Blog - Tom Talks

The Hard Truth About Missed Deadlines (And What to Do Next)

Missed deadlines aren’t just inconvenient—they’re costly. For CIOs and business leaders, schedule slippage can damage credibility, shake client confidence, and jeopardize long-term goals. But the truth is, delays happen—even on well-run projects.

What matters is how you respond.

Why Deadlines Slip (Even When You Plan Carefully)

Most software delays aren’t caused by laziness or lack of effort. They’re the result of one or more of the following:

Scope creep disguised as “small changes”
Underestimated complexity, especially with integrations
Lack of early discovery to uncover hidden requirements
Unrealistic expectations set during sales or kickoff
Poor communication between stakeholders and devs

At Intertech, we’ve seen it all—and helped fix it all. That’s why we start every engagement with a rigorous discovery phase, use daily huddles to maintain visibility, and communicate early if anything veers off-track.

What To Do When a Deadline is at Risk

Here’s a battle-tested, leadership-level playbook for when you suspect a delivery date may be slipping:

Acknowledge the reality.
Ignoring it doesn’t make it better. Have a frank internal conversation to determine the root cause.
Communicate with clients early.
Clients don’t like bad news—but they really hate surprises. Tell them what’s happening, why, and how you’re adjusting.
Re-baseline with clear next steps.
Adjust your timeline, prioritize the must-haves, and ensure every stakeholder is aligned.
Audit your process.
Did something break in discovery? Were stories not sized right? Use the moment to tighten your delivery pipeline.
Take care of the team.
Pressure to “catch up” can burn out your developers. Sustainable pace > heroic sprints.

Turning the Ship Around

A missed deadline doesn’t mean a failed project. It’s a signal. If handled well, it can reset expectations, realign teams, and even deepen client trust through transparency.

Our consulting approach is built around this philosophy. We stay flexible, keep communication open, and help our clients course correct fast—because we’ve done it before.

Leading with Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Reflection for Business Leaders

As Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself reflecting not just on what I’m grateful for personally—but on how gratitude shapes how I lead professionally. Running a business like Intertech has taught me a lot over the years, but one lesson stands out again and again: how you treat your people determines your success.

Gratitude Isn’t Just Personal—It’s Strategic

It’s easy to think of gratitude as a soft skill—something reserved for handwritten notes and holiday cards. But in leadership, gratitude is a strategy. It builds trust, improves retention, and fuels a culture where people are willing to go the extra mile.

I’m thankful every day for the people who show up—virtually or in person—at Intertech. The developers who write elegant code. The project managers who juggle chaos with grace. The operations and sales teams who keep the business humming. These aren’t just employees—they’re the reason we continue to grow and evolve, especially as we embrace AI and modern development tools.

Taking Care of the People Who Take Care of the Business

This time of year, it’s easy to default to year-end metrics and planning for Q1. But leadership isn’t just about goals and growth. It’s about creating an environment where people can thrive.

At Intertech, that’s why we:

Hold daily huddles to keep everyone connected
Make space for social events—from BBQs to poker nights
Invest in internal training to ensure learning never stops
And yes, pause to say “thank you” more than once a year

A Simple Thanksgiving Leadership Challenge

Here’s something I’d encourage every business leader to do this week: make a list of the 5 people at work you’re most thankful for. Then tell them. Be specific. Tell them what they did, how it helped, and what it meant to you or the company.

You’d be surprised how powerful that one moment of recognition can be—for them and for you.

Final Thought

Thanksgiving reminds us to slow down and appreciate what we have. For leaders, that means appreciating the people who make our vision a reality. The best cultures aren’t built by perks or policies—they’re built on trust, recognition, and care.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Intertech.

The Overlooked Value of Pre-Project Discovery

Ask any experienced software consultant where most projects go wrong, and they’ll often tell you: right at the start.

Before a single line of code is written, the foundation is laid during pre-project discovery—a stage too many companies rush or ignore altogether. At Intertech, we’ve learned that skipping this phase is like building a house without a blueprint. The walls might go up, but don’t be surprised when they don’t line up.

What Is Pre-Project Discovery?

Pre-project discovery is the structured, upfront process where stakeholders, developers, and project managers come together to:

Define goals and outcomes
Clarify business problems
Assess technical environments
Identify constraints and risks
Align expectations

It’s part roadmap, part risk mitigation, and all about setting your project up for success.

Why It Matters

Avoids Scope Creep
When discovery is done right, everyone agrees on what success looks like—and just as importantly, what’s not in scope.
Uncovers Hidden Complexity
Discovery often reveals legacy system dependencies, security concerns, or workflow challenges that would otherwise pop up mid-project (i.e., at the worst possible time).
Aligns Business & Technical Teams
It creates a shared understanding between business leaders and developers, reducing the “translation errors” that derail progress later.
Builds Trust Early
A transparent discovery process builds confidence with stakeholders and gives them a chance to see how your team thinks and solves problems.

