JESS: Re: Re: A New Dawn Breaking in Software (Rules) Engineering ??

[Rich Halsey]

I agree.   And, this is NOT a one-shot affair - the CEO/CFOs of EVERY publicly-held US corporation have to sign off EVERY year that their IT systems are not "cooking the books".   So, future software development should be more rigorous than in the past.   I also wonder if these same corporations are already setting into motion the means to "reverse engineer" what they already have in order to satisfy Federal auditors ?? I have heard statements to this effect (on TV financial channels).   And, this being a "rules engine" mailing list then my main questions are (1): are IT managers prepared to perform rigorous engineering practices w/r/t to rules ?? , (2) are IT managers prepared to reverse-engineer existing rule-based systems ??, and (3) are rule engine vendors prepared to supply the requisite tools for reverse-engineering these system ??     ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Knapik To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 3:21 PM Subject: JESS: Re: A New Dawn Breaking in Software (Rules) Engineering ?? It means that good design documentation/artifacts will have to be produced, including appropriate test-suites.  Corps will have to be at least at an SEI level of 3 to muster the documentation and "proof" that a documented process is converted/mapped into operational software accurately.  Some companies/sectors are already doing that - industrial control (where provably-correct control algorithms have been in use for decades) and pharmaceuticals manufacturing for example, where you have boomable processes or consumable goods respectively.  Financial companies and financial groups within companies will have to make/buy software that has corresponding levels of the CMM met.   ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich Halsey To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 1:46 PM Subject: JESS: A New Dawn Breaking in Software (Rules) Engineering ?? I am being advised that the dawn of a whole new era of software engineering is about to happen, i.e., legislation by the US Congress is now forcing US corporations to comply with new financial reporting standards and by extension it means that IT shops will now have to prove to Federal auditors that their applications are not "cooking the data" which could be used to "cook the books". I would take this to mean that Federal auditors can demand to be shown that the existing IT system code corresponds EXACTLY to the engineering documentation (if it even exists !!) and corporations that cannot produce proof of this will fall of a cloud of suspicion. This seems to be leading to the P.O.P. Syndrome (Probability of Prosecution) as witnessed by ENRON, WorldCom and others because the legislation directly targets the CEO and CFO of any publicly held US corporation.   So, how many IT shops can document how their (non-deterministic) rules systems actually work ?? Or, how many IT shops can do a "show and tell" on any of their systems to the satisfaction of Federal IT auditors ?? OBTW, all systems that have been off-shored now have the same requirements if the data ultimately feeds to the financial reporting systems - just how much does NOT ???? So, it seems that all off-shored work will now be under a glaring microscope just like the US work.   This all seems to imply that the days of "web speed" software development may be nearing an end, and the re-emergence of "acid tested" software is about to begin. Is the industry up to this - from what I have seen over the years, IT shops may need an "attitude adjustment" from the CEO/CFO levels.