Software procurement and superconcurrent engineering

An IEE Workshop held in October 1993 confirmed widely expressed concern that the present means of acquiring large complex bespoke software-based systems is unsatisfactory because the systems never fully meet the requirements of the users when they come on stream, and probably never can. Improving this situation has implications for both the technical and the commercial aspects of software procurement. The author reports how participants concluded that a useful approach to meeting the challenge would be the establishment of guidelines which would assist those responsible for the supply and procurement of software.<>