Excellent Systems Analysts: A Grounded Theory Approach to Qualitative Research

Abstract

There is evidence which suggests the software crisis still exists and is negatively impacting both information systems (IS) development and maintenance. Kendall (1992) has reported IS development backlogs averaging 30 work-months. Others (Senn, 1985; Yourdon, 1989) including Kendall (1992) suggest a hidden backlog, users’ plans not even submitted as requests because of the identified backlog, may result in IS development delays of up to four to seven years. Further Laudon and Laudon (1998) have determined that 51 percent of software development projects require up to three times more than the initial budget for both cost and time. The situation regarding IS maintenance is also of concern. Kendall (1992) suggests the IS maintenance software crisis has resulted from problems created in phases prior to programming. This situation is further confounded by the fact that the later in the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) that an error is discovered, the more it costs to fix (Boehm, 1981).