Harmonizing CMMI-DEV 1.2 and XP Method to Improve The Software Development Processes in Small Software Development Firms

Most software development organizations are small firms, and they have realized the need to manage and improve their software development and management activities. Traditional Software Process Improvement (SPI) models and standards are not realistic for these firms because of high cost, limited resources and strict project deadlines. Therefore, these firms need a lightweight software development method and an appropriate SPI model to manage and improve their software development and management processes. This study aims to construct a suitable software development process improvement framework for Small Software Development Firms (SSDFs) based on eXtreme Programming (XP) method and Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development Version 1.2 (CMMI-Dev1.2) model. Four stages are involved in developing the framework: (1) aligning XP practices to the specific goals of CMMI-Dev1.2 Key Process Areas (KPAs); (2) developing the proposed software development process improvement framework based on extending XP method by adapting the Extension-Based Approach (EBA), CMMI-Dev1.2, and generic elements of the SPI framework; (3) verifying the compatibility of the proposed framework to the KPAs of CMMI-Dev1.2 by using focus group method coupled with Delphi technique; and (4) validating the modified framework by using CMMI-Dev1.2 questionnaire as a main item to validate the suitability of the modified framework for SSDFs, and conducting two case studies to validate the applicability and effectiveness of this framework for these firms. The result of aligning XP practices to the KPAs of CMMI-Dev1.2 shows that twelve KPAs are largely supported by XP practices, eight KPAs are partially supported by XP practices, and two KPAs are not-supported by XP practices. The main contributions of this study are: software development process improvement framework for SSDFs, elicit better understanding of how to construct the framework, and quality improvement of the software development processes. There are possible avenues for extending this research to fulfil the missing specific practices of several KPAs, examining other agile practices and using CMMI-Dev1.3 to improve the framework, and conducting more case studie

Adopting Agile Practices when Developing Medical Device Software

Agile methods are gaining momentum amongst the developers of non-safety critical software. They offer the ability to improve development time, increase quality and reduce development costs. Despite this, the rate of adoption of agile methods within safety critical domains remains low. On face value agile methods appear to be contradictory to regulatory requirements. However while they may appear contradictory, they align on key values such as the development of the highest quality software. To demonstrate that agile methods could in fact be adopted when developing regulatory compliant software they were implemented on a medical device software development project. This implementation showed that not only can agile methods be successfully followed, but it also revealed that benefits were acquired. For example, the medical device software development project was completed 7% faster when following agile methods, when compared to if it had been completed in accordance with a plan-driven approach. While this implementation is confined to a single project, within a single organization it does strengthen the belief that adopting agile methods within regulated domains can reap the same benefits as those acquired in non-safety critical domains

Software engineering standards and guides for very small entities: implementation in two start-ups

Very small entities, enterprises, organizations, projects or departments with up to 25 people, are very important to the worldwide economy. However it has ben established that such entities often do not utilize existing standards and frameworks. To address the needs of Very Small Entities (VSEs), a set of international standards and guides known as ISO/IEC 29110 has been developed. In this paper we present the results of early trials of this standard in two IT start-ups VSEs. A Peruvian VSE was recently audited and issued an ISO/IEC 29110 certificate of conformity

Developments in Aerospace Software Engineering practices for VSEs: An overview of the process requirements and practicesof integrated Maturity models and Standards

As part of the evolution of the Space market in the last years – globally referred to as Space 2.0 - small companies are playing an increasingly relevant role in different aerospace projects. Business incubators established by European Space Agency (ESA) and similar entities are evidence of the need of moving initiatives to small companies characterized by greater flexibility to develop specific activities. Software is a key component in most aerospace projects, and the success of the initiatives and projects usually depends on the capability of developing reliable software following well-defined standards. But small entities face some difficulties when adopting software development standards that have been conceived thinking on larger organizations and big programs. The need of defining software development standards tailored to small companies and groups is a permanent subject of discussion not only in the aerospace field, and has led in recent years to the publication of the ISO/IEC 29110 series of systems and software engineering standards and guides, aimed to solve the issues that Very Small Entities (VSEs) () – settings having up to twenty-five people -, found with other standards like CMMI or SPICE. This paper discusses the tailoring defined by different aerospace organizations for VSEs in the aerospace industry, and presents a conceptual arrangement of the standard based on meta-modeling languages that allow the extension and full customization with the incorporation of specific software engineering requirements and practices from ECSS (European Cooperation for Space Standardization)

Proceedings of the 1st international workshop on software process education, training and professionalism (SPETP 2015)

