A supplier convinced the satellite developer that they should instead include 65 commands on the chip. The rationale was that a more capable ASIC could be applied to many future satellites and better production would halve the unit cost. After a 500 percent overrun at the supplier and a corresponding delay of more than five years in the satellite program, the entire product approach was made obsolete by the introduction of RISC-based processors that could get the job done with about a dozen commands. Their suffering was not entirely without benefit. An entire generation of local program managers relearned the lesson that perfection is the enemy of good enough.
Databases are an example of concepts that typically expand as they evolve.
The Big Database in The Sky that meets everyone's data needs is the most likely to end up collapsing under its own weight and complexity. Product-line managers invariably prefer their unique solution. They like the unique approach because they invented it, and because most often it will be embedded within the product development program where the product manager can retain control and assure that delays to the product schedule are minimized. Financial types and executive management generally prefer the shotgun solution. They like the economies of scale that can be achieved when technology development costs are amortized by applying standard technology solutions across many company products.