by Chris Rupp

The systems development industry is frequently shaken by negative reports, such as the mishaps and delays that plagued the Toll Collect system in Germany or cars that break down due to software defects. Many people wonder what it is that ails modern systems development. Why is it so hard to build systems that realize user requirements when our technology allows us to do almost anything? Are systems engineers losers when it comes to communicating about the requirements? Can the problem be solved by an agile process and direct communication between system users and developers? If so, which fields of knowledge must be added to an agile process in order to ensure that knowledge transfer works?