Software process assessments

Software process assessments (SPA's) are part of an ongoing program of continuous quality improvements in AT&T. Their use was found to be very beneficial by software development organizations in identifying the issues facing the organization and the actions required to increase both quality and productivity in the organization

Tool support for software process assessments

Thesis Abstract Software process assessments are currently being conducted by organisations using de facto assessment standards such as ISO/IEC 15504, ISO 9001, CMM and BOOTSTRAP. These assessment standards require practical tools and support mechanisms to enable them to be effective and efficient in their execution. This thesis is a study of the functional composition of such automated tools and investigates the viability of creating mappings between the software process models that would allow the assessment data to be translated between models. The result is a model for creating automated assessment tools and a methodology for using data mappings to translate and compare assessment data between software process models in these assessment tools

AHAA- Agile, Hybrid Assessment Method for Automotive, Safety Critical SMEs

The need for software is increasingly growing in the automotive industry. Software development projects are, however, often troubled by time and budget overruns, resulting in systems that do not fulfill customer requirements. Both research and industry lack strategies to combine reducing the long software development lifecycles (as required by time-to-market demands) with increasing the quality of the software developed. Software process improvement (SPI) provides the first step in the move towards software quality, and assessments are a vital part of this process. Unfortunately, software process assessments are often expensive and time consuming. Additionally, they often provide companies with a long list of issues without providing realistic suggestions. The goal of this paper is to describe a new low-overhead assessment method that has been designed specifically for small-to-medium-sized (SMEs) organisations wishing to be automotive software suppliers. This assessment method integrates the structured-ness of the plan-driven SPI models of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and Automotive SPICETM with the flexibleness of agile practices

An evaluation of the RAPID assessment-based process improvement method for small firms

[Abstract]: With increasing interest by the software development community in software process improvement (SPI), it is vital that SPI programs are evaluated and the reports of lessons learned disseminated. This paper presents an evaluation of a program in which low-rigour, one-day SPI assessments were offered at no cost to 22 small Australian software development firms. The assessment model was based on ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE). About twelve months after the assessment, the firms were contacted to arrange a follow-up meeting to determine the extent to which they had implemented the recommendations from the assessment. Comparison of the process capability levels at the time of assessment and the follow-up meetings revealed that the process improvement program was effective in improving the process capability of many of these small software development firms. Analysis of the assessment and follow-up reports explored important issues relating to SPI: elapsed time from assessment to follow-up meeting, the need for mentoring, the readiness of firms for SPI, the role of the owner/manager, the advice provided by the assessors, and the need to record costs and benefits. Based on a meta-analysis of the program and its outcomes, advice and recommendations are provided to small firms and assessors. As well as providing validation of the assessment model and method, the outcomes from this research have the potential to better equip practitioners and consultants to undertake software process improvement, hence increasing the success of small software development firms in domestic and global markets

A managerial framework for an electronic government procurement project: complex software projects management fundamentals

An Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) project, as most of complex software systems development and implantation, requires sophisticated and strong managerial concepts and skills. So, an effective and consistent managerial framework is needed. Traditional project management models, that propose a series of good practices and tools, must be extended, modified and improved to face, as an example, Electronic Government (e-Government) applications. These additional capabilities are very important in the environment of e-GP projects. This paper describes a specific managerial framework adopted to face an e-GP project, at an argentine province level, with Inter American Development Bank supervision and finance support. The proposal includes a scheme where Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is complemented with Project Management Institute (PMI) points of view included at Project Management Body of Knowledge 3rd Edition (PMBOK) This paper could be useful for software engineers oriented to e-GP applications development and implantation, others e-Government applications and also, in general terms, in the field of complex e-Business projects.II Workshop de Ingeniería de Software y Bases de Datos (WISBD)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Integrating the Capability Maturity Model for Software and the Quality Air Force Criteria

As defense budgets decrease and it is required to do more with less, the Air Force has chosen to use the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) as the basis for implementing quality principles. The Air Force program is known as Quality Air Force (QAF), and the criteria are referred to as the QAF criteria DEPA95b. At about the same time the Department of the Air Force implemented QAF, the software leaders in the Air Force adopted the Capability Maturity Model for Software (CMM) as the internal standard for Air Force software organizations MOSE9l. Software organizations strapped with both sets of requirements struggle with how to implement both models. Many organizations implement redundant programs in an effort to satisfy both. This research uses signature and specification matching techniques gleaned from the software reuse domain to integrate the CMM and QAF criteria into a single set of requirements that correlate to both models

Literature Review of Software Process Assessment Methodology ISO/IEC 15504

An assessment method with the objective of process improvement adapted to small software company based on the standard ISO/IEC 15504 is being developed. This article describes the design, development, validation and results of a Process Assessment Model for assessing Technological and Business Competencies on Software Development. The model follows the ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE) requirements for Process Assessment Models. A prime motivation for developing this standard has been the perceived need for an internationally recognized software process assessment framework that pulls together the existing public and proprietary models and methods. Assessment process has been adapted and refined in order to provide ready support. The methods includes an adapted and enhanced assessment model based on the ISO 15504 exemplar model

SITProMP: A simplistic approach towards managing IT projects

Simplistic IT Project Management Practice (SITProMP) is a generic framework towards IT Project Management or ITPM. ITPM is somewhat different than Project Management in other fields. There exists several principles, methodologies and approaches for managing projects. SITProMP considers existing approaches towards PM and presents a simplistic principle-based framework for ITPM. SITProMP offers agility and proposes to manage IT projects through any suitable methodology, tools or approaches towards PM that may fit in. SITProMP complements all existing approaches and principles for ITPM; and can encapsulate all existing tools and technologies for ITPM. Though primary focus of SITProMP is on IT projects, it can be adapted to projects in any other fields, and thus customizable. The foundation for SITProMP is the existing knowledge bases in PM

Expected requirements in support tool for software process improvement in SMEs

Nowadays being competitive is an important challenge for software development organizations. In order to achieve this, since last years, software process improvement has been an obvious and logical way. Unfortunately, even when many organizations are motivated to implement software process initiatives, not all know how best to do so, especially in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) where due to its especial features, they have to be carefully in how to manage its resources to assure their market survival, Besides, even wen there has been developed models which pretend to help SMEs in the implementation of software process improvements, one of the main barrier that stopping SME's to implement software process improvements are the lack of knowledge and support of software process improvement. This paper presents and analysis of software process improvement at SMEs focusing on identifying on the once hand, SMEs features and success factors in the implementation of SPI initiatives. On the other hand, the expected requirements in a software tool focus on providing support for SMEs in the implementation of SPI initiatives