Strategies for systems analysis: groundwork for process tailoring

In principle, the most efficient way to develop software is to use a process that is carefully tailored to the problem situation. It is not clear, however, how that should be achieved in practice and if indeed the potential gains can be realised as anticipated. This paper attempts to highlight some of the issues involved. In doing so, it assumes that tailoring means selecting or assembling a development process from a ´toolkit´ of available strategies and individual techniques. As a first step towards producing such a toolkit, the paper discusses four ways to tackle systems analysis and considers the circumstances in which each is appropriate.