Pocket Watch Assembly Diagram

A brief history of systems development

"If they do not have an appreciation of where we come from, I doubt
they an assessment of where we should go. "
– Bryce's Law

INTRODUCTION

I always find it funny when I say a young person in this industry that I
worked with punch cards and plastic model years. Its kind of
same look amazed I receive from my children when I tell them, we used to
watching television in black and white, with three channels, no remote control,
and approvals station at midnight. It has been my observation that our young
workers lack a sense of history, which is particularly evident in
global systems. If they do not have an appreciation of where we come from
I doubt they have an appreciation of where we should go. Consequently,
I have assembled the following chronology of events in the hope it will
an overview on how the industry has evolved to its current systems.

I'm sure I could make a long thesis, but instead, I'll try
be brief and precise. In addition, the following provisions have little concern
for academic developments, but rather how the systems have been implemented
in practice in the business world.

PRE-1950'S – "Systems and procedures "

Perhaps the biggest revelation for our young readers about this period
that there will any form of systems prior to the advent of
computer. In fact, "Systems and Procedures" Departments are earlier to
computer several years. These services would be affected by the
the company's design process using the main work measurement "And" work
"Simplification techniques derived from industrial engineering. Such
processes have been carefully designed using diagrams and organizational grid. There
was highly accurate in the design of forms for recording data, filing systems to
manage the paperwork, and the use of summary reports to act as control
points in the systems. For example, Spreadsheets have been widely used
for many years before the introduction of Lotus 1-2-3 or Microsoft Excel. It was
also considerable attention given to human behavior in the activity
process (the precursor of "ergonomics").

Systems were originally implemented by paper and pencil using ledgers, journals
(Logs), indexes and worksheets. We have always been interesting deposit
systems, everything from maps and files, storage cabinets.

Perhaps the earliest mechanical device was the abacus used for simple past
mathematics (which is still used, even to this day). The end 1800s saw the advent of cash
registers and adding machines popularized by companies such as NCR
Dayton Ohio under John Patterson, who also introduced radical changes in
terms of dress and conduct. It was adopted by Thomas Watson, Sr.
having worked for many years at NCR and IBM extended these practices to
and the rest of the world of business. In addition, Burroughs has been a major player in
adding machine industry beginning.

The first typewriters were also introduced at the end of 1800, which was a huge
effect on the correspondence and processing orders. This was mainly led by Remington
The weapons (which would later become Remington Rand).

In the early 1900s, the tabulating equipment has been introduced to support such things
Census count. It has been widely adopted by U.S. companies. Occasionally
you run into the old old who can not describe how they can program these machines
using plug boards. Punch card sorters were added in addition Tab
equipment.

As a note, most of what IBM Watson has been learned about the business
his early days NCR. However, he had a quarrel with Patterson who shot
him. Like a little piece of info, after Watson's death, he was buried in Dayton on a
hill overlooking the head of NCR, the company he could not conquer.

During the Second World War, both the military-industrial complex United States relied heavily
systems implemented manually. We did so many people, including
Japanese, argue that gave the Allies a competitive advantage during the war.

The lesson here is that manually implemented systems have summer
us long before the computer and are still with us today. To give you a sense of
history in this regard, consider one of our most popular laws Bryce

"The first line, in real time, interactive system database was double entry
accounting that was developed by merchants of Venice in 1200 "

A major development in this area is the work of Leslie "Les" Matthies, the
Dean legendary systems. The graduate of the University of California to
Berkeley during the depression with a degree in journalism. Being a writer, he
tried his hand at writing plays for Broadway. But Work has been difficult to find during
this period and when the Second World War broke out, Les was hired by a plane
manufacturer in the Midwest to systematize the production of aircraft. Relying
on his experience as a writer, he designed the "performance text" Technical Writing
procedures. Basically, the written procedure as a script in any game there was a
section to identify the procedure and its purpose, a "Setting" to identify
forms and files to use for it, and "Operation / Instructions Section
which describes the "actors" to perform tasks by using verbs and nouns
correctly the status of each operation. He even went so far as to develop rules for
wrote "if".

For more details on "text theatrical "see" pride "Special Subject Bulletin
No. 38 – "The Language of systems" – August 22, 2005
http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/ss050822.pdf

"Text theater" has become a powerful procedural language for writing and has been used
largely through world. It is still a great way to write procedures
today. Ironically, the did not know what a profound effect his technique would
have later in the development of computer programs.

