7. Time, how long will it take, do the parties have that much time?

Way back in the early '80s when were we coming to the end of green fields systems (e.g. pretty much all the big, important, necessary functions had been automated at least once), it was observed that it took a minimum of 4 years to do a serious system... & most organizations simply did not have the attention span... sponsors change, markets change, technology fashion shifts, etc.

Thirty years later, things are far, far more complex—mainframe, midrange, client/server, web, Mobile coming, etc. These additional layers of complexity—each with their own twists on language, jargon, slang, organization, taxonomy, etc.—do not make for moving quickly.

Plus, management's attention span is well under 3 years. If I'm on the upward bound management track & something isn't going to punch my ticket in less than 3 years, it's not going to happen.

Just how does ontology fit into that equation?