Successful Development Strategies for Business Application Systems*

In a field study of thirty-two business application systems, the relationship between the time spent in various phases of the development life cycle and the outcome of the development was examined. Results indicate that systems which spent more time in the analysis phase required less time to code, resulted in greater user satisfaction, and were developed in agreement with established budgets and deadlines. These results suggest preferred strategies for the development of application systems and have implications for their successful management and control.