A Systematic Mapping Study on Off-The-Shelf-based Software Acquisition

Acquiring software from external suppliers and developing less software in-house can help software-developing organizations improve operational efficiency by reducing costs, time and reusing current technologies. Software projects increasingly use Off-The-Shelf (OTS) products. From the acquirer perspective, there is a need to understand in more detail OTS-based software acquisition processes, because they are different to and less well-understood than those for the acquisition of custom software. In this paper we have undertaken a systematic mapping study on OTS-based software acquisition. The study compares and contrasts OTS-based software acquisition and non-OTS-based software acquisition, and identifies factors influencing decision making in OTS-based software acquisition. We find that the main difference is that there is a relationship between determining the software requirements and OTS selection in OTS-based software acquisition. For commercial OTS software, the major factors are functionality and quality of the software, but for open-source OTS software, cost was the most important factor

Development of the Metal Rheology Model of High-temperature Deformation for Modeling by Finite Element Method

It is shown that when modeling the processes of forging and stamping, it is necessary to take into account not only the hardening of the material, but also softening, which occurs during hot processing. Otherwise, the power parameters of the deformation processes are precisely determined, which leads to the choice of more powerful equipment. Softening accounting (processes of stress relaxation) will allow to accurately determine the stress and strain state (SSS) of the workpiece, as well as the power parameters of the processes of deformation. This will expand the technological capabilities of these processes. Existing commercial software systems for modeling hot plastic deformations based on the finite element method (FEM) do not allow this. This is due to the absence in these software products of the communication model of the component deformation rates and stresses, which would take into account stress relaxation. As a result, on the basis of the Maxwell visco-elastic model, a relationship is established between deformation rates and stresses. The developed model allows to take into account the metal softening during a pause after hot deformation. The resulting mathematical model is tested by experiment on different steels at different temperatures of deformation. The process of steels softening is determined using plastometers. It is established experimentally that the model developed by 89 ... 93 % describes the rheology of the metal during hot deformation. The relationship between the components of the deformation rates and stresses is established, which allows to obtain a direct numerical solution of plastic deformation problems without FED iterative procedures, taking into account the real properties of the metal during deformation. As a result, the number of iterations and calculations has significantly decreased

Validation of artificial intelligence containing products across the regulated healthcare industries

Purpose: The introduction of artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML) products to the regulated fields of pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) and drug manufacture, and medical devices (MD) and in-vitro diagnostics (IVD), poses new regulatory problems: a lack of a common terminology and understanding leads to confusion, delays and product failures. Validation as a key step in product development, common to each of these sectors including computerized systems and AI/ML development, offers an opportune point of comparison for aligning people and processes for cross-sectoral product development. Methods: A comparative approach, built upon workshops and a subsequent written sequence of exchanges, summarized in a look-up table suitable for mixed-teams work. Results: 1. A bottom-up, definitions led, approach which leads to a distinction between broad vs narrow validation, and their relationship to regulatory regimes. 2. Common basis introduction to the primary methodologies for AI-containing software validation. 3. Pharmaceutical drug development and MD/IVD specific perspectives on compliant AI software development, as a basis for collaboration. Conclusions: Alignment of the terms and methodologies used in validation of software products containing artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML) components across the regulated industries of human health is a vital first step in streamlining processes and improving workflows.Comment: 33 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. A version of this preprint with messy formatting is available from https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2153749/v

