Modelling the Strategic Alignment of Software Requirements using Goal Graphs

This paper builds on existing Goal Oriented Requirements Engineering (GORE) research by presenting a methodology with a supporting tool for analysing and demonstrating the alignment between software requirements and business objectives. Current GORE methodologies can be used to relate business goals to software goals through goal abstraction in goal graphs. However, we argue that unless the extent of goal-goal contribution is quantified with verifiable metrics and confidence levels, goal graphs are not sufficient for demonstrating the strategic alignment of software requirements. We introduce our methodology using an example software project from Rolls-Royce. We conclude that our methodology can improve requirements by making the relationships to business problems explicit, thereby disambiguating a requirement's underlying purpose and value.Comment: v2 minor updates: 1) bitmap images replaced with vector, 2) reworded related work ref[6] for clarit

Achieving the next level of Growth through Competitive Intelligence Practices: An Exploratory Study of Romanian

The paper explores the tool of Competitive Intelligence (CI) as an effective method of building one’s capability and focus and illustrates the benefits of gathering competitive intelligence by applying it on the top technology services firms in India. These results are then analysed in the light of the responses to the questionnaire administered to the selected three Romanian Offshore technology services providers. The study revolves around the key assumption that there is a set of factors common to all industry players whether in India or Romania, so it would be vital to collect information about how do these global competitors perceive their external environment and what strategies are they planning to adopt in order to grow in these competitive scenario. Given the growth targets set by these Romanian firms over the next five years and given the fact that there is no formal practice of gathering CI, the study recommends strategies for these Romanian players and builds a case for developing a Competitive Intelligence Plan by these firms in order to make the most of their capabilities and stay competitive

Information Systems and Software Engineering: The Case for Convergence

The Information Systems (IS) and Software Engineering (SE) fields share a remarkable number of similarities in their historical evolution to date. These similarities are briefly outlined below. An analysis of 10 years (2001-2010) of publications in the primary journals in both fields also reveals a good deal of overlap in research topics. Given the challenges faced by both as young disciplines, there is potentially much to gain from a closer interaction between both fields than has traditionally been the case. This article seeks to encourage such interaction, and illustrates how this might usefully occur in the area of design. It concludes by proposing a number of practical initiatives that could stimulate and facilitate interaction between the IS and SE field

DETERMINING THE IMPACT OF BUSINESS STRATEGIES USING PRINCIPLES FROM GOAL-ORIENTED MEASUREMENT

In practice, the success or failure of business strategies is often determined by management as a gut feeling without taking into account quantitative information. If data is collected, it is often unclear how the data contributes to higher-level goals of the organization. GQM+Strategies® provides mechanisms for explicitly linking measurement goals to higher-level goals, and also to goals and strategies at the level of the entire business. It is based on experiences with software-related organizations, but is intended to be applicable in all kinds of businesses. This article gives an overview of the basic concepts and presents a practical case

Координация проектной и текущей деятельности на основе Метамодели Согласования Стратегий в нефтегазовой компании

