The Antares Alliance Group has published RAD++, a rapid application development methodology it says will stop companies losing out on the business benefits of new systems development. The Amdahl Corp/Electronic Data Systems Corp joint venture says companies are not gaining the commercial benefits of new business systems, because information technology departments are failing to deliver new systems in time. Antares says it has distilled the methodology it has been successfully using for several years within major companies worldwide, into the absolute essentials, and published it in the form of a 180-page book. Bob Bowman, author of RAD++ and principal application systems consultant for Antares says the methodology radically reduces the elapsed time of a project, and enables the systems to be put place in time for companies to gain business advantage from them. The methodology focuses strongly on JRP Joint Requirements Planning, in which users and developers work closely together, but respects the fact that most users have day jobs to get on with. Many RAD offerings are naive, says Bowman, because they demand too much of users’ time. The company therefore advocates facilitated workshops, where all those involved get together for an intensive initial workshop to thrash out the business requirements, problems and project management constraints, and then follows this up with further intensive workshops during the life of the project. Bowman says the book is equally valid for business managers, as a tool to help them put demands on the IT department, and technology managers, to help them address the business issues of the project. Of course you don’t have to use Antares’ ObjectStar rapid application tools, but RAD++ plus ObjectStar does deliver the goods on time and on budget, so the company says.
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