engineering management 465

1. Intro

2. Failures in the SYSE process

a. Requirements Analysis

i. System was not adequately tested for server load against the projected number of users

ii. While errors were made in the SYSE process at every level, most glaring and obvious was lack of clear leadership in defining tasks, requirements, mission, budget, etc.

iii. Lack of clarity in project tasks

iv. Leading officials did not understand the enormity of the undertaking.

b. Feasibility Analysis

i. CMS required highly complex system and used consultants with no experience integrating an application of that size

ii. Outside contractors were brought in with incomplete requirements, then forced to use components outside their expertise (noSql Database platform)

iii. Late and shifting policies

c. Synthesis

i. Coding left incomplete, not properly tested against infrastructure

ii. Best practices for making late stage coding changes were not followed.

iii. Incremental approach of early testing and early delivery of tested system was not followed.

d. Design Validation

i. Lack of TPMs

ii. Testing plan was incomplete, and not properly executed

e. Turnover and Support

i. Reports of improper management of contracts had a negative impact on this system

ii. Due to high-stress, lack of planning, CMS experienced high staff-turnover during development

3. How Proper Implementation of SYSE process would have changed things

a. Clear leadership would have provided clear direction, eliminated some of the waste, broken processes

b. Requirements analysis

i. Would have shown need for improved infrastructure before development, could have been improved in parallel with website

c. Feasibility Analysis

i. Proper integration testing and planning

ii. Consulting with outside consultants on database component would have resulted in more stability

d. Synthesis

i. Clear requirements and plan may not have allowed for meeting deadline, but would have shown which components needed to be finished and which could be put on hold

e. Design Validation

i. Testing run on schedule and with a plan would have shown flaws in the system that made it not production-ready

f. Turnover and support

i. Properly motivated staff may have resulted in the project completing with fewer errors and delays

4. Conclusion