1950's – introduction of computer

Yes, I am aware the ENIAC was developed for the military to end
the Second World War. More importantly, the UNIVAC I (UNIVversal Automatic Computer)
was introduced in 1951 by J. Eckert and John Mauchly. The UNIVAC I
was a gigantic machine that was originally developed for U.S. Bureau of
census. Corporate America has taken note of the computer and business
such as DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware began to experiment with programming
it commercially. The Remington Rand Corporation sponsored the
project, but the focus of the company and the name finally changed to "UNIVAC"
(Today, it is called "Unisys", which represents a merger with UNIVAC
Burroughs).

The UNIVAC I offered a sophistication unmatched by other manufacturers,
Mach I including IBM tabulating equipment. This has caused IBM invent
the 701 and 700 series. Other manufacturers soon joined the fray and
computers began to proliferate. Although UNIVAC was the pioneer in this
respect, they quickly lost market share because of the marketing muscle of
IBM. For some time the industry was returned as "IBM and the
Bunch '(Burroughs, Univac, NCR, CDC, and Honeywell).

Programming the machine to start was difficult because it was conducted in a
Machine Language enigmatic appearance (the language of the first generation). This
eventually yield to the language of the Assembly (the second generation
language) which was easier to read and understand. Despite all many
the public services we take for granted today (eg, sorting and merging) were simply
unavailable and should be developed. In other words, the programming was a
laborious task during this period.

Recognizing both the limitations and potential of the computer, the 1950
represented age of experimentation for companies U.S.. Here,
emphasis has not been implemented major systems through the computer,
but develop a variety of programs to test the machine as
viable product. As such, programmers have been considered as characters bizarre
maintain the "black box", and are not considered part of the
Regular systems development. Systems and procedures
Departments' still represented the lion's share of work systems in Business
America with an occasional foray to investigate using the computer.
The computer people have been grouped into services "
(Later known as "EDP" or "Data Processing" departments).

1960 – Management Systems

The competition among computer makers heated during this
decade, resulting in improvements in speed, capacity and skills.
Of importance here is the introduction the vaunted IBM 360
(The number was chosen for this was a solution –
360 degrees). Other computer manufacturers offered comparable products
performance, if not more, but the IBM 360 has been widely adopted by
corporate America.

The computer programming was still a difficult task and, consequently,
Procedural languages have been introduced (the third generation languages). In
Actually, these languages have made their debut in the late 1950s, but the proliferation
Computer in the 1960s triggered the adoption of procedural languages such
such as COBOL, FORTRAN and PL / 1. Interestingly, these languages were modeled
Matthies after the "performance text" technique which makes use of active verbs,
names, and "if."

The purpose of the procedural languages was twofold: to simplify the programming
using several languages English, as, and to create universal languages
that cross physical borders. The first objective was achieved, the
second step. If languages are truly universal, it would mean that
Software should be portable in all hardware configurations. Manufacturers
saw this as a threat; software that is truly portable selection
relevant material and In theory, customers could migrate away from
computer vendors. To avoid this, little nuances have been introduced
for compilers for procedural languages, thereby negating the concept
portability. This issue will be ignored for many years until the advent
of the Java programming language.

The 1960s also saw the introduction of the management system database
(DBMS). These products have been designed as a file access methods for
The bill of material processing (BOMP) as used in manufacturing. DBMS "
designation actually came later. The pioneers in this area included
Charlie Bachman GE with its data store integrated (SDI), which
primarily operated under the Honeywell GCOS configurations, Tom Richley
Cincom Systems TOTAL developed for Champion Paper, and; BOMP IBM
DBOMP and products. In 1969, IBM introduced IMS, which has become
DBMS flagship product for many years.

Except IMS DBMS early offerings were based on a
network model that has made the processing chain. IMS, another
hand, was a hierarchical model involving tree treatment.

Realize that the programming and data access becomes easier and
performance of the computer being upgraded, companies would now build
on this technology. Consequently, companies U.S. launched the era
"system of management information (MIS) have been the major systems
to automate business processes across the enterprise. They were
major efforts to develop the system which has challenged both Management and
technical expertise.

He was married to the MIS "Systems and procedures" with departments
Computer / IT departments and transformed the organization meeting in
the "MIS" department. This was an important step in the history of systems. The
systems have had to learn computer technology and programmers
had to learn about business systems.

