22,377 research outputs found
An evaluation tool for design quality: PFI sheltered housing
The complex procurement process entailed by the private finance initiative (PFI) means that clients need new capacities to manage their relationships with bidders and to assess project proposals if the desired level of design quality is to be achieved. To assist local authorities in their client role, a new Architectural Design Quality Evaluation Tool was developed. The aim was to improve the quality of design in residential sheltered housing, procured through the PFI. The tool was developed for and applied to a programme that will see the replacement of a local authority's entire sheltered housing stock. The tool has two functions: (1) to inform the client's assessment process and assist with the selection of the preferred bidding consortium through a series of stages in the PFI process; and (2) to improve the quality of all the submitted designs through an iterative process. Although several existing mechanisms are available for evaluating the performance attributes of buildings, few also tackle the less tangible amenity attributes, which are vital to the feeling of home. The new tool emphasizes the amenity attributes without neglecting performance
An empirical study of architecting for continuous delivery and deployment
Recently, many software organizations have been adopting Continuous Delivery
and Continuous Deployment (CD) practices to develop and deliver quality
software more frequently and reliably. Whilst an increasing amount of the
literature covers different aspects of CD, little is known about the role of
software architecture in CD and how an application should be (re-) architected
to enable and support CD. We have conducted a mixed-methods empirical study
that collected data through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 21
industrial practitioners from 19 organizations, and a survey of 91 professional
software practitioners. Based on a systematic and rigorous analysis of the
gathered qualitative and quantitative data, we present a conceptual framework
to support the process of (re-) architecting for CD. We provide evidence-based
insights about practicing CD within monolithic systems and characterize the
principle of "small and independent deployment units" as an alternative to the
monoliths. Our framework supplements the architecting process in a CD context
through introducing the quality attributes (e.g., resilience) that require more
attention and demonstrating the strategies (e.g., prioritizing operations
concerns) to design operations-friendly architectures. We discuss the key
insights (e.g., monoliths and CD are not intrinsically oxymoronic) gained from
our study and draw implications for research and practice.Comment: To appear in Empirical Software Engineerin
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