Life-cycle compression is the process of reducing the elapsed time for development from whatever it normally is to a shorter time. The expression “Internet time” generally refers to compression of the development life cycle from its usual elapsed time to 50% or less.

Companies attempt to compress their development life cycles because of competitive pressure. With the introduction of increased competition in every industry that incorporates software, and the wide variety of software development techniques in use today, no matter how long it takes you to build software, some other company will find a way to deliver a similar product faster.