Innovation in Scotland : analysis of the community innovation survey 2009

Strengthening levels of innovation is one of the cornerstones of the Scottish Government‟s Economic Strategy. Innovation is a key catalyst for productivity growth as new ideas drive enterprise, create new products and markets and improve efficiency, delivering benefits to firms, customers and society. It is a crucial factor in determining competitiveness and national progress. Until recently, the most common and well known measure of innovation has been the ratio of national expenditure on R&D to GDP. Data shows that there has been a significant gap in business research and development (R&D) expenditure between Scotland and the UK, EU and OECD averages in recent years. Scottish Business Enterprise R&D (BERD) expenditure was 0.56% of Scottish GDP in 2009, lower than the rate for the UK as a whole (1.11%) and the EU (1.17%). Compared to other UK Government regions, Scotland ranked in 10th place out of the 12 regions. However, while R&D is useful for measuring technology-based activities, it is increasingly recognised that this is only one element of the broader concept of innovation and is frequently more relevant for manufacturing than for services. Evidence shows that firms introduce new products and services onto the market without necessarily performing R&D. A lot of innovation activity is based on (or embodied in) advanced machinery and computer systems purchased to implement new or improved processes and deliver new products and services. Innovation can also be purchased through rights to use patents, licences, trademarks and software. Innovation can also encompass training and new design and marketing processes. Evidence also shows that many firms adopt multiple, complementary innovation strategies, with the most innovative firms introducing both product and process innovations as well as marketing or organisational innovations. Therefore, productivity growth can be achieved through advances in technology combined with new approaches to creating and delivering of goods and services. There is now a solid body of evidence describing the relationship between research, innovation and economic development. The evidence suggests that investment in „intangible assets‟ that give rise to innovation (R&D, software, human capital and new organisational structures) now accounts for up to 12% of GDP in some countries and contributes as much to labour productivity growth as investment in tangible assets such as machinery and equipment. According to OECD estimates, investment in intangible assets accounted for around a quarter of labour productivity growth in the UK and other countries between 1995 and 2006. The Community Innovation Survey (CIS) allows an assessment of business innovation performance, wider than just R&D expenditure, across European Union countries. CIS collects a range of information from businesses on the types of innovation they are involved in, motivation for innovation, spending on a range of innovation activities beyond R&D, collaboration and linkages between businesses or with public research organisations, as well as data on sales from product innovations. In light of the growing recognition that innovation encompasses a wider range of activities, and that broader metrics are required to reflect this, the Innovation Survey provides a key data set to measure innovation within businesses

Regression Analysis on Experience Based Factory Model for Software Development Process

Software organizations are still struggling to reuse the best of their knowledge and experiences in future projects. Often, when there are changes on employee re-assignment, a lot of time and effort are spent for knowledge transfer activities. This however may not assure that all knowledge and experiences are well transferred and shared; some could be missing or misplaced. In this study, a model has been proposed for managing knowledge and experiences based on experience factory approach to provide a more efficient and effective experience management for software development community. Experience Factory is an infrastructure that aims for reuse of products, processes and experiences gained during a system life cycle. A set of components have been identified as the predictors of the model which eventually forms the two main organizations: project organization and experience factory organization. This study further has gone through a correlational survey research to verify the relationship between the identified predictors towards the experience factory goals. Reliability analysis has been conducted to validate the measures, while correlation and regression analyses have been carried out to examine the relationship between the constructs and the goals. Results reveal that reliability of the model is high and construct validity is satisfactory. Experience factory organization is found having more positively significant towards experience goals as compared to project organization; however, there is no significant impact towards the model due to inexistence of causal relation

AppTitude©: a tool for forest suitability assessment

Forests provide different services and products in processes involving diverse groups of stakeholders with particular perceptions and perspectives. The relationship between forest uses and stakeholders can be more or less compatible, which affects forest management decisions. Part of the solution for potential conflicts among forest uses and stakeholders relies on the definition of the best locations for different uses: it depends on gathering and processing information and on establishing a framework for optimal (or satisfactory) forest management decision making. The AppTitude© software was developed to evaluate the suitability of landscape for different forest uses based on stakeholder’s judgment and minimummaximum limitations (inputs). The software implements and automatized Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methodologies were used to evaluate suitability according to a hierarchy of different types of criteria (e.g. social, economic, environmental, political, and technical) associated with spatial information through attributes connected to vector or raster files. Finally, the software solves automatically the hierarchy and spatial probability distribution to obtain spatial suitability surfaces (output raster files) for particular use and regions

Determinants for Successful Agile Collaboration between UX Designers and Software Developers in a Complex Organisation

Agile and User-centered design processes have been reported to frequently putting contradictory demands on people working within these methodological frameworks. The current research addresses this point by focussing on the crucial relationship between software developer and designer. An online survey, a contextual inquiry, and a diary study were employed with 107 developers and designers in a large media organization to determine the factors for success in agile development cycles. The results from the survey show that while developers and designers have similar levels of satisfaction with agile processes, there are differences in the factors predicting those ratings. Developers are happier with the wider teamwork but want more access to and close collaboration with designers, while the latters’ concern was the quality of the wider teamwork. Additional contextual inquiries and a diary study with pairs of designers and developers reflected the survey findings that close cooperation (and proximity) was essential for improving communication, reducing inefficiencies, and avoiding suboptimal products being released. However, organizational processes, the setup of the work environment, and managerial traditions meant that this close collaboration and localized decision-making was found difficult to maintain. Results from the survey, the contextual inquiry, and the diary study found six factors for success from collaborations emerged

