Software projects continue to be developed 24x7 in every country in the world. The software shop or internal development group always vociferously argue that their project will save money. Millions of dollars will be typically spent. But what is the real lifetime of that software?
The answer is 2 years.
The reason for this varies but here are the contributing factors:
1) business requirements change
2) technologies change
3) software never meets the functionality need because it's late and or not finished
4) another group claims that they can replace the software with added efficiency using "new" technology and more strict methodologies in less time and with lower cost
Business requirements change over time and this inevitability leads directly to 4 on the list. How much money do you spend rebuilding the same software every two years? Why does new technology always justify a complete redesign?
