Systematic review of success factors and barriers for software process improvement in global software development

For software development firms to be competitive they must assure the quality of the software product. This has led many firms to adopt software process improvement (SPI) programs such as the capability maturity model integration (CMMI). However, for small software firms, especially those in developing countries with limited resources, these programs are often too cumbersome and costly to implement. To address this issue, this paper proposes a simplified SPI model for small firms (SPM-S) comprised of 10 key software development practices; with fewer practices, the proposed model should be more accessible and less costly to implement. Using data collected in four developing countries in the English-speaking Caribbean from 112 developer/user dyads, the model is evaluated with respect to its impact on software quality. The findings show that the software development process coupled with supporting technology (e.g. project management tools) significantly impact software product quality. Implications for software process improvement in small firms and future research are discussed.

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CMMI and Ideal in Software Process Improvement

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS ◽

10.37394/23207.2020.17.13 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 ◽

Keyword(s):

Customer Satisfaction ◽

Best Practices ◽

Software Development ◽

Process Improvement ◽

Software Process ◽

Software Process Improvement ◽

Critical Factors ◽

Development Processes ◽

The Ideal

Different models and standards have been developed with the purpose of improving software development processes and obtaining quality products and achieving customer satisfaction. Despite the efforts that organizations make, they do not always achieve these results. In this article we present the results of the implementation of best practices established by the CMMI model using the IDEAL and SCAMPI B methodology. The results show that applying best practices helps organizations to improve their processes, minimize the number of defects and increase customer satisfaction. Likewise, the critical factors that were considered and aspects to be considered in the deployment of processes are presented.

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How the Company Manages Critical Success Factors in Software Process Improvement Initiatives: Pilot Case-Study in Finnish Software Company

Communications in Computer and Information Science - Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-44817-6_15 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 188-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jaana Pekki

Keyword(s):

Process Improvement ◽

Critical Success Factors ◽

Success Factors ◽

Software Process ◽

Software Process Improvement ◽

Software Company ◽

Critical Success

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Software Process Improvement for Small and Very Small Enterprises

Software Design and Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4301-7.ch066 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 1363-1384

Author(s):

Mohammad Zarour ◽

Alain Abran ◽

Jean-Marc Desharnais

Keyword(s):

Software Development ◽

Process Improvement ◽

Development Process ◽

Software Process ◽

Research Work ◽

Software Process Improvement ◽

Assessment Methods ◽

Small Enterprises ◽

Software Development Process ◽

Improvement Process

Software organizations have been struggling for decades to improve the quality of their products by improving their software development processes. Designing an improvement program for a software development process is a demanding and complex task. This task consists of two main processes: the assessment process and the improvement process. A successful improvement process requires first a successful assessment; failing to assess the organization’s software development process could create unsatisfactory results. Although very small enterprises (VSEs) have several interesting characteristics such as flexibility and ease of communications, initiating an assessment and improvement process based on well-known Software Process Improvement (SPI) models such as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and ISO 15504 is more challenging in such VSEs. Accordingly, researchers and practitioners have designed a few assessment methods to meet the needs of VSEs organizations to initiate an SPI process. This chapter discusses the assessment and improvement process in VSEs; we first examine VSEs characteristics and problems. Next, we discuss the different assessment methods and standards designed to fit the needs of such organizations and how to compare them. Finally, we present future research work perceived in this context.

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Knowledge Management in Software Process Improvement

Knowledge Engineering for Software Development Life Cycles ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-509-4.ch015 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 273-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shuib Bin Basri ◽

Rory V. O’Connor

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Management ◽

Software Development ◽

Process Improvement ◽

Software Process ◽

Software Process Improvement ◽

Management Style ◽

Software Development Process ◽

Staff Members ◽

Informal Environment ◽

Small Team

This chapter discusses knowledge management (KM) aspects of how software process and software process improvement (SPI) is practiced within very small entities (VSEs) in the context of Irish software development industry. In particular, this study is concerned with the process of software development knowledge management in supporting the SPI. In order to understand the support process, the authors of this chapter have studied how KM processes are practiced within VSEs which includes communication, learning, sharing, and documentation process. This study also focuses in detail on the issues of the knowledge atrophy problem in VSEs. The findings explain how KM has been practiced and influenced the software development process and process improvement in VSEs. This result indicates that KM processes in VSEs are being undertaken in a very informal manner and also in indirect way. This is due to a small team size, autonomous working and macro-management style and caused VSEs to be more informal in their KM processes specifically and SPI generally. In addition, the results have indicated that the informal environment and culture helped VSEs to easily create and share knowledge between staff members and also assisted VSEs to mitigate the knowledge atrophy problem in their organization.

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