Speed
But flexibility can be a double-edged sword: ensuring that
the final system will meet a complex set of requirements increases the risk of
delay. Too many changes can make a project seem never-ending. Yet all of these
projects were completed to tight deadlines. PA Consulting Group used its Rapid
Systems Development techniques and iterative prototyping in order to complete a
pilot version of JTrack within just eight weeks. London's congestion charging
scheme was implemented in two and a half years, one year less than an
independent study had predicted it would take. It took the Bradford Teaching
Hospital Trust only three months to pilot its new procurement system and assess
the benefits. Like flexibility, speed plays an important part in building the
credibility of a new system and increasing its take-up by users; if the people
implementing a system are taking it seriously, then those supposed to use it
will do so as well.