Analysis of Software Process Improvement Activities in SMEs: A Systematic Literature Review

This Software industry is a very significant cog in today’s economic landscape. The majority of these organizations mainly comprise small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These enterprises aim to benefit from Software Process Improvement (SPI) activities in producing high-quality products and services in competitive business environments. For this purpose, SPI models have been developed for specific SME characteristics. In this study, we performed a systematic literature review to analyze the characteristics of these SPI models, the challenges of performing SPI activities in SMEs, and the critical success factors for SPI activities. In this context, 61 articles published from 2007 to 2020 were examined, as a result, 28 SPI models used in SMEs were found out. In addition, ten different situations that make SPI implementations challenging in SMEs and seven factors that affect the success of SPI studies in SMEs were reported

A Management Maturity Model (MMM) for project-based organisational performance assessment

Common sense suggests that organisations are more likely to deliver successful projects if they have systems in place that reflect a mature project environment based on a culture of continuous improvement. This paper develops and discusses a Management Maturity Model (MMM) to assess the maturity of project management organisations through a customisable, systematic, strategic and practical methodology inspired from the seminal work of Darwin, Deming, Drucker and Daniel. The model presented is relevant to organisations, such as construction and engineering companies, that prefer to use the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™ Guide) published by the Project Management Institute (PMI), but without the disadvantages of excessive time and cost commitments and a ‘one size fits all’ approach linked to rigid increments of maturity. It offers a game-changing advance in the application of project-based organisational performance assessment compared to existing market solutions that are unnecessarily complex. The feasibility of MMM is field-tested using a medium-sized data centre infrastructure firm in Tehran

A managerial framework for an electronic government procurement project: complex software projects management fundamentals

An Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) project, as most of complex software systems development and implantation, requires sophisticated and strong managerial concepts and skills. So, an effective and consistent managerial framework is needed. Traditional project management models, that propose a series of good practices and tools, must be extended, modified and improved to face, as an example, Electronic Government (e-Government) applications. These additional capabilities are very important in the environment of e-GP projects. This paper describes a specific managerial framework adopted to face an e-GP project, at an argentine province level, with Inter American Development Bank supervision and finance support. The proposal includes a scheme where Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is complemented with Project Management Institute (PMI) points of view included at Project Management Body of Knowledge 3rd Edition (PMBOK) This paper could be useful for software engineers oriented to e-GP applications development and implantation, others e-Government applications and also, in general terms, in the field of complex e-Business projects.II Workshop de Ingeniería de Software y Bases de Datos (WISBD)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Towards a business-IT alignment maturity model for collaborative networked organizations

Aligning business and IT in networked organizations is a complex endeavor because in such settings, business-IT alignment is driven by economic processes instead of by centralized decision-making processes. In order to facilitate managing business-IT alignment in networked organizations, we need a maturity model that allows collaborating organizations to assess the current state of alignment and take appropriate action to improve it where needed. In this paper we propose the first version of such a model, which we derive from various alignment models and theories

The Forgotten Practices of Subcontracting.

For many software projects the complexity of the final product has increased to a level where it is impossible to build the whole application from the scratch. So, many organizations consider subcontracting as an option for software development. This paper shows generic problems related to software subcontracting. Also, an analysis of CMMI-DEV subcontracting practices to solve these problems is presented. The review also highlights that there are many critical management practices related to outsourcing to ensure a successful overall project

Identifying Key Software Development Practices in the English-Speaking Caribbean Using the Nominal Group Technique

This paper explains how a simplified process improvement framework was developed with practices from the capability maturity model integration (CMMI) model using the nominal group technique (NGT). The NGT was used to generate consensus on key software process improvement practices that are likely to lead to the improvement of the quality of information systems (IS) in the English-speaking Caribbean (ESC). We present the approach taken, the results derived, and the benefits of using this approach. NGT sessions, involving 30 IS professionals were conducted in four ESC territories to reduce and finalize a list of key software development practices that would be more suitable for ESC nations to focus on

Improvement of IT infrastructure management by using configuration management and maturity models: a systematic literature review and a critical analysis

Background and purpose: This research aims to investigate which benefits one may expect using Maturity Models in Configuration Management (CM) domain. CM is a support process that helps organizations have better management of their infrastructure. Its importance, in the Information Technology (IT) domain, has increased in recent years, despite this process not being technologically new, and the fact that many organizations implement this process in a haphazard way, which results in it not producing the benefits that it should produce. With the intention of assessing and improving the organizations' IT processes practices and capabilities, MMs have been developed and implemented. However, the application of MM in the CM domain is yet to be explored. Design/Methodology/Approach: Two Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) and a Critical Analysis were performed. In sum, 80 scientific articles of the most rated conferences and scientific journals were analyzed and conclusions were drawn. Results: This research concludes that despite the CM process being badly implemented, using a MM this process could decrease operational costs and increase the quality management of the infrastructure. Conclusion: However, no MM has been developed so far for the CM process practices. This MM would be a viable support tool for the IT organizations providers since this would help organizations have a mature CM process and better control of their IT infrastructure. Therefore, the existence of a MM for the CM domain would be a welcome advancement that should be developed in the future.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CMMI – AN ANSWER TO THE SOFTWARE CRISIS?

International audienceAs regularly mentioned in the current "software crisis", the software must be developed while the system definition is not yet frozen. In 2001, EADS SPACE Transportation started a CMM approach to improve its software development process. But even if the projects became more deterministic, the software developments still remained depending on system evolutions, and continued to appear very costly. So it was decided to use the CMMI maturity model, adapted to our industrial domain and now applied by many companies. We really think that the CMMI approach allows to improve both the system and software engineering processes:-The CMMI management processes are mandatory to efficiently plan, control and manage complex projects.-The technical processes must contribute to well organize the project. The CMMI project has just begun, so the expected benefits and savings are not yet visible. In parallel, other improvements are also expected from the software R&D activities presented in the paper. The paper will present:-an overview of the "software crisis",-a presentation of SW-CMM and CMMI,-The main improvements achieved through the SW-CMM project and expected from the CMMI project,-The software R&D roadmap at EADS SPACE Transportation