From a business perspective, can custom software become a REAL asset and competitive advantage of the firm? The Hydro4GE team believes it can. A historical perspective of various software development approaches provides a basis for our Hydro4GE thinking.
Traditional software development follows an approach called the “Waterfall Model”. The
Waterfall Model treats each software development project as a new initiative. Unfortunately, the model does not take into account the fact that when a firm deploys new software it changes the business environment (e.g. the firm obtains new and more-timely information, enhanced work experiences, etc.). As a result of environmental changes, individuals in the firm identify new ideas, wants, or needs and feed these requirements back to the software staff. The software staff, following the waterfall approach, starts a new initiative and does not take full advantage of the learning experience it went through in the previous project. This leads to “disconnects” throughout the organization.
A more modern approach to software development applies the Boehm Spiral Model.
The Boehm Spiral (1986) addresses an important issue that keeps the software developer’s goals in synch with the firm’s changing environment. The Boehm spiral assumes that good software changes the firm’s environment and, in the future, the project will have to evolve to provide the firm with enhancements. In the Boehm spiral, the left side of the figure is where the software interacts with the firm. On the right side is where the software developers do their magic.
Perhaps the most critical phase in the Boehm model is represented by the positive y-axis (the upper part of the vertical line, or Y+ axis) of the figure. Here, business requirements are translated into the software requirements. From the perspective of the software developer, the problem here is that the methods of capturing business requirements tend to be too vague and imprecise. This results in software that does not meet the firm’s expectations. However, the Boehm spiral self-corrects in that the software development model continues around the spiral and address some of the problems that may have occurred in the transition from the firm’s requirements to the software specifications (the Y+ axis transition) as well as introducing new ideas that have evolved from the firm’s experience with the firm’s changing environment.
The Hydro4GE approach is an extension of the Boehm spiral approach that addresses the
Y+ axis transition. With Hydro4GE, colleagues partner with the software developers in formalizing the requirements via a web interface. This might require more thought and precision in the way the firm constructs the requirements, but the results are dramatic in two ways. First, the resulting software will more closely match the firm’s requests. Second, the actual development time is dramatically reduced.
Intriguing concept. Obvious potential for major impact.
But then, I must confess the last time I programmed I punched cards, said a prayer, and dropped the bundle into a basket labeled “IBM360/370″.
Point is, a good solid, real-world example of how Hydro4GE can be utilized might help us old guys make a recommendation, or buying decision.
My tuppence.
Comment by InternalCombustion — March 1, 2008 @ 5:30 pm