An overview of the development of large computer systems and the problems management may face. The practical guidelines of the book are aimed at project managers and associated technical staff with a view to improving their control over costs and time scale. Amongst its many features, it provides guidelines on managing the design process and verifying its reliability to meet objectives; includes a detailed method for planning and estimating with a novel approach to system text planning; justifies the planned approach to costing and time scale; and illustrates examples with several case studies.