Recognizing that common data elements have been used to produce different
reports generated from a GIS, he began to become obvious that data must
be shared and reused to eliminate redundancy and promoting
data integration system and consistent results. Therefore, data management
(DM) organizations have begun The first is the Quaker Oats Company
Chicago, Illinois in 1965. The parent organizations were modeled DM
Inventory Control departments where the various components were only
identified, shared and referrals. To assist in this regard, such organizations
use of new DBMS technology. Unfortunately, many DM
organizations lost sight of their original charter, and instead became obsessed
with the DBMS. Data used and maintained outside of the computer was
erroneously considered irrelevant. Worse, the DBMS has been used as
nothing more than an elegant method for access by programmers. Consequently,
data redundancy in prey systems almost immediately and the possibility of
share and reuse data has been lost. This is a serious problem that persists in
undertaken to date.

1970 – The Awakening

Although the movement was noble and MIS ambitious in its intentions, floundering
because of the size and complexity of the task. Many projects suffered MIS
false starts and botched implementations. This resulted in a period
a series of new methods, tools and techniques have been introduced to reign in these
efforts enormous development.

The first was the introduction of the "methodology" which provided a roadmap
or manual on how to successfully implement the systems development
projects. This MBA has been a pioneer with its "pride" in the methodology
1971. Although the strong point of "pride" was the way to build systems, it was originally
used for anything else as documentation and as a way to manage projects.
As a result of "pride" was John Toellner spectrum, I methodology and SDM/70
Software from the Atlantic. Several methods based PCA followed thereafter.

Also during this time, depending on the project mainframe systems management were
coming into vogue including N5500 Nichols, APC Systems International,
and PC/70 Atlantic Software.

Methodologies Early and project management systems to demonstrate
service orientation systems of that time: a focus on project
Management. Unfortunately, it was a mistake to project management was
the problem, instead of people simply do not know how to design and build
systems in a uniform manner. As companies have finally learned, projects
Management is useless without a clear roadmap for Learn how to build something.

In the mid-1970s and the end of several articles and books have been published on how
to software design productive marking the beginning of the structured "
Programming "movement. It was a great body of work that included of
programming luminaries as Barry Boehm, Frederick P. Brooks, Larry Constantine,
Tom DeMarco, Edsger Dijkstra, Chris Gane, Michael A. Jackson, Donald E. Knuth
Glenford J. Myers, Trish Sarson, Jean Dominique Warnier, GeneralSecretaryoftheInternational Weinberg,
Ed Yourdon, and many others. Although their techniques were found
useful for software development, it leads to confusion in the field of differentiation
between systems and software. For many, they were synonyms. In reality,
they are not. The software is subject to systems, but focus more
the programming was causing a change of perspective.

The system only way to communicate internally or externally with other systems
is through sharing data, it is the bond of cohesion that holds systems (and software)
together. This resulted in the introduction of the dictionary information technology. Again
It was launched by MBA with its "pride" methodology (which included a manual
Dictionary Data used) and later with his "product PRIDE"-LOGIK in
1974. It was followed by Synergetics' catalog data, Data Manager from
Management Software Products (MSP), and lexicon by Arthur Andersen & Company.

The intention of the data dictionaries has been to identify and track where
data were used in the systems of an enterprise. They included features for maintaining
analysis of the impact of documentation, (to allow the student to a proposed amendment),
controls and redundancy. "Pride"-LOGIK had added the nuance of cataloging
all system components, making it a valuable aid for
for the design and documentation.

The data dictionary has also been valuable for the control of DBMS products
and, as such, several additional products were introduced, such as UCC-10
DB / DC data dictionary, and Integrated Data Dictionary (IDD) of
Cullinet. Unlike other dictionaries Data for general use, these products
were limited to the confines of DBMS and did not effectively track data
outside their reach.

DBMS packages proliferated during this period with many new products
be introduced, including ADABAS, picture, model 204 and the IDMS
Cullinet (Who has been produced in BF Goodrich). All were based
the network model of file access that finally adopted as
industry standard (CODASYL).

There have been some other notable innovations introduced, including IBM
Systems Business Planning (BSP), which attempted to develop a plan for
types of business systems needed to operate. Several other comparable
tenders have been introduced soon after. Interestingly, many companies
invested heavily in the development of systems such plans, but very few actually
implementation.

