Model-based assessment of software evolution processes

This paper argues that quantitative process models must be considered essential to support sustained improvement of E-type software evolution processes and summarises some of the experiences gained in the FEAST projects to date. Modelling guidelines are provided

Maintenance Trends in ERP Systems

During the late 1990’s, many Japanese firms replaced their legacy and traditional enterprise information systems with ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. These systems cannot continue in use without maintenance. However, themaintenance of ERP systems differs from maintenance of traditional custom-built information systems. Moreover,maintenance requirements are known to change throughout in the operational phase. This study investigated the actualoccurrence frequency of maintenance tasks classified into 6 categories during each month in five years (60 months) of ERPoperation after go-live in three case studies of Japanese manufacturing firms. Through this investigation, this study identifiedclear the maintenance trends common to three firms, based on the maintenance occurrence frequencies in each firm

Information System Paths : Acquisition as a critical event

The purpose of this study is to elaborate on the difficulties organizations can face when switching an information system. This study assumes that the acquisition is a critical point in the path that the information systems life cycle will follow. This study was conducted as a qualitative study utilizing interviews as the data collection method and grounded theory as a tool to analyse the findings from the interviews. In total seven interviewees were interviewed from six different organizations. Three of the organizations were system providers and three were users of information systems. The study found that there are two distinct phases that are critical in acquiring information systems that have not been mentioned in previous literature. Also, the study extended the path literature when it comes to the reinforcing mechanisms that help form the path by adding two new mechanisms to the list. The new mechanisms are the relationship with the provider and system customization. As a final finding, the study also showed that a lock-in situation can be a very positive partnership between a system provider and a customer at its best. The study offers new concepts for the fields of marketing and information system science to explore further. The new concepts found must be taken as results from a narrow set of interviews and need further research to fully understand the effects.Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on avata organisaatioden kohtaamia hankaluuksia liittyen tietojärjestelmien korvaamiseen. Tutkielman ohjaavana ajatuksena on, että hankinta on kriittinen kohta polulla, joka muodostaa tietojärjestelmän elinkaaren. Tämä tutkielma on toteutettu laadullisena tutkimuksena käyttäen haastatteluja aineiston keruu menetelmänä sekä ”grounded theory” -menetelmää aineiston analysoinnin työkaluna. Kokonaisuudessaan tutkimuksessa haastateltiin seitsemää henkilöä kuudesta eri organisaatiosta. Näistä organisaatioista kolme oli järjestelmätoimittajia ja kolme tietojärjestelmiä käyttäviä organisaatioita. Tutkimus paljasti, että tietojärjestelmien hankintaan liitty kaksi vaiheitta, joita ei ole esitelty aiemmassa kirjallisuudessa. Lisäksi tutkimus täydensi aiempaa kirjallisuutta liittyen teknologisiin polkuihin niitä vahvistavien mekanismien osalta lisäämällä erilaisten mekanismien listaan kaksi uutta mekanismia. Uudet mekanismit ovat suhde toimittajan kanssa sekä järjestelmän kustomointi. Viimeisenä löydöksenä tutkimus näytti, että parhaimmillaan lukkiutumistilanne voi olla myös positiivinen kumppanuus kahden eri toimijan välillä. Tämä tutkielma tuo uusia konsepteja markkinoinnin ja tietojärjestelmätieteen aloille tutkittavaksi lisää. Uusia konsepteja tutkittaessa tulee huomioida, että ne ovat esiintyneet verrattain pienen joukon haastatteluissa ja näiden ymmärtämiseksi niitä tulee tutkia vielä lisää

A Methodology to Support the Maintenance of Object -Oriented Systems Using Impact Analysis.

