Achieving integration in a development environment

The potential for integrating tools into a software development environment has been discussed for the last 20 years. UK expertise contributed considerably to these discussions, for example in the Stoneman document which was produced for the US Department of Defence in the mid-70s. Since then, a number of general solutions have been suggested including IRDS and PCTE. As is all too familiar in the computer industry, the energy expended on technical solutions has been far greater than that used to determine how users will benefit from these solutions and, just as important, how users can manage integration projects to achieve these benefits. In this latter area, it is important to recognise that success depends on meeting needs, the majority of which are non-technical. For example, does the parent organisation recognise the change being made and its value; are the staff trained for change and do they understand why it is being introduced. The paper seeks to address these broader issues of integration, and to suggest ways that can contribute to success