8 research outputs found
A reactive architecture for cloud-based system engineering
PhD ThesisSoftware system engineering is increasingly practised over globally distributed locations. Such a practise is termed as Global Software Development (GSD). GSD has become a business necessity mainly because of the
scarcity of resources, cost, and the need to locate development closer to
the customers. GSD is highly dependent on requirements management,
but system requirements continuously change. Poorly managed change in
requirements affects the overall cost, schedule and quality of GSD projects.
It is particularly challenging to manage and trace such changes, and hence
we require a rigorous requirement change management (RCM) process.
RCM is not trivial in collocated software development; and with the presence of geographical, cultural, social and temporal factors, it makes RCM
profoundly difficult for GSD. Existing RCM methods do not take into
consideration these issues faced in GSD. Considering the state-of-the-art
in RCM, design and analysis of architecture, and cloud accountability,
this work contributes:
1. an alternative and novel mechanism for effective information and
knowledge-sharing towards RCM and traceability.
2. a novel methodology for the design and analysis of small-to-medium
size cloud-based systems, with a particular focus on the trade-off of
quality attributes.
3. a dependable framework that facilitates the RCM and traceability
method for cloud-based system engineering.
4. a novel methodology for assuring cloud accountability in terms of
dependability.
5. a cloud-based framework to facilitate the cloud accountability methodology.
The results show a traceable RCM linkage between system engineering
processes and stakeholder requirements for cloud-based GSD projects,
which is better than existing approaches. Also, the results show an improved dependability assurance of systems interfacing with the unpredictable cloud environment. We reach the conclusion that RCM with
a clear focus on traceability, which is then facilitated by a dependable
framework, improves the chance of developing a cloud-based GSD project
successfully