Why the Need for a New SEM?
Why the need for a new SEM?
SEM was introduced in 1983 and its basic principles have been maintained ever since. PSE can be justifiably proud of the long history behind its development method. Since it was first introduced, however, software development has changed completely. Most people in those days were using mainframes and a few had moved to modern workstations. Virtually no-one was using a PC.

The time had therefore come for a serious revision: It was decided to incorporate new developments alongside the many successful elements which had stood the test of time. A number of important themes are set out below:

You may have asked yourself "What about prototyping?". Today modern graphical development environments are making increasing use of prototyping. What method can be used so that the resultant code can be maintained and the product can be further developed? - stdSEM now supports a separate Prototyping "phase".
A further new theme: Adaptation instead of development. More than ever before, software is being adapted rather than being developed from scratch. Existing (possibly only half-finished) solutions are being adapted, parameterized or augmented for new purposes and operating environments. This can lead to faster and cheaper products.
A third aspect is the usability of SEM: Many staff wanted more tools and checklists for daily practice and also wanted these to be more specific. As a result, all word templates were revised in terms of content and were redesigned into annotated tables of contents. There are now also far more checklists and tips for activities. In addition, stdSEM is now available in hypertext form on the Siemens intranet. This has many advantages, e.g. you always have the latest version online and can also access the specific information you require.
An abstract set of rules is now also available in the form of a process model (SEM-VM), with several specific method descriptions (derived methods) deriving from this. This ensures a general set of rules which is compliant with ISO and helps reduce the gap between the (abstract) development method and the (specific) projects.
stdSEM is a general method description for SW development and maintenance as well as for non-SW projects (consultancy, services, development of organizational solutions, etc.).
Note: The terms encountered above (SEM-VM, stdSEM, etc.) will be explained in detail on the following pages.
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