Evolutionary System Development

Evolutionary System Development

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Evolutionary Systems Development

Main Claims

Main Claims of the paper are the reasons why large systems have proved to be undependable while the smaller systems adapt more easily to the constant dynamic environment of the software world. Lengthy bureaucratic acquisition processes hinder fast and adaptive production of large systems hence making development time a very crucial factor and finally the need to adopt the evolutionary system of development which is quick, reliable, user-friendly and adaptive to environmental changes to technology (Boehm, 2008).

Reasons for the main Claims

It depicts that the processes used by the government and engineers to develop these large systems is the main cause of their ineffectiveness to the dynamic world hence leading to semi-utilization of their capability and sadly leading to their becoming obsolete. Some of these claims include the development time for these systems. The systems take too long to develop while the environment they are supposed to cater for changes within a very short period. Secondly, the government has put in place lengthy bureaucratic procedures that lead to a very long process being followed to produce these large systems, thirdly the government and engineers have failed to embrace the evolutionary development process which is dynamic in accordance to environmental changes but they embrace the traditional agile process which is lengthy (Schwaber, 2004).

Limitations to the claims

Engineers have noted that though the adoption of the evolutionary development strategy is ideal, it has some weaknesses such as those of the system being prone to risks hence making it unstable and on the other hand the engineers have argued that the adoption of this process is not reliable since it keeps on changing drastically within a very short period. Hence this is to mean that evolutionary development is not reliable and it is full of risks hence very expensive (Hayes et al, 2008).

Evidence Provided

The paper has cited some of the renowned large systems that have gone obsolete or even failed to adopt to the environmental changes in technology and time effectiveness. These include the FAA air traffic system, the FBI virtual case file and the Navy Marine Corps Internet (NMCI). These systems failed because of poor adoption of a production system that took too long and was not able to adopt to constantly changing environmental factors in technology and hence the became obsolete. Smaller systems have proved to adapt faster and have become more reliable in comparison to these large systems. Systems such as the internet, Linux and World Wide Web have been able to adapt to the environmental changes since they are small and they use the successive evolutionary development process hence they have been able to constantly change with the dynamic technological world (Boehm, 2008).

Warrants provided for these evidences

It is clear and known that the airlines no longer employ the technology offered by the FAA traffic system since the system failed and hence the body had to employ other reliable, ultra-modern and dependable systems. When it comes to the FBI virtual case file, it has become obsolete since it failed to meet the demands of the company and the same applies to the navy Marine Corps Internet system. The Linux, World Wide Web and the internet have been able to survive and they are still being used even up to date (Hayes et al, 2008).

Potential Objections

The government and software engineers have come in objection of the evolutionary development process as the ideal process in upgrading of the large systems. They have claimed that the pr-planned process is the most ideal since it is reliable and avoids as much risks as possible. They have come to conclude also that the Agile-process is only ideal for smaller and medium systems and not ideal for the large systems but the paper strongly objects to these claims (Brooks, 1995).

Main Research interests

The main interests of this research were to get to the reasons why large systems are failing and why they are becoming obsolete as time changes and technology advances. Another aim was to get the reason why adoption of evolutionary development has had a great impact in the survival of large and small systems in the software engineering world (Cao & Balascubramaniam, 2007).

Research Method

The research methods used to compile this report was through facts from journals, internet, getting interviews with the technological advancement in the software engineering platform and physical evidence of available systems that have failed in various government departments as well as software system development conferences and symposiums held by engineers (Brooks, 1995).

What I got from the paper

The paper sheds light on the way the government has been adopting poor processes to develop and manage some of the most crucial systems required by the citizens and hence leading to wastage of the taxpayer’s money as the systems finally get obsolete. The paper has also advised on the best strategies that are proven through extensive research on the most favorable strategy for the government to use in developing of the large systems and when employed they will be adaptive and at the same time mitigate the losses on government expenditure (Cao & Balascubramaniam, 2007).

What was best about the paper?

The paper does not leave the reader hanging but rather provides recommendations that the government and the software development engineers can adopt to see that the technological advancement in the field of systems development in a reliable way. The paper is also clear and accommodative to ideas brought forward by the parties involved hence it is nonbiased (Boehm, 2008).

Improvements on the research

I would look for alternative methods to improve large systems reliability through extensively visiting various government and private companies that employ the services of these systems and find out why they are still successful and why some are obsolete. Face to face interviews with engineers in this field will also help since I will get an experienced point of view. Extensive internet research on books and journals from recent technology in the software development sector will also act as a booster to the research.

References

Boehm, B., (2008). Making a difference in the software century.

Brooks, F., (1995). The Mythical Man Month Anniversary

Cao, L., & Balascubramaniam, R., (2007). Agile software development: Ad hoc practice or sound principles?

GAO., (2006). Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapons Programs Hayes-Roth, R., Blais, C., Brutzman, D. & Pullen,

M., (2008). How to implement national information sharing Strategy.

Schwaber, K., (2004). Agile Project Management with Scrum.