Program generators have been also established during this period. This included
The report could interpret the data and has become a natural part of the
repertoire DBMS products. It also included products which could generate
program source code (mainly COBOL) from specifications. This
These products include System-80 (Phoenix Systems), GENASYS (Generation
Science), and JASPOL (J-Sys Japan), to name a few.

MBA has also introduced a generator of its own in 1979 – generating systems
Initially named ADF (Automated Design Facility) which could automatically
the design of entire systems, with an integrated database. Based on
information requirements presented by a systems analyst, ADF interacted
with "pride" Dictionary-LOGIK data to design new systems and, where
appropriate modify existing systems. Because of its link with LOGIK ADF
stressed the need to share and reuse information resources. Not only
Was it useful as a design tool, but it was a practical tool for the documentation
systems. The only drawback was the ADF of the state of mind
industry was shifting from systems software. Therefore, program
generators captured the imagination of the industry, as opposed to the ADF.

Increasing power computer, coupled with new programming
tools and techniques, has caused a change in perspective in MIS organizations. Now
these departments was dominated by programmers, not people systems. It
here that the job title of "Systems Analyst" and "Programming" married
to form a new title of "Programmer / Analyst" with the emphasis on
programming and not on the front-end design systems. Many managers erroneously
believed that the developers have not been productive as they were
programming. Instead of "Ready, Aim, Fire", the trend has become, "Fire, Aim,
Ready.

Data management organizations floundered during this period with
Except for data base administrators (DBAs), who were considered the
servants of the DBMS.

The proliferation software during this decade has been so great that
resulted in the software industry. This went far beyond
services computer and programming tools. It included all systems
for banking, insurance and manufacturing. Consequently, companies have
likely to purchase and install these systems compared to reinvent
wheel. On the downside though, is that they normally required
adapt to meet the needs of the customer who is changing the
program source code. In addition, the data requirements client had
be considered to ensure that there was no conflict in how the customer
used and the data affected. After the package has been installed, the
client was faced with the problem being modified and improved
system according to their evolving needs.

1980 – TOOL-ORIENTED APPROACH

As iron grew larger over the years 1960 and 1970, computer manufacturers
identified the need for small computers used by small and medium enterprises
companies. In the 1970s, people were skeptical about their usefulness, but
In the 1980s their power and sophistication causing mini "computer"
gain in popularity as a general purpose business machine or dedicated
a specific system. Among the most popular the "mini" computers were:

• IBM System 36/38 series (which led to the AS/400)
• DEC PDP series (which gave rise to the VAX DEC / VMS)
• Hewlett-Packard HP-3000 series with BEP
• Data General Eclipse series with the AM
• PRIME

The competition is fierce in the "mini" market which has led to
significant improvements and best value products for the customer.
Contributed to the success of the mini has been the adoption of UNIX
developed by Bell Labs, a powerful multi-user multi-tasking system operating
which was eventually adopted by most if not all manufacturers, mini.

But the major change in hardware IT is not the mainframe,
or the mini, it has been "micro" computer that was popularized by
Apple in the late 1970. IBM countered with his computer (PC)
in the early 1980s. Initially, the microphone was considered nothing more than
curiosity, but it quickly gained popularity because of its low cost,
and a variety of "apps" for word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, and
desktop publishing. This drew on a wildfire, like so many microphones distributed through
desktop computers like the plague.

In the mid-1980s, the "micro" (Including the PC) had won power
and sophistication. So much so that a series of graphics products based
have been used for developing software to support of structured programming
movement of the 1970s. These tools have been dubbed "CASE" (Computer Aided
Software Engineering) allowing developers to take their favorite software
Technical charts without a pen and paper. Pioneer CASE
Index included technology, Knowledgeware, Systems visible, Texas
Instruments and Nastec, and many others. CASE tools has taken the industry
by the storm with almost all MIS organizations to purchase a copy, either
experiments or for the complete development application. As popular as tools
were first, there is little evidence that they produce all the major systems, but
On the contrary, contributed to the design of a single program.

Recognizing the potential of different tools case, IBM in the late
1980, developed an integrated development environment that includes IBM
products as well as others, and the law he "AD / Cycle. However, IBM
soon had problems with third-party vendors in the acceptance
technical standards that would allow an integrated environment. Consequently,
the product has failed shortly after launch. In fact, the
CASE market prosperity was short lived because customers do not understand
savings and productivity gains that touted by vendors. By
early 1990s, the market has been in sharp decline CASE.