Object-Oriented (OO) systems are difficult to understand due to the complex nature of the relationships that object-orientation supports. Inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, information hiding, aggregation, and association combine to make maintenance of OO systems difficult. Due to the presence of these characteristics in OO systems, maintenance activities on OO systems often have unexpected or unseen effects on the system. These effects can ripple through system components, complicating maintenance and testing of the system. The ability to trace the effects of maintenance provides the maintainer with knowledge that assists in debugging and testing modified and affected components. In this research, we show that the architecture of an OO system provides an effective framework for determining the impact of system changes. We developed the Comparative Software Maintenance (CSM) methodology to support the maintenance of OO systems. Through this methodology, we model relationships and structures, analyze the models to determine components that change as a result of maintenance, and perform impact analysis to determine components that are candidates for re-testing as a result of maintenance activity. The methodology includes a new data model, called Extended Low-Level Software Architecture (ELLSA), that facilitates impact analysis. CSM locates potential side effects, ripple effects, and other effects of maintenance on class structures, methods, and objects. The comprehensive architecture model enables CSM to perform either predictive, pre-modification impact analysis or post-modification impact analysis. The improved impact analysis process found in the methodology determines impact of changes to the component level. We apply the results of impact analysis to determine component level testing requirements. CSM enhances program understanding through the use of ELLSA. It also provides assistance for capturing complex dependencies found in object-oriented code. The methodology is implemented in JFlex. The automation provided by JFlex makes the application of CSM feasible

Implementação do sistema SAP R/3 no grupo Martifer: acompanhamento e estudo do seu impacto

Mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão IndustrialO presente estudo pretende descrever o acompanhamento do processo de implementação do SAP R/3 no Grupo Martifer, bem como analisar o seu impacto sobre os utilizadores finais dos diversos módulos, de forma a identificar factores facilitadores e barreiras no mesmo processo. Desta forma, pretende-se contribuir para a promoção do desempenho dos indivíduos, bem como para o melhoramento do método de implementação em futuros projectos. A investigação na área dos sistemas ERP tem crescido nos últimos anos, no entanto estudos desta natureza em Portugal são extremamente reduzidos, registando-se, portanto, uma lacuna a este nível. Assim, com esta dissertação pretendeu-se encontrar informações relevantes, de forma a contribuir para o conhecimento ao nível da Gestão Industrial. Este trabalho abrangeu, na primeira etapa, o acompanhamento pessoal do processo de implementação do novo sistema; e, na segunda etapa, centrou-se no estudo do impacto do mesmo nos utilizadores finais. Para tal a amostra incluiu 67 utilizadores do SAP R/3, que estiveram presentes em todo o processo de implementação do sistema no Grupo Martifer, provenientes de 6 fábricas distintas. Cada inquirido respondeu a um questionário previamente elaborado e validado para este estudo. Com base nos resultados, foi possível analisar o contributo e/ou influência de diversos factores no processo de implementação do sistema SAP R/3. Face aos resultados obtidos, concluiu-se que de uma forma geral a implementação do sistema SAP R/3 no Grupo Martifer foi bem sucedida, assim como o impacto deste sobre os utilizadores. Após a implementação do sistema, os inquiridos consideram o seu trabalho mais produtivo e conseguem aceder mais facilmente à informação. No entanto, foram identificadas lacunas que deverão ser colmatadas em futuras implementações para optimização do processo, obtendo-se, desta forma, melhores resultados. Factores como a existência de uma equipa sólida de suporte ao projecto e a compreensão da implementação de um novo sistema por parte dos utilizadores finais, constituem-se como facilitadores no processo. O tempo limitado de implementação, a falta de formação aos utilizadores finais e a complexidade do sistema, surgiram como barreiras na mesma implementação. Verificou-se ainda que, através de associação entre variáveis, os utilizadores que não se sentiam preparados para iniciar a utilização do sistema SAP, necessitaram de apoio aquando da transição. Isto poderá estar relacionado com o período de formação que possivelmente não abrangeu toda a componente prática e/ou teórica, não conseguindo prever todas as dificuldades. Através do mesmo tipo de associação, conclui-se que os utilizadores que consideram o acesso à informação simplificado consideram, igualmente, que o seu desempenho no trabalho tornou-se mais produtivo com a implementação do novo sistema. ABSTRACT: The present study aims not only to describe the monitoring of the implementation of SAP R/3 at Martifer Group, and to analyse the impact it has over its different modules over the final users, but also to identify the existent facilitators and barriers in this process. This way, we intend to contribute to the promotion and improvement of individual performance, as well as to improve the implementation method in other future projects. The investigations in the ERP systems have been rising in the past years. Although, these kinds of studies are incredibly scarce in Portugal, there being a lack at this level. So, with this dissertation we had the intention to find some relevant information about this matter in order to contribute to the knowledge in which concerns the Industrial Management. This dissertation tried to cover, at a first step, the monitoring (in person) of the new system implementation’s process, and the second step consisted in studying the impact the system had on its final users. To make this study possible, we used a sample that included 67 users of SAP R/3 system, present during in the entire implementation process of the system in Martifer Group, placed in 6 different factories. Each inquired answered a questionnaire, especially created and prepared for this study. According to the results found, it was possible to analyse the contribution and/or the influence of several aspects in the implementation of the SAP R/3 system. Considering the results obtained we can conclude, in a general way, that the implementation of the SAP R/3 system at Martifer Group was well succeeded, as well as its impact on its users. After the system’s implementation, the inquired users considered, not only that their work is more productive now, but also that they have quicker and easier access to the information. Despite the advantages this system can have, we must also mention that it has some gaps that should be taken into consideration in future implementations of the system, in order to optimize it and to obtain better results through it. When we talk about the advantages of this project, we can mention the solid support team and the apprehension of the implementation of a new system by the final users. In which concerns the barriers present in the project, we can mention some, such as the limited time we had to implement it, its complexity, and the lack of training of the final users. It was also found that through the association between variables, users who did not feel prepared to start using the SAP R/3 system, needed support during the transition. This may be related to the period of training that may not cover all the practical component and/or theoretical, failing to foresee all the difficulties. Through the same association type, we can conclude that users which consider the simplified access to information consider, also, that their performance at work has become more productive with the implementation of the new system