Purpose: the purpose of this article is to describe the Strategy Alignment Metamodel of the project and current activities, which allows us to connect the Goals and Strategies for Phases of the project with the Goals and Strategies of the company at all levels of the organization through targeted measurement and application of Interpretive Models. Building Networks of Goals and Strategies, and adopting organizational solutions, you coordinate the interaction of the Project office and departments of the company. This methodology is based on a Logical Rationale of the Contexts and Assumptions for establishing Goals and Strategies both for the project and for the company, and on preparation of Contexts and Assumptions, Goals and Strategies Alignment Matrices, which provides a flexible adaptation to the internal and external environment in the process of selecting the most successful Strategies to achieve the Goals. Methods: this article is based on the concept of Goals-Questions-Metrics+ Strategies, which is adapted as another concept of strategic monitoring and control system of projects: Goals-Phases-Metrics+Strategies. These concepts have formed the basis of the Strategy Alignment Metamodel, where a technology of Phases Earned Value Management is used as a measurement system for the project activity, and Balanced scorecard is applied for current operations. Results: strategy Alignment Metamodel of the project and current activities of the company is proposed hereby. It uses modern strategic monitoring and control systems for projects: Goals-Phases-Metrics+Strategies, and for the company: Goals-Questions-Metrics+ Strategies. The interaction between these systems is based on Contexts and Assumptions, Goals and Strategies Alignment Matrices. The existence of such matrices greatly simplifies management decisions and prevents the risk of delays in the execution of project Phases based on rational participation and coordination of the company’s departments. This model and the Networks of Goals and Strategies of the project and current activities, which are produced on its basis, have found practical application in the realization of construction project of production line of the LNG plant (Liquefied Natural Gas) and have led to effective communication between the Project office, departments and external stakeholders. Conclusions and Relevance: these studies show that the Strategy Alignment Metamodel is effective in the coordination of the project and current activities; as a result it is possible to agree the Contexts and Assumptions as well as Goals and Strategies. Forming Networks of Goals and Strategies, it is easier to monitor the activities of the departments of the company in case of their participation in the execution of the project phases and divide responsibilities between them. Application of Strategy Alignment Metamodel leads to better identification and management of risks that arise due to poor communication of the Project office with the departments of the company in delegation of works on the project Phases execution. Single database for Networks of Goals and Stretegies, Contexts and Assumptions, Goals and Strategies Alignment Matrices can serve as templates for future projects and training of the company’s project managers. Цель: Цель статьи состоит в том, чтобы описать Метамодель Согласования Стратегий проектной и текущей деятельности, которая позволяет связывать Цели и Стратегии Фаз проекта с Целями и Стратегиями компании на всех уровнях организационной структуры посредством их целенаправленного измерения и применения Интерпретационных Моделей. Выстраивая Сети Целей и Стратегий и принимая организационные решения, можно координировать взаимодействие Проектного офиса и департаментов компании. Данная методика основывается на Логическом Обосновании Контекстов и Допущений для установления Целей и Стратегий как для проекта, так и компании, на составлении Матриц Согласования Контекстов и Допущений, Целей и Стратегий и отличается гибкой адаптацией к внешней и внутренней среде в процессе выбора наиболее успешных Стратегий для достижений Целей. Методология проведения работы: Данная статья основана на концепции Цели-Вопросы-Метрика+Стратегии, которая адаптирована в качестве другой концепции системы стратегического мониторинга и контроля проектов: Цели-Фазы- Метрика+Стратегии. Эти концепции легли в основу Метамодели Согласования Стратегий, где в качестве системы измерения для проектной деятельности используется технология Управления Освоенным Объемом по Фазам, а для текущей деятельности – Сбалансированная Система Показателей. Результаты работы: Предложена Метамодель Согласования Стратегий проектной и текущей деятельности компании, использующая современные системы стрегического мониторинга и контроля для проектов Цели-Фазы-Метрика+Стратегии, а для компании – Цели-Вопросы-Метрика+Стратегии. Взаимодействие между этими системами осуществляется на основе Матриц Согласования Контекстов и Допущений, Целей и Стратегий. Наличие таких матриц значительно упрощает принятие управленческих решений и предотвращает риски задержек исполнения Фаз проекта на основе рационального участия и координации департаментов компании. Данная модель и составляемые на ее основе Сети Целей и Стратегий проектной и текущей деятельности нашли практическое применение при реализации проекта строительства производственной линии завода СПГ (Сжиженного Природного Газа) и привели к эффективным коммуникациям Проектного офиса, департаментов компании и внешних заинтересованных сторон. Выводы: Настоящие исследования показывают, что Метамодель Согласования Стратегий эффективна при координации проектной и текущей деятельности, в результате чего можно согласовывать Контексты и Допущения, Цели и Стратегии. Формируя сети Целей и Стратегий, легче проводить мониторинг деятельности департаментов компании в случае их участия по исполнению Фаз проекта и распределять ответственность между ними. Применение Модели Согласования Стратегий приводит к лучшей идентификации и управлению рисками, возникающими из-за неудовлетворительных коммуникаций Проектного офиса с департаментами компании при делегировании работ по исполнению Фаз проекта. Единая база данных для Сетей Целей и Стратегий и Матриц Согласования Контекстов и Допущений, Целей и Стратегий может служить в виде шаблонов для будущих проектов и обучения менеджеров проекта в компании

GOSSEC: Goal Oriented Software Sustainability Evaluation Criteria

The concepts of sustainability is now aware among the software engineering researchers.  It has direct and indirect impacts on three dimensions which are environment, economic and social that results from the development and implementation of the software. Although there are studies on software sustainability evaluation that defines the software sustainability criteria unfortunately, most of the studies are focusing on single criterion rather than come out with holistic criteria of software sustainability. Additionally, the studies also focused on what need to be measured instead of how to perform the evaluation systematically. This limitation was occurred due to lack of defining the measurement goal of each criteria of software sustainability dimensions. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a Goal Oriented Software Sustainability Evaluation Criteria and organize the sustainability criteria using Quality Function Deployment. On top of that, the Goal Oriented Software Sustainability Evaluation Criteria has been constructed using Goal Oriented Measurement approach by adapting the Goal Question Metric method to assist in defining the goal that clearly defined the purposes, perspectives, and point of views of measurement of software sustainability. Hence, the Goal Oriented Software Sustainability Evaluation Criteria provides nine (9) goals and thirty four (34) sub goals for measuring the software sustainability criteria and sub criteria. The findings from the study present a set of criteria and measurement goals which can be used for evaluating software sustainability. The criteria were organized into three dimensions which are environment, economic and social.   &nbsp

Probing Software Engineering Beliefs about System Testing Defects: Analyzing Data for Future Directions

Research findings are often expressed as short startling sentences or software engineering (SE) beliefs such as “about 80 percent of the defects come from 20 percent of the modules” and “peer reviews catch 60 percent of the defects” [2]. Such SE beliefs are particularly important in industry, as they are attention-getting, easily understandable, and thus practically useful. In this paper we examine the power of such SE beliefs to justify process improvement through empirical validation of selected beliefs related to the increase or decrease of defects in system testing. We explore four basic SE beliefs in data from two midsize embedded software development organizations in Japan, and based on this information, identify possible process improvement actions for each organization. Based on our study, even small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use this approach to find possible directions to improve their process, which will result in better products