104,650 research outputs found

    Factors Affecting Application Development Productivity:An Empirical Investigation

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    A recent survey [4] shows that 35% to 50% of software projects had an overrun in terms of the development effort and schedule. Such late deliveries of software tend to cause project backlogs on the order of 374% ofcurrent capacity [2]. Many factors have been suggested as root causes for going over the budget, such as inaccurate estimates, inept scheduling, and failure to recognize risks and plan accordingly. Considerable effort has been devoted to the study of software project management techniques to cure these problems [1]. On the other hand, some suggest that we should seek ways to make programmers more productive, just as Henry Ford made auto assembly workers more productive. For instance, Boehm [3] believes that there are opportunities to increase software productivity, and predicts that by 1995 a 20% improvement in software productivity will be worth US45billionintheUSandUS45 billion in the US and US90 billion world-wide. As a result, new methodologies and tools for software development have been suggested and developed in order to increase productivity and subsequently alleviate project backlogs. Representative examples include structured analysis and design, computer-aided software engineering (CASE), and fourth generation languages (4GLs). However, the impacts of these new methodologies and tools on productivity have not been clearly realized, and their use is often controversial [8]. Previous research [6,7] suggests that improving programming productivity requires much more than the isolated implementation of new technologies and policies. Unfortunately, the integration of the new technologies with strategies for managing the software development process, such as project and configuration management, characterization of project teams, and process control, has been largely overlooked [5] as a critical contributor to software productivity improvement. Thus, an integrated analysis, which covers both technological and managerial aspects of software development, is needed. Since there has been almost no research of this problem, we began with an exploratory study [9] that examined current practices in application systems development, focusing on utilization of productivity tools in information systems (I/S) organizations. The aim ofthe study was to develop an appreciation of the factors that might affect application development productivity. We found that an integration of technical and managerial interventions accounted for increased productivity. In the present study, we follow up on the exploratory study. Using hypotheses developed in [9], we are collecting data from a large sample of companies through a mail survey. Before proceeding to a detailed description of the research in progress, we present some concepts basic to understanding our research approach

    Aligning a Service Provisioning Model of a Service-Oriented System with the ITIL v.3 Life Cycle

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    Bringing together the ICT and the business layer of a service-oriented system (SoS) remains a great challenge. Few papers tackle the management of SoS from the business and organizational point of view. One solution is to use the well-known ITIL v.3 framework. The latter enables to transform the organization into a service-oriented organizational which focuses on the value provided to the service customers. In this paper, we align the steps of the service provisioning model with the ITIL v.3 processes. The alignment proposed should help organizations and IT teams to integrate their ICT layer, represented by the SoS, and their business layer, represented by ITIL v.3. One main advantage of this combined use of ITIL and a SoS is the full service orientation of the company.Comment: This document is the technical work of a conference paper submitted to the International Conference on Exploring Service Science 1.5 (IESS 2015

    What really matters? A qualitative analysis on the adoption of innovations in agriculture

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    The agricultural industry is confronted with the need of increasing the production to feed a growing population, and contemporarily to manage the decreased availability of natural resources. This major challenge boosts agriculture sector to adopt new approaches and technical innovations; anyway, the adoption of innovations in agriculture is not immediate, due to the interaction of many drivers that impact on individuals and enterprises’ decisions. This paper aims at providing a list of drivers for the adoption of technological innovations in agriculture, on the basis of the outcomes of in-depth interviews and focus groups performed in three European countries (Italy, Greece, Turkey). With specific reference to innovations, ease of use, effectiveness, usefulness, resource savings, and compatibility were mentioned as relevant features for an innovation to be adopted. Trials, demonstrations, experience and knowledge sharing, and support from qualified third parties were included among the facilitating factors for conveying and promoting innovations. Finally, public funding, agricultural policies and market conditions were identified as factors that may tip the balance in the process of innovations’ adoption

    The practice of risk management by cost consultants in Northern Ireland

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    This research endeavoured to explore the practice of risk management by cost consultants in Northern Ireland. It attempted to subjectively investigate the cost consultant’s appreciation of risk management practices and then further appraise the cost consultant’s understanding and usage of the theories and techniques available to manage risk under the risk management framework. A case study based approach involving five consultancy practices was adopted. A series of semi structured interviews (one per each case study) was carried out. The data collected was analysed using the Delphi technique. The practice of risk management for each organisation was documented using an analysis and evaluation of project documentation substantiated with interviews. The research indicated that consultants have a broad awareness of risk management but disparity exists on considering it as a core service. All consultants were unequivocal in identifying the need for an improved risk management framework. It was evident that there was a lack of knowledge of the array of risk identification and analysis techniques available. The research has established that there is a severe need to bridge the void between the theories and techniques used to manage risk and those which are implemented in practice. There is a necessity to train consultants in the practice of risk management and educate clients in the benefits of enforcing risk management practices as an integral part of project delivery

    Application of Web 2.0 technologies in e-government: A United Kingdom case study

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    Electronic government (e-Government) has endured significant transformation over the last decade and currently, it is making further leaps by incorporating modern technologies such as second generation web (Web 2.0) technologies. However, since the development and use of this kind of technology is still at its early stages in the public sector, research about the use of Web 2.0 in this domain is still highly tentative and lacks theoretical underpinning. This paper reports the preliminary findings of an in-depth case study in the United Kingdom (UK) public sector, which explore the application of Web 2.0 technologies in the local government authority (LGA). The findings elicited from the case study offer an insight into information systems (IS) evaluation criterions and impact factors of Web 2.0 from both a practical setting and an internal organisational perspective. This paper concludes that a combined analysis of the evaluation and impact factors rather than a singular approach would better assist the decision making process that leads to effective application of Web 2.0 technologies. It also highlights the significant impact and perceived effect of adoption of such technologies
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