We have a very close relationship with our customer; the product (a rather intricate highway management system) is complex and continually changing due to a rolling programme of upgrades and fault responses.

The relationship is twofold - we talk to their technology people, but we also have a relationship with the operational staff. This being a government agency, left and right hands don't always communicate as well as they might, so we sometimes act as an intermediary.

Operational issues trump all; the expectations being managed are sometimes those of the technology side, with them being told by us that the operations people want feature X or have problem Y, so roadmap feature Z will either have to wait or will cost more or will require a modification.