Lesson
Standardize the system environment.
Utah DOT’s experience using configuration management.
4/1/2003
Salt Lake City,Utah,United States
Background (Show)
Lesson Learned
Standardize the system environment.
With a system deployed over the course of many years, one of the challenges is how to incorporate advancements in technology without ending up chasing technological fads. Interviews with UDOT staff identified concerns about how fragmented the technology is associated with the ATMS application. Without an extensive review of the technical design decisions, it is impractical (and unfair) to second-guess decisions made over the course of a four phase deployment effort. However, agencies should be cautioned in the future to be aware that every “new” innovation in “off-the-shelf” software comes with its own set of bugs, software licenses, languages, interdependencies, etc. A quick review of the Architecture Alignment document completed in Phase IV shows the varied software and development environments required to duplicate what is currently in place.
An example of this need to “standardize” the environment can be shown with a review of Phase IV development activity. Unified Modeling Language (UML) design methodology was utilized by the contractor for the design and development activity. UDOT staff indicated that they were not prepared to support such a change in methodology and did not have anyone on staff with that capability. This minimized the technical review provided by the agency staff. Therefore, it was recommended by staff that the agency determines its preferred design methodology and require the contractor to support that approach.
With a system deployed over the course of many years, one of the challenges is how to incorporate advancements in technology without ending up chasing technological fads. Interviews with UDOT staff identified concerns about how fragmented the technology is associated with the ATMS application. Without an extensive review of the technical design decisions, it is impractical (and unfair) to second-guess decisions made over the course of a four phase deployment effort. However, agencies should be cautioned in the future to be aware that every “new” innovation in “off-the-shelf” software comes with its own set of bugs, software licenses, languages, interdependencies, etc. A quick review of the Architecture Alignment document completed in Phase IV shows the varied software and development environments required to duplicate what is currently in place.
An example of this need to “standardize” the environment can be shown with a review of Phase IV development activity. Unified Modeling Language (UML) design methodology was utilized by the contractor for the design and development activity. UDOT staff indicated that they were not prepared to support such a change in methodology and did not have anyone on staff with that capability. This minimized the technical review provided by the agency staff. Therefore, it was recommended by staff that the agency determines its preferred design methodology and require the contractor to support that approach.
States
Countries
Systems Engineering
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Detailed Design
Systems Engineering Project/Technical Management
Focus Areas
None defined
Goal Areas
Keywords
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Lesson ID: 2005-00098
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