Instead, companies Established turned programmer who understood
an all-in-one set of basic tools for programming, such as assembly, testing,
and debugging. Microsoft Micro Focus and has done particularly well in providing
such products.

Database Management Systems has also taken a significant turn in 1980s
with the advent of "relational tables produced" involving keys. The
concept of "relational" model has been originally developed by IBM
Fellow and mathematician Edgar (Ted) Codd in a paper in 1970. Concept
a relational DBMS exceeded the earlier and hierarchical network
models in terms of ease of use. The problem was the amount of
computing power necessary to operate, a problem that has been
overcome in the 1980s. Accordingly. new products like Oracle DBMS
Ingres have been introduced which quickly surpassed their older competitors. There
was an initial effort to convert DBMS pillars such as TOTAL, Adabas, and
IDMS relational products, but it was too little, too late. As for IBM,
They simply re-branded their flagship product, IMS, as a transaction processor "
and introduced a completely new offering, DB2, which quickly dominated the
mainframe DBMS market.

generating program has continued to do well in the 1980s but it was during
this period that the 4GL (fourth generation languages) have been introduced to
accelerate the program. The 4GL was a natural extension of the DBMS and
provided a convenient way to develop programs to interpret the data in the
database.

Another development worth noting is the evolution of the data dictionary
in "deposits" (also called "Encyclopedia") used to store
a description of all information resources of an organization. One of the
motivating factors behind this was IBM (for AD / Cycle) who realized they
need some kind of coherent link to the various CASE tools to interface. This
Another area launched by MBA who presented their "pride"-Enterprise
Engineering Methodology (EEM) to study a business and formulate a
Enterprise Strategy information, and "Pride" Engineering Database
Methodology (DBEM) to expand the database of the company, both logical
and physically. To implement these new methods, their
"Pride"-LOGIK dictionary has been expanded to include business models, and
data models. In so doing, MBA renamed "pride"-LOGIK the "pride"-MRI
(Information Resource Manager) which complements the design of
Information resources management.

Regarding infrastructure MIS, two changes Notable were made;
first was the introduction of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) as the first
described the popular book, "Information Systems Management in Practice"
(McNurlin, Sprague) in January 1986. Basically, the Director MIS high
a senior management level, where, theoretically, he / she works on the
same level as the Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Financial Officer
(CFO) of a company. In reality, this never really happened and, in many
case, the title "CIO" is nothing more than a name change, not size.
The second change is the change in job title of "Programmer" for "Software
Engineer. "Again, we are concentrating on the semantics. It is true that many
programmers of the 1980 studied Structured programming, but
very few really understood the nature of engineering as it applies to
most software coders are only glorified. However, the Software "
Engineer "title is still actively used today. In contrast, the last
real "systems analysts" gradually disappeared. Here too the evidence
the shift of software systems.

During the 1980s, we have also seen the emergence of MBAs graduating from
business schools and working their way through the business landscape. Although
they did not have an immediate impact on the world systems, they had a spectacular
effect on the psyche of the company. Their work led to serious cutbacks in business
downsizing and outsourcing. It changed the mentality of companies think
Short-term versus long term. Following that, companies hesitate to
large systems projects (such as GIS projects 1960s) and were content
the fight against small assignments programmer, and therefore the term "app" was coined
describe a single application program.

Interestingly, a "quality" movement has flourished in the 1980s on the basis of
work of W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran, a pioneer of quality
principles of control in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, their
Early work has been misunderstood in America and, therefore, they asked
their talents to help rebuild the industrial complex of the postwar Japan. It was
only later in life they have received recognition for their work in
United States (after Japan became an economic power). Another
influential factor was the introduction of ISO 9000 for quality
management that was originally designed by the British and later adopted as
an international standard. Little attention has been paid to likely
ISO 9000 if it was not the fact that European companies have begun to demand
compliance to do business with their companies.

However, these factors resulted in a reorientation of America
companies to think in terms of product development quality,
Inevitably affected how systems and software have been produced. The real impact
the quality movement but would not be felt in systems to the world
the next decade.

To summarize the 1980s from a systems development perspective, the focus
moved away from mainframes to smaller programming assignments that
have been implemented using tools developed this new case. This fostered a "tool-oriented
approach to development that companies have spent much on
latest programming tools, but slightly ahead of management and systems
work. In other words, they bought in the provider claims of improved
programmer productivity through the use of tools. Unfortunately, this resulted
in the patchwork system that required more time in maintenance, as opposed to
modifying or improving systems. "Fight against "Fire has become normal
mode of development.

