Overview

In the ever-changing world of computer hardware, software often struggles to find its place. Between December 1999 and August 2002, Intel Intel Corporation released twenty different versions of the Intel Pentium III and Pentium 4 processors, which corresponds to nearly one new processor every month and a half (Intel 2002). If Moore s Law holds true and the density of an integrated circuit doubles every 18 months, then software projects will also become larger and more complex. Developers currently struggle to utilize the power of the CPU, and as CPUs become more and more powerful, the gap widens between utilized processing power and available processing power. A better development process can help fill this gap more easily.

Every software company wants to produce that next killer app, an application every consumer wants, before their competitors do. The length of the software development cycle hinders attempts to achieve this. When a company introduces a new hardware concept, software companies scramble to be the first to market with a product to leverage the concept. Ideally, a company would like to release a new version to match every major advance in hardware performance. In addition to evolving hardware, the fast changing nature of the software industry requires companies to keep abreast with changes in software. Microsoft releases a new operating system every 18 to 24 months, presenting another reason for companies to release new versions of their software products.

The length of the software development cycle prevents the release of new...