IT assest/project management

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Four IT projects are discussed as a portfolio, the various pitfalls are discussed that need to be avoided and the investment and returns on investment are tabulated for the four projects in alignment with the required timing of the returns. From the payback analysis one can decide when one would like to have its investment back so that the investment can be used in future projects.
LEGACY
The LEGACY works with British Aerospace operating companies to advance the technology of high integrity aerospace computing systems. The Newcastle group concentrates on the accurate representation, analysis and tracing of system requirements. Techniques have been developed to represent safety requirements, including timing properties, to a high level of rigor, leading on to systematic representation of design strategies, with the ability to prove the strategies against the safety requirements. Work on formal methods support includes development of accessible notations for the representation of timing, functionality and system structure. Traceability work aims to provide a systematic linkage between requirements and the parts of the system design that purport to satisfy them. All developments are regularly tested against case studies supplied by the operating companies of BAe. The strategic importance is of this project is not very high now nor is it likely to be high in future and the financial returns will reflect the strategic importance.
The strategic importance of this project is that it is targeted at a reliable segment and is likely to get work in future. Even though the returns are the lowest in this project, now and in the long run, the strategic importance of this project is that further projects can be expected from BA in future. This project is important for cultivating a relationship.

FALLING STARS
The overall objective of FALLING STARS is the creation of a methodology and supporting open tool platform for the cost effective rigorous development of dependable complex software systems and services.
The project focuses on tackling complexity (i) caused by the environment in which the software is to operate; (ii) which comes from poorly conceived architectural structure.
Mastering complexity requires design techniques that support clear thinking and rigorous validation and verification. Formal design methods do so. Coping with complexity also requires architectures that are tolerant of faults and unpredictable changes in environment. This is addressed by fault tolerance design techniques dealing with faults in the system environment, faults of the individual component, component mismatches, as well as errors affecting interacting components.
The project will develop a unified methodology combining formal methods with fault tolerance design principles by using a systems approach, where both software and environment are modeled together. We will tackle complex architectures: the systems approach will support the construction of appropriate abstractions and provide ...