1990 – Rediscovery

As the PC gained in stature, networking has become very important
companies so that workers can collaborate and communicate on a
common level. Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN)
seemed clear overnight. As the power of the PC and the capacity has increased,
became evident that companies are no longer needed to support mainframe
and minis. Instead, dedicated machines have been developed for control and
share computer files, hence the birth of client / server ", where
client computers on a network interacted with file servers. It does not
completely negate the need for mainframes and minis (which have also been
used as file servers), but it had a significant impact on sales. Business
Mainframes still required to process large transactions and extensive
number-crunching, but the trend has been away from big iron.

Thank you to the small size of the PC companies have longer need a large
Maintain the computer room. Instead, computers have been held
in closets and under desks. This is become so pervasive that companies do
longer knew where their rooms were more computers. Somehow, the
distribution computers and networks closely resembled the nervous system
the human body.

One of the key elements that made this possible is the introduction
Intel 30386 (or "386") which allowed processing chip 32-bit. To
use this new technology, new operating systems have been made, the
first being IBM OS / 2 in the late 1980s. OS / 2, provided that such things
virtual memory, multitasking and multithreading, network connectivity,
crash protection, a new High Performance File System, and a smooth object
office oriented. Frankly, there was nothing else out there that could
match it. Unfortunately, Microsoft bullied his way from OS / 2 with
Windows 95 and NT. In the late 1990s, OS / 2 has been completely forgotten
by its supplier, IBM. Nevertheless, he been the advent of 32-bit computing
the customer actually does / server computing a reality.

Another step important during this decade was the adoption of the
Internet by U.S. companies. The Internet has really started to late
1960 under the Ministry of Defence and was then opened to other
government agencies and academics. But it was not until 1990 that
companies have begun to appreciate the Internet as a communications and
average marketing.

The first web browser was developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990,
led to the protocol of the World Wide Web on the Internet. the Fast Web Browsers
including Mosaic, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer
among others. The beauty of the Internet was that all computers could
now access the Internet regardless of operating system, which makes
truly universal approach to access data. To write a web page, a simple
language tag was designed, Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), which was
compiled at the application to display the web page. HTML has been good to
developing simple static web pages (not much interaction, simply display the
Web page). The developers then invented new techniques to make a web page
more dynamic allowing individuals to enter data and interact with files,
ultimately allowing the marketing of products on the Internet.

Wanting to do something more sophisticated through Web browser,
Sun Microsystems developed the Java programming language in 1995. Java
is a universal programming language, capable of operating under exploited
system. Their mantra is "write once, run everywhere." This was a radical
start programming in the past where it was necessary to recompile
programs to meet the specifics of an operating system. Basically
Java is the relevance of the operating system, to the chagrin of Microsoft. In addition,
Java can be used in small handheld devices as well as in new generation
computer power automobiles. This did not sit well with Microsoft
finally beat the spread of Java.

By the 1990s, the movement, structured programming had misfired. Instead,
"Object Oriented Programming (OOP) have gained popularity. The concept of OOP
was to develop packages of code for the model of real world entities such as customers,
products and transactions. OOP has had a profound effect on Java as well as
C + + programming language.

During this time, source code generators removed from sight. Certainly companies were
still use report writers and 4GL, but the focus turned to "Visual Programming"
Benches have been programming with screen painting tools for layout
inputs and outputs.

The motion was Relational DBMS still in high gear, but the use of deposits
Data Dictionaries and drop significantly. Of interest was whether
introduction of "Object Oriented Data Base Management" (OODBMS)
technology. Like the POO, the data were organized in a DBMS according to real world
entities. Nevertheless, Relational DBMS dominated the field.

Also during this decade "Data Mining" became popular that companies were
provided tools to gather data from their DBMS. This effort was essentially an admission
that companies must learn to live with the redundancy of data and not be concerned
development of a data environment managed basis.

Because of radical changes in hardware and software, companies have become
concerned with their aging "Legacy" systems that developed over the last thirty years. In
migrate to this new technology, a motion was created called "Business Process
Re-engineering (BPR). This is encouraging in the sense that companies were
start thinking again in terms of overall business systems and not only
programs. I'm not sure I agree with the use of the term "Re-engineering" if;
This implies that something has been designed in the first place (which was not
cases in these systems more old).

