good. Choose Two.
Welcome to Acceptable, Proper, and Reasonable, a podcast about technology and education.
I'm your host, Dr. Gary Ackerman. Today we're exploring a harsh reality for many school leaders.
When it comes to technology, they want cheap, good, and fast. But the reality is, they can't have all
three. They must choose two. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed something
done quickly, but you also want it to be of high quality and affordable? If so, then you've encountered
the cheap, good, and fast triangle. The concept suggests that you can only achieve two out of
these three qualities at any given time. Let's break it down. First, let's talk about cheap and good.
Imagine you're planning a technology installation in your school. You need enterprise-grade devices
and proper configuration to ensure that it works the way you need it to work.
But you're on a tight budget. In this scenario, you might find a skilled engineer who offers reasonable
rates, but the trade-off is time. Quality work at a low cost often means that you'll need to wait
longer for the project to be completed. You may have to wait until your vendor expands their staff,
until they have a slow time between projects, or can otherwise meet your available price point.
Patience is key here. Next, we have good and fast. This combination is ideal when quality and speed
are your top priorities. Think about a technology upgrade that needs to happen during your school
break. Systems need to be upgraded, tested, and ready for production before students and faculty
return. To achieve this, you might need to hire a team of experts or invest heavily in short-term
human resources to get the work done. The result? A high-quality product delivered on time,
but at a premium cost. Speed and quality come at a price. Finally, let's consider cheap and fast.
This may seem the go-to option working in schools, because you need things done quickly
and affordably. If an event is scheduled and you need to quickly expand capacity, for example,
you might find it necessary to complete work quickly, use inexpensive and available solutions.
When speed and cost are priorities, quality will often take a backseat. When thinking about
IT systems, cheap and fast is rarely a good idea. In schools, we have a particular responsibility
to keep our users and their data secure. So cheap and fast is rarely a good option for school IT
professionals. As it compromises security, and that's never a good idea. So why is it so challenging
to achieve all three qualities simultaneously? It all boils down to resources. High-quality work
requires skilled labor and high-quality hardware and software. It all comes at a cost. Speed demands
efficiency and often additional human resources, which all drives up expenses. Balancing these
factors is a delicate act and compromises are inevitable. In conclusion, cheap, good and fast,
that triangle is a valuable framework for managing expectations and making informed decisions.
Whether you're installing IT from scratch in a school, updating what you already have,
or just trying to understand IT in your schools, this framework can help you define and understand
your priorities. Hey, thanks for tuning in to appropriate, proper and reasonable. And remember,
you want it cheap, good and fast, but you must choose only two.