How We Do It at Intertech

We treat discovery like an essential part of the engagement—not an optional add-on. Here’s what we include:

Workshops with key stakeholders to align vision and goals
Technical deep dives into current architecture and systems
Risk and readiness assessments to avoid surprises
Project roadmap creation with realistic timeframes and resources

This phase pays for itself many times over by reducing rework, increasing clarity, and helping the real work move faster.

A Better Beginning Means a Better Ending

If your last project hit delays or missed the mark, look at how it started. And next time? Don’t just jump in.

Start smart. Start with discovery.

If You’re Not Learning, You’re Falling Behind

Why Lifelong Learning Is a Must in a World of AI, Agile, and Rapid Tech Shifts

In technology, the only constant is change—and it’s moving faster than ever. From AI breakthroughs to the rise of low-code/no-code platforms and the continual evolution of cloud-native development, the software world reinvents itself at lightning speed. If your team—or your consulting partner—isn’t learning, it’s not just treading water. It’s falling behind.

At Intertech, we believe staying current isn’t a luxury—it’s a responsibility. That’s why we’ve embedded continuous learning into the fabric of our culture.

1. The Ground Is Always Shifting

Think back just a couple of years. LLMs weren’t part of mainstream development. Now, platforms like ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and dozens of API-integrated AI tools are changing how we write, debug, and even conceptualize code.

It’s no longer enough to be great at one stack. Developers—and the firms they work with—must be nimble, curious, and ready to evolve.

2. Internal Training: Built-In, Not Bolted On

At Intertech, we’ve institutionalized growth. Our internal training programs ensure developers stay sharp with new languages, frameworks, security protocols, and architecture patterns. It’s not just about attending a one-off workshop. It’s about building a learning mindset.

From live classes to asynchronous resources, we empower team members to explore new tech on their own schedule—without sacrificing project delivery.

3. AI Isn’t a Threat. It’s a Tool.

A lot of developers worry AI is coming for their jobs. We see it differently.

AI is the new assistant in your IDE. It helps accelerate routine work, improve accuracy, and reduce the mental load of boilerplate tasks. But to truly benefit from it, developers need to know how to work with AI—and when not to.

That’s why we offer hands-on AI workshops, use prompt engineering internally, and bake AI capabilities into our project lifecycle through our UnifiAI offering. We’re not just learning AI. We’re teaching our clients how to wield it wisely.

4. Learning Is the Ultimate Competitive Edge

Whether it’s working with clients in new industries, migrating systems to the cloud, or building mobile-first experiences, learning fuels innovation. It allows us to anticipate challenges, guide our clients proactively, and avoid the stagnation that kills great companies.

Final Thought

There are no finish lines in technology. There’s only forward. At Intertech, we’ve made the choice to lean into the future—through training, tools, and talent development.

Because if you’re not learning, you’re not just falling behind… you’re making room for someone else who is.

Why Strategic Thinking Is the Most Underrated Skill in Software Development

When people think about great software developers, they picture deep technical knowledge—clean code, robust architecture, speed, and efficiency. But the secret ingredient that sets apart the good from the exceptional? Strategic thinking.

At Intertech, we’re not just writing lines of code—we’re building solutions that move businesses forward. That requires more than technical know-how. It demands the ability to connect technical decisions to business outcomes.

Strategy Turns Code Into Impact

A developer with strategic thinking doesn’t just ask “How do I build this?” They ask “Why are we building it?” and “Is this the best way to meet the goal?”

That mindset transforms a feature request into a conversation about business value. It identifies trade-offs before they become problems. It ensures technical decisions align with what the client really needs—not just what they asked for.

Strategic Developers Save Time (and Money)

Every detour avoided, every misaligned feature prevented, every scalable architecture decision made early—these are strategic wins that prevent rework and wasted time.

We’ve seen firsthand how one smart strategic decision upstream can save months downstream.

It’s Why We Hire the Way We Do

At Intertech, we deliberately look for strategic thinkers in our hiring process. We hire people who can zoom out and see the bigger picture—because they’re the ones who help clients achieve theirs.

This doesn’t mean sacrificing technical skill. It means pairing it with business context. Our consultants are expected to engage with stakeholders, ask the right questions, and offer proactive guidance.

Strategy Is What Clients Remember

Clients rarely rave about how well a developer followed instructions. They remember the ones who helped them clarify their goals, navigate ambiguity, and get results.

Strategic thinking is what earns long-term trust—and repeat business.

Final Thought

If you’re building a software team or partnering with a consulting firm, don’t just ask about tech stacks or sprint velocity. Ask: “Who’s thinking about the big picture?”

Because in the long run, that’s what really drives impact.