7.1 Goal of integration

Integrating many diverse components to create a final product is the most difficult task undertaken by the technical team. Defects surface at an alarming rate, progress falters, and frustration sets in [1]. This is normal in projects where multiple complex technologies are assembled for the first time to make a complete system.

Product integration is an activity that not only uncovers defects but also prepares the product for premature release and does so through a malleable process.

Unfortunately, many organizations involved in developing complex products do not consider integration as an activity worthy of its own process until they encounter serious crisis. It is only then that they adopt a method of controlling integration mayhem, and this is done at the expense of development progress. Product development should be top priority with development process being secondary, yet still required [2].

Figure 7.1 makes reference to the material presented in Chapter 4, where development entropy has augmented the product feature set with defects. The lens represents the beginning of integration activity. As integration tests are performed, defects are uncovered and removed, forcing convergence in terms of operation. When the product is deemed stable enough to be tested to exact specification, SVT begins, which is represented by a second lens in the figure.

Figure 7.1: Owing to integration activities, product operation converges with anticipated market expectations (see Chapter 4). This model illustrates a single integration iteration whereby test cases reveal product defects, and the development team responds...