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— adopting a "work-to-rule" attitude, in
which the new methodology and tools
— are forced to conform to older, much
less productive development rules.
The low-productivity figures with
CASE tools in many organizations are
- the result of developers not wanting to
-., use them. These people are comfortable
only with existing technigues and dont
want to climb a new learning curve.
A skilled and well-motivated construc-
—tjon team can demonstrate the value of
the RAD life cycle and can tune the
methodology to make it as effective as
MARTIN possible. Once a team has proven the
;. value of the new development process,
BREJE tion-systems (IS) , more teams can be added.
executives are under pressure to keep |
their core applications running and
maintain existing systems that are criti- |
cal to the business. This tends to con- '.;:..
sume so much of their time and energy
that they can barely consider a major
change in the IS development culture. ''.
They don't have any spare staff with
which to take risks '% šni
' Because IS has slow development cy- .
cles and because maintenance of the old
systems is difficult, there are large ap-:;:
plication backlogs. An IS department? ...
with backloss like those shown in the čis H
figure (at right) severely damages the..';:-
ability of a corporation to adopt new:.''. |:
computerized business procedures. To: ::;;
compete effectively, it's critical that a
RAD life cycle be introduced. ' '':'-.:
Rather than attempt to change the en-,.
tire IS organization, the best way to in-
troduce RAD technigues is to start ':.:
small. A small group should be responsi-
ble for selecting the tools and life-cycle:..
technigues for fast development. Small,
specialized construction teams should be :
established, and their members should.
be well-trained to use the new. tools and...
technigues.:j:% > 4

Cut Backlogs

pipi rimi trade 6, "1 RRGI had! |
A goal should be to make the ' ha

brightest and most capable developers ';
as skilled as possible with the most :'.::
powerful tools. These special teams of  .
two, three or four people should be put :
to work on pilot projects that are non-:..,.
critical but strategically important to .::.-

the organization. ja divi:
The teams should use a computerized ./: | :
methodology customized to the corpora- eijš Rei |
tion and its chosen tool set. As the team | TINE
čik, ze O: TI the devel- .. pio: | PE : ea Pp Ri s | j šova a mi pr ae
še a a aa te SJ AS DOSS 4 5 JA the ;

ations have set up high- .. Work on non-critical but str
in an otherwise .:... x) | ini

PO WEEKNAPPLICATION DEVELOPMENT s

choice of a tool.

The Extent  ——e

Of Application-Development Backlogs
Use of Rapid Application Development

Technology, Tools, Can |

S TUNO

APPLJED INTELLIGENCE

may be an inappropriate
In this case, it's impor-
tant to find a tool set that does what is
reguired and switch to it. Managers
should seek out integrated Hali
ed software engineering (CASE) tools
that are capable of generating 100 per-
cent of the code for an application from
esi cifications.
; Tkivo many unfortunate examples
of IS organizations becoming committed
to an inadeguate tool set, such as a non-
integrated CASE tool. These tools re-
guire hand-generation of the application
from design specifications and should be
avoided. The switch to a different tool
set is painful; but if it's needed, it

The problem

i [> ni sij sa PREN! bi : di ih 4 m ii kd He | | ; i |
LA, UE. | adi ši bi h 3 ', pboej
s | f ; m bj ae d sel

A

ai a raieti
m."
k?
7,

BEE ii

John Avaklan

ApaiL 2, 1990

enting RAD

training should be orjented to fast devel-
ment. |
V The first applications to be developed
with the RAD methodology should fit
comfortably within the capabilities of
the tool set. They should be applications
that can be accomplished by one small,
skilled construction team in three
months or so. Within these constrainis,
the applications should be appropriately
complex—between 600 and 1,000 func-
tion points. A purpose of the first a
project is not only to build systems but
to demonstrate that the methodology
works well. a

To develop systems fast, its essential
to bypass bureaucratic delays. As its
victims know, bureaucracy insists on
formal procedures. It emphasizes filling
in the right forms, going through the
right channels and getting the right ap-
provals, rather than finding out how to
get the job done as guickly and effec-
tively as possible.

Bureaucracy is the enemy of speed.
Indeed, it's the enemy of the three main
goals of RAD—higher guality, lower
cost and rapid development. Many at:
tempts to create new computer applica-
tions have guickly ground to a halt be-
cause of career bureaucrats or managers
motivated by politics rather than etffi-
ciency. |

Know Your Enemy

In a healthy competitive corporation,
the enemy is on the outside. In a bu-
reaucratic organization, however, the en-
emy tends to be internal, in other de-
partments.

This is one reason why successful en-
trepreneurs have difficulty transferring
their executive skills to large organiza-
tions. They expect loyalty from a staff
seeking common goals for the enterprise;
instead, they find that predominant
goals relate to internal politics. Instead
of hostile external forces, they find hos-
tile internal forces.

The operation of small, specialized
construction teams, with good measure-
ments, can bypass the bureaucratic ten-
dencies in IS organizations. The execu-
tive owner and his IS counterpart must
agree that rapid action is essential in
the user community as well.

If bureaucracy threatens to interfere

with the process, the executive owner

must be responsible for cutting the red
tape. As in IS, the players from the user
community should be determined to.

IS de tlitsim: -— | |
apebaret ita tm PRTA vee MER SU a a ato rala zda
are measured, an te tena arena pinelibe done a early aa possible, be. | summarie the acta tu end se
-. pared with other developers usir old re many people have climbed the cess in the introd OrS that lead to suc-
i sedo ogies. leh Z A Na! na oker garmin curve with the inadeguate AE ogre on of new develop-
ne iraln. measured achievements.  —. 4... adammata naja. reason for failure is in- The A da
o dempite pe nee Drst attempt at RAD fails, | a ae Man organizations  soribed (m a new volume £n ito ee:
—— project. When attitudes about the — |: ed for building an integrated oa Če, Martin Report Series. For mor ON6E
project. When this happens, the cause of. ronment pine ua op ote CASE envi-  mation on this volume, cali (800) iz:
PRudi — in functionality, and the pode ara rich 1240. For information on seminars, -
have much to learn. Simply contact (in the United States and Can.
developers with advanced | providing ada) Technology Transfer Institr ite
xpecting them ta 741 A Sai Monica, Calif.
". 90402 (213) 394-8305. In Europe, con-
Pn rni
Lancs., LA5 9BX United Kingdor
(0524) 734 505.