These Proceedings contain the papers accepted for publication and presentation at the first 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism (SPETP 2015) held in conjunction with the 15th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE 2015), Gothenburg, Sweden, during June 15-17, 2015. During the 14th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE 2014) held in Vilnius, Lithuania, at a post conference dinner, a group of key individuals from education and industry started to discuss the challenges faced for software process education, training and professionalism, especially with the background of the new modes of learning and teaching in higher education. Further discussions held post conference with key players in the relevant professional and personal certification fields led to a consensus that it is time for the industry to rise to the new challenges and set out in a manifesto a common vision for educators and trainers together with a set of recommendations to address the challenges faced. It was therefore agreed co-located the 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism with the 15th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination. This workshop focused on the new challenges for and best practices in software process education, training and professionalism. The foundation for learning of software process should be part of a university or college education however software process is often treated as ‘add one’ module to the core curriculum. In a professional context, whilst there have been a number of initiatives focused on the certification related to the software process professional these have had little success for numerous reasons. Cooperation in education between industry, academia and professional bodies is paramount, together with the recognition of how the education world is changing and how education is resourced, delivered (with online and open learning) and taken up. Over the next 10 years on-line learning is projected to grow fifteen fold, accounting for 30% of all education provision, according to the recent report to the European Commission on New modes of learning and teaching in higher education. It is a great pleasure to see the varied contributions to this 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism and we hope that our joint dedication, passion and innovation will lead to success for the profession through the publication of the manifesto as a key outcome from the workshop. On behalf of the SPETP 2015 conference Organizing Committee, we would like to thank all participants. Firstly all the authors, whose quality work is the essence of the conference, and the members of the Program Committee, who helped us with their expertise and diligence in reviewing all of the submissions. As we all know, organizing a conference requires the effort of many individuals. We wish to thank also all the members of our Organizing Committee, whose work and commitment were invaluable

Challenges Experienced by Medical Device Software Organisations while following a Plan-driven SDLC

Medical device software organisations face challenges not faced by generic software development organisations. These challenges include the adherence to regulatory controls. Regulatory bodies require medical device software organisations to provide objective evidence that the software they are developing is safe and reliable. To produce this, regulatory bodies require a number of deliverables which must be achieved. However, they do not dictate which Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) must be followed in order to achieve these deliverables. Despite not dictating which SDLC must be followed when developing medical device software, organisations typically develop their software in accordance with a Plan-Driven software development lifecycle. By conducting semi structured interviews with seven medical device software organisations, we gained a deeper insight into how the challenges experienced impact on the development of medical device software. The interviews also attempted to learn from the participants how they believe the challenges experienced can be overcome. The aim of this paper is to explain the methodology used to perform interviews with medical device software organisations and to present these interviews

Investigating the relationship between software process improvement, situational change, and business success in software SMEs

While we have learned a great deal from Software Process Improvement (SPI) research to date, no earlier study has been designed from the outset to examine the relationship between SPI and business success in software development small- to- medium- sized companies (software SMEs). Since business processes are generally acknowledged as having an important role to play in supporting business success, it follows that the software development process (a large and complex component of the overall business process) has an important contribution to make in supporting business success in software development companies. However, to date we have very little evidence regarding the role of SPI in supporting business success, especially for software SMEs. The need for SPI is dependent on the extent of situational change in a software development setting, and therefore any examination of the relationship between SPI and business success would be deficient if it did not also examine the extent of situational change. Therefore, this thesis describes a novel approach to examining SPI, situational change and business success in software development companies. Furthermore, having discharged this new approach to 15 software SMEs, this thesis makes the important new discovery that the amount of SPI implemented in a software SME is positively associated with the extent of business success – especially when the degree of situational change is taken into account. This thesis describes the first published study to examine the relationship between SPI, situational change and business success in software SMEs. The findings suggest that there are business benefits to implementing SPI in software SMEs, with the degree of situational change being an important factor informing SPI initiatives. Furthermore, this research has yielded valuable new insights into the nature of SPI, situational change and business success in software SMEs

Exploring aspects of agile software development risk – results from a MLR

Agile software development methods are widely used by software organisations, focusing on short developmental life cycles and customer satisfaction through the iterative and incremental development of software products. Despite their popularity, these methods present risks that may be underappreciated. This paper examines certain risks attributed to agile software development, with a focus on the lack of documentation, scope creep, technical debt and job satisfaction. Through the application of a multivocal literature review, we find that agile software development can greatly benefit projects. However, when agile methods are implemented inappropriately or sub-optimally, projects risk over-spending, delayed or defective software, employee turnover, and overall decreased productivity. Understanding the risks associated with agile software development can help practitioners to achieve higher efficiency and success in their software development projects

Process Productivity Improvements through Semantic and Linked Data Technologies

Programa de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Informática por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: José María Álvarez Rodríguez.- Secretario: Rafael Valencia García.- Vocal: Alejandro Rodríguez Gonzále

Examining the maturity of South Africa’s government departments to implement the Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS)

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the maturity of South Africa’s provincial government departments in engaging with the Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS) towards facilitating effective infrastructure delivery. Furthermore, the study sought to formulate evidence-based interventions that could be utilised by these government departments to engender successful delivery of infrastructure assets and associated services to their beneficiaries. This research was descriptive and employed the quantitative research approach. Data was elicited from three provincial government departments in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Structured maturity modelling questionnaires were deployed for data collection from the respondents. The emergent data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 26. A One-Way ANOVA, aimed at enabling a comparative analysis of differences in the degree of maturity between the three provincial government departments that utilise the IDMS, was conducted. Results from the study indicate that the three departments (cases) had a maturity rating between 3 and 4, signifying well-defined and documented standard processes that can be improved over time. However, an IDMS-ready organisation would ideally have a maturity rating at level 5. In addition, the leadership dimension was found to be a driver of all other dimensions, where a high maturity level under this dimension directly correlates with improved maturity in the other dimensions. It is recommended that adequate management and leadership support is needed to improve organisational maturity in relation to IDMS implementation. The study was confined to KwaZulu-Natal, due to the short survey period for information gathering and data collection. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a great impact on the undertaking of some key research processes mostly affecting the research methodology, particularly during data collection. This study is the first of its kind in South Africa to assess the maturity of provincial government departments to implement the IDMS, which is indicative of an evaluation void gap