Spiral Development: A Perspective

Abstract

Many view the Department of Defense's (DoD) acquisition process as ripe for repair. Shortcomings of predominantly used acquisition approaches, such as the Block approach or Pre-planned Product Improvement (P3I) to fulfill system requirements, have led to a new approach in Evolutionary Acquisition strategy: a process called spiral development. This research study focuses on the process, promise, and limitations of spiral development. The study is centered on the key issues that distinguish a spiral approach from the traditional approaches implemented by the DoD. This study describes the fundamentals of the process of spiral development: increments, characteristics of the increments, and the capabilities they deliver using a simple model. The interest of this research is in understanding the concept of spiral development as it applies, specifically, to Program Managers. In conclusion, the analysis so far suggests two key issues: the necessity for a template or a set of rules that will aid Program Managers in understanding and implementing the concept of spiral development, and the role of modularity in spiral development. This research plans to address these issues and provide a possible road map towards a solution to them.