Questions on using control self assessment techniques on information systems development projects

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce, 1998Corporate Governance requires management to report to its stakeholders on Internal Control Systems. Corporate Governance is the system through which organisations are directed and controlled. To meet these requirements management needs a mechanism through which they can stay abreast of such control systems. The aim of this research is to evaluate whether such a mechanism can be provided for Information System Development (ISD) projects, through Control Self-Assessment questionnaire and / or workshop techniques. [Abbreviated abstract. Open document to view full version}MT201

A quality software process for rapid application development

Having a defined and documented standardised software process, together with the appropriate techniques and tools to measure its effectiveness, offers the potential to software producers to improve the quality of their output. Many firms have yet to define their own software process. Yet without a defined process it is impossible to measure success or focus on how development capability can be enhanced. To date, a number of software process improvement frameworks have been developed and implemented. However, most of these models have been targeted at large-scale producers. Furthermore, they have applied to companies operating using traditional development techniques. Smaller companies and those operating in development areas where speed of delivery is paramount have not, as yet, had process improvement paradigms available for adoption. This study examined the software process in a small company and emerged with the recommendation of the use of the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) and the Personal Software Process (PSP) for achieving software process improvement. DSDM has been designed as a framework for Rapid Application Development (RAD) and provides a documented approach for organisations to follow when undertaking RAD projects. Through the mechanisms outlined by DSDM developers become empowered and time-to-market for software can be substantially reduced. The PSP allows individual software engineers to assess, measure and improve their performance. By improving the skills of individual developers, quality can be engineered into RAD projects at all life-cycle stages. Combining PSP and DSDM, therefore, enables the production of high-quality software and at the same time allows reductions in development time to be achieved