Software design metrics for predicting maintainability of service-oriented software

As the pace of business change increases, service-oriented (SO) solutions should facilitate easier maintainability as underlying business logic and rules change. To date, little effort has been dedicated to considering how the structural properties of coupling and cohesion may impact on the maintainability of SO software products. Moreover, due to the unique design characteristics of Service-Oriented Computing (SOC), existing Procedural and Object-Oriented (OO) software metrics are not sufficient for the accurate measurement of service-oriented design structures. This thesis makes a contribution to the field of SOC, and Software Engineering in general, by proposing and evaluating a suite of design-level coupling and cohesion metrics for predicting the maintainability of service-oriented software products early in the Software Development LifeCycle (SDLC). The proposed metrics can provide the following benefits: i) facilitate design decisions that could lead to the specification of quality SO designs that can be maintained more easily; ii) identify design problems that can potentially have a negative effect on the maintainability of existing service-oriented design structures; and iii) support more effective control of maintainability in the earlier stages of SDLC. More specifically, the following research was conducted as part of this thesis: - A formal mathematical model covering the structural and behavioural properties of service-oriented system design was specified. - Software metrics were defined in a precise, unambiguous, and formal manner using the above model. - The metrics were theoretically validated and empirically evaluated in order to determine the success of this thesis as follows: a. Theoretical validation was based on the property-based software engineering measurement framework. All the proposed metrics were deemed as theoretically valid. b. Empirical evaluation employed a controlled experimental study involving ten participants who performed a range of maintenance tasks on two SO systems developed (and measured using the proposed metrics) specifically for this study. The majority of the experimental outcomes compared favourably with our expectations and hypotheses. More specifically, the results indicated that most of the proposed metrics can be used to predict the maintainability of service-oriented software products early in the SDLC, thereby providing evidence for the validity and potential usefulness of the derived metrics. Nevertheless, a broader range of industrial scale experiments and analyses are required to fully demonstrate the practical applicability of the metrics. This has been left to future work