Database Reference
In-Depth Information
On average, out of the total number of IT systems under development, more than half used
to be canceled; out of the remaining half, only about two-thirds were delivered. Half of the
delivered systems never got implemented, whereas another quarter was abandoned midway
through the implementation. Out of the residual quarter of the delivered systems, half failed
to deliver the functionality required by the management and, therefore, were scrapped. Only
the remaining half of the systems were used after great modifications, which entailed further
delays and costs in an almost never-ending process.
One of the root causes identified for these problems was the inherent weakness of the
phase in which requirements were captured and analyzed. This phase never seemed to get
the correct and complete requirements. As a result, completed projects never seemed to
deliver on the promised functionality and had to be recycled for more analysis and develop-
ment. Maintenance and enhancements were called for indefinitely and became harder to
undertake as time passed by. Because individuals often changed midway, both on the devel-
opment and user sides, system requirements changed frequently, and the whole process con-
tinued indefinitely. This is primarily because there is a fundamental disconnect between the
business and the IT/IS people. Notwithstanding how much both the parties try to bridge
the gap, there is a fundamental chasm between the perception of a business user and what
is understood by the systems staff; both classes of people speak different languages. Even if
the systems personnel tried to increase precision by using methodologies and specification
tools, because users were unfamiliar with these tools, they were never able to ratify the docu-
mented requirements completely.
Typically, surveys found that 50%-80% of the IT/IS resources were dedicated to appli-
cation maintenance. The return on investments in IT were abysmally low by any standard
of measurement and expectations. With IT/IS budgets stretching beyond the capabilities of
most organizations, there was a compelling need for a radically new approach that could result
in actual usable functionality that was professionally developed, under control, and on time.
The traditional software implementation involving the development of applications was
characterized by
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Requirement-driven functional decomposition
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Late risk resolution
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Late error detection
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Use of different languages or artifacts at different phases of the project
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Large proportion of scrap and rework
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Adversarial Stakeholder Relationship with non-IT users
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Priority of techniques over tools
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Priority of quality of developed software rather than functionality per se
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Great emphasis on current, correct, complete, and consistent Documentation
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Great emphasis on testing and reviews
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Major effort on change control and management
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Large and diverse resource requirements
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Schedules that are always under pressure
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Great effort on projected or estimated target performance
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Inherent limitations on scalability
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Protracted integration between systems