However, CASE-like tools were introduced to define the business processes. Suddenly
Business talk things like "workflow", "ergonomics" and
"Organizational, subjects who had not been discussed for twenty years during the frenzy of
Structured Programming movement. Ultimately, all this leads to the rediscovery of
systems analysis; there were more systems than software. But this time,
All systems analysts oldest company retirement or put out to pasture,
leaving a gap in knowledge systems. Therefore, the industry began to relearn
systems theory, with many missteps.

The companies at that time were still difficult to design an appropriate development
environment. Most are content simply to maintain their current systems
in anticipation of the pending Y2K (Year 2000) problem (where the date fields are
change 19XX 20XX which companies could potentially stop). But
few companies have begun to examine ways to apply more scientific principles to the
production systems. Since people were already talking about "Software
Engineering, "why not to apply principles of manufacturing engineering /
Total system development?

Back in the early 1980s, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)
coordinated a handful of Japanese computer manufacturers in the establishment a
unique environment for the production system software such as operating systems
and compilers. This effort came to be known as the Japanese "Software Factories"
that captured the imagination of the industry. Although experience
ended with mixed results, they found the organization and discipline
could significantly improve productivity.

Why experience? Mainly because the Japanese recognized ago
basically two approaches to making nothing, "one at a time" or
mass production. Both approaches are consistent and can produce a large
quality product. The difference lies in the fact that mass production offer
increased volume at lower cost. In addition, workers can be easily formed
and put into production. On the other hand, that "to time "approach is
slower and generally higher costs. It requires workers to be intimate with
all aspects of the product.

MBA has taken a step further by introducing their concept of information "
Factory "in the early 1990. The plant information was a comprehensive
development environment that works concept MBA Information
Management resources. Basically, they drew an analogy between the development
systems in a manufacturing facility engineering /, with assembly lines
materials management and production control. These concepts have been proven
in companies across Japan, especially of the BEST Japan
which was sponsored by the Ministry of Finance. As background, the Ministry
wanted to burn the west in terms of banking systems. To do this, they
assembled a team of over 200 analysts and programmers of four high
Trust banks in Japan Yasuda Trust & Banking, Mitsubishi Trust & Banking,
Nippon Trust & Banking and Chuo Trust & Banking. In implementing the MBA
concepts they could offer more than 70 major integrated systems in less
three years. In addition, because they had control of their information
resources using a philosophy of materials management, the Y2K problem
never surface.

In terms of infrastructure, organizations development mainly
unchanged with PGD in the top of the pyramid and supported by
Software engineers and DBAs. But there was a slight difference
instead of being called an MIS or IS department, the organization has been
now known as "IT" Information Technology (). Again, the note names
the management of most organizations have taken.

Finally, the 1990s marked a change in physical appearance
the labor market. function of formal links and gives way to casual polo shirts and
Docker pants. In Initially, casual attire, was allowed only on certain days
(For example, Friday), but it ended up becoming the normal mode of dress. Unfortunately
many people abused the privilege and dressed slovenly work. This has
a subtle but noticeable effect on work habits, including how we build systems.

2000's – Gadgets

We have now moved to half this decade and there is nothing
substance to report in terms of hardware, other than our machines
got faster, smaller, with even more capacity. Perhaps the greatest innovation
in this regard is the wide variety of gadgets that have been introduced, all
interface with the PC, including: personal digital assistants (PDAs), iPods,
MP3 players, digital cameras, portable CD / DVD (and burners), cell phones,
PS2 and Xbox game players. These devices are intended to communications or
Entertainment giving us greater mobility, but making us a little dysfunctional
socially. All this means that the computer has become an integral part of
our lives, not only at work but at home though.

Shortly after taking the reins of IBM in 2003, CEO Sam Palmisano has presented
"On-Demand Computing" the thrust of the company for years to come, inevitably,
it marks his legacy. Concept as described by Palmisano was simple,
EDP as a public service by which a company can leverage IBM
computer resources necessary. "On-Demand Computing" has a beautiful
slogan and was quickly picked up by the press, but many people
were a loss of what he was. Some of the rapid
resulting from IBM e-Business On Demand "research included balancing Load
on file servers, which is logical. But IBM is taking the analogy may
too far in stressing that "on demand" is the way by which companies should
perform in the future. Basically, the theory suggests that we abandon the planning capacity
and rely on outside suppliers to save the day. In addition, it involves computers
supersede the corporate systems they are supposed to serve. Instead of
understand the systems that runs a business, just take as many computer
resources you need to solve a problem. It's like putting the cart before
horse.