A Integração e compreensão do Design na modelação 3D

There is a recent concern in the relationship between the pictures and the tools used for its produc-tion, to the extent that the products and processes of creation are mostly digitally mediated. The close rela-tionship between conceptual and physical dimensions opens a discussion at the level of semantics, designing and image manipulation processes in which are natu-rally including CAD tools. Have drawing a crucial role in prototyping and projecting processes as well 3D modeling, it’s pertinent to understand the link between these two tools. Rec-ognizing the drawing as a physical domain tool capa-ble of expressing the thought that operates the trans-formation of abstract concepts into concrete concep-tions recognize it reflected in the virtual dimension by a 3D CAD software is not trivial as this, in general, is processed through a thought which context is far from materiality. Methodologically we will discuss this issue looking for the verification of the hypothesis through a practical exercise of proposal that evaluates the effect of the analog images may have on the recognition and operability of the Blender tool. It is intended to see how the analog drawings can integrate 3D modeling process and what relation-ship it has with whom they operate. The articulation of the drawing with the design software tools, specifically 3D CAD, will understand the relationship in the design-ing and creation of visual artifacts. As well launch a discussion on pedagogic strategies in drawing and 3D teaching in a Design course.publishe

Agile UX: Unifying design and engineering for optimal product development workflows

Digital products, ranging from mobile to desktop applications, from platforms to websites, have become extremely prominent in our everyday life. Their role in tackling real-life challenges is huge, and their place in the modern industry is central. Actually, the rise of digital products is only at its outset, and will be exponential in the next coming years and decades. In the conceptualization and developement of digital products come two major disciplines, among others, into play; UX design and software engineering. In order to deliver great quality products, addressing people’s needs, fulfilling businesses’ objectives, while providing users with a delightful overall experience, optimal work and collaboration between UX designers and software engineers need to happen in the background. Nonetheless, issues and challenges between the design and engineering ways of working are many, regardless of the context. Agile UX, a modern and rising approach to product development, is seen as a potential solution to alleviate these challenges. In a nutshell, Agile UX aims at unifying Agiles software development (ASD), the dominant software engineering approach and philosophy, and UX design (UX) processes and practices, in order to optimise workflows between designers and developers. This thesis reveals exisiting gaps with the Agile UX approach and current Agile UX frameworks, preventing them to truly be actionable in the industry, and therefore to be a practical solution for reconciling design and engineering in product development. These gaps are adressed here through an empirical study looking at understanding the wide array of contexts of the industry and their specificities. This thesis research is a two phases study of the Agile UX modern approach to digital product development. The first phase assembles extensive literature and Web content reviews in order to investigate and map the challenges between design and engineering, and understanding to what extent is Agile UX a solution to alleviating those challenges. The main findings of this first phase highlight the aforementioned gaps of the Agile UX approach. Agile UX is indeed a solution to reconciling UX design and software enginnering, but it lacks of clear guidelines and attention to contextuality, preventing it to be trully actionable. Agile UX as it is defined today also has very little considerations on the evolution of the UX design and software engineering disciplines, and fails at anticipating the future of digital products. Based on these insights, the second phase of the thesis brings up qualitative insights from industry practitioners, including UX designers, software engineers, managers and leaders, in order to address the limitations of the Agile UX approach. This second phase encapsulates the main objective of this thesis; understanding how to contextually adopt an Agile UX approach to product development. The findings of this thesis highlight the diversity of the industry and the uniqueness of each product development context. The design-engineering relationship varies a lot across organisations, and many contextual facets impact on the ways processes and collaboration practices are defined. Common trends have been highlighted, as well as numerous divergence points. Clear signs show that Agile UX is spreading in the industry already, but quite inequally. At the same time, Agile UX seems to align with the future trends of product development. In addition to the extensive findings, this research concludes with the draft proposition of a methodology. This could be the first building step towards a more developed solution, aiming at supporting teams wishing to optimising their product development workflows, throught Agile UX

Reasons for customizing packaged enterprise systems : a case study on an enterprise asset management system

Companies acquire information systems as software products developed by software vendors. These products, usually referred to as packaged enterprise systems (PESs), are customized to fit a customer company’s business needs and processes. Despite its practical relevance, the literature discusses customization sporadically and primarily focuses on the implementation, adoption, and critical success factors of enterprise resource planning systems. Another type of PES, enterprise asset management (EAM), is even more greatly overlooked, although it has a very large user base and a significant market share. In this paper, we explore why PESs are customized. We conduct a case study on the customization of a commercial EAM system in the Nordic region, which involves interviewing 16 business representatives and consultants involved in implementing and operating the EAM system in their respective organizations. We describe four categories of reasons for customizing EAM: the product lacks some features, business process needs necessitate customization, project management issues, and the relationship between the consultants and the business units leads to customization. We also show when they emerge in relation to the EAM project’s phases. Identifying and understanding these reasons can help product vendors and their customers assign their resources appropriately and tailor their activities toward achieving efficiency and feasibility.Peer reviewe