Business Quote by Bill Gates
“The typical project design time for a large company like IBM - and they keep track of this - is a little over four years.”
About This Quote
The average design timeline for large IBM projects is just over four years, indicating lengthy development cycles in big enterprises.
In simple terms: Large projects take about four years to design.
Key Takeaway
Plan for long development timelines.
Themes
project management
corporate
timeframes
Mood
analytical
neutral
Type
business
observation
When to use this quote
- software development
- hardware engineering
- strategic planning
- budgeting
Key Concepts
design cycles
enterprise scale
efficiency
Questions to Reflect On
- How can large firms shorten design phases?
- What factors extend project timelines?
A Different Perspective
Long timelines can hinder agility.
![“Like IBM, the company [Microsoft] seems to have been spooked by the federal antitrust action against it and became increasingly sclerotic and less inventive.” quote by Stephen Manes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e99/stephen-manes-68173_action_like-ibm-the-company-microsoft-seems-to_393470.jpg)
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)