The "on demand" movement has transformed in Service Oriented Architecture "
(SOA) where vendors set up on-demand "applications that
care tasks such as payroll, marketing, etc. via the Internet. Again, all this
sounds good, but as far as I can see, this is hardly different from that Service
offices, such as ADP, which for years provided facilities for such treatment. Now
companies are invited to share their internal programs for third
products. I do not see how this is different than buying another packaged
solution, other than outside will be taking care of your software.

The need to build software more quickly reached a climax. So much so,
bodied methodologies development have been abandoned in favor of
This is called "Agile" or "Extreme Programming" which are essentially
quick and dirty methods for writing software using programming power
tools. To their credit, those touting these approaches recognize this is limited
a software (not all systems) and is not a substitute for a comprehensive approach
methodology. Agile / Extreme Programming gains much attention
in the press.

Then we come to "Enterprise Architecture" which is derived from a document
written by John A. Zachman IBM who observed that it was possible to apply
Architecture Principles for Development systems. This question is closely
related to consultants who extol the virtues of capturing business rules "
is essentially a refinement of the entity-relationship (ER) diagrams
techniques popularized a decade earlier with CASE tools.

As in the 1990s, concepts such as "Enterprise Architecture" and "business rules"
Significantly industry trying to reinvent systems theory.

CONCLUSIONS

As hardware, the trend over the past fifty years in systems
development is to think small. The developers operate in a fit of rage
write programs within 90 days. Interestingly, they all know that
enterprise systems are important, but they are content to attack each
program at a time. In addition, there appears to be little interest in their work
be compatible with others and systems integration is someone
problem. You often hear the excuse: "We do not have time to do things
right. " Translation: "We have enough time to do evil things." Any shortcut
pass through a project is to streamline and promising new tool improved
productivity has been purchased. When companies try to tackle large systems
(Which is rare) it is usually met with disaster. Therefore, companies
are less confident in their abilities and shy away from development large system
projects.

Business Management is naive in terms of understanding the value of
information and have not learned how to use it to obtain a competitive advantage
(Unlike their foreign competitors). In addition, they are not aware of the problems of
systems development. They believe that their systems are being developed with a strong
degree of expertise, they are integrated, and they are easy to maintain
and update. The executives are shocked when they discover it is not the case.

Problems with current systems are no different than fifty years:

• information needs of end users are not satisfied.
• material did not have systems, which makes maintenance and upgrades difficult.
• integration have not systems.
• The redundancy of corporate data sheets databases.
• Projects are rarely delivered on time and on budget.
• The quality suffers.
• development staff are constantly fighting fires.
• The backlog of improvements seems to decrease, but increases.

Although the computer uses mechanical lever for the implementation
systems, it also favored an approach based development tool systems. Rather
to step back and looking at our systems on a technical / Manufacturing
perspective, it is apparently easier and less painful to purchase a tool to solve a
problem. It's like take a pill when surgery is really necessary. What
is less necessary tools and management. If we construct bridges in the same way
we build systems in this country, it would be a nation run by ferryboats.

The impact of the computer was so great on systems that industry
elevation of the stature of programmers and forced the population to nearly Systems
extinction. Fortunately, the industry has discovered that more
systems as programming and, therefore, is currently
rediscover the basic theory of systems. Some of the ideas put forward are really
imaginative, others are nothing more than extensions of the theory of programming,
and others are just plain nonsense. In other words, the systems world is still ongoing
by pain more like a teenager who learns things and issues
experience.

I was very lucky to see many This story first hand. I
changes observed not only in terms of systems and computers, but also
how the press has changed and the profession in general. It
was an interesting turn.

During this time, there were very intelligent people who
have impacted the industry, there was also a good charlatans years
but there were a handful of true geniuses, one that was
Robert W. Beamer who died just a couple of years. Bob
was the father of ASCII, without which we would not computers
Today, the Internet, billions of dollars belonging to Bill Gates, or
document.

About the Author

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has 30 years of experience in the field. He is available for training and consulting on an international basis.
He can be contacted at: timb001@phmainstreet.com

Copyright © 2006 MBA. All rights reserved.

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