An Evaluation of Software Development Practices among Small Firms in Developing Countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delroy Chevers ◽  
Annette M. Mills ◽  
Evan Duggan ◽  
Stanford Moore
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Capability Maturity ◽  
Software Product ◽  
Software Development Practices

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.

An Evaluation of Software Development Practices among Small Firms in Developing Countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 955-983
Author(s):  
Delroy Chevers ◽  
Annette M. Mills ◽  
Evan Duggan ◽  
Stanford Moore
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Software Product ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Software Development Practices

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.

A Software Process Improvement Model for Small Firms in Developing Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 47-80
Author(s):  
Delroy Chevers ◽  
Annette M. Mills ◽  
Evan Duggan ◽  
Stanford Moore
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Using Data

Managing software quality is a major challenge for software development firms. This has led many firms to adopt software process improvement programs such as the capability maturity model integration to improve the software development process. However, these models are often too cumbersome and costly, especially for small software firms in developing countries, to implement. This chapter proposes a simplified software process improvement model that prioritises key practices for software development, given the constraints that face small firms. Using data collected in four developing countries in the English-speaking Caribbean from 112 developer/user dyads on their software practices, the results show that software process coupled with supporting technology (e.g., project management tools) significantly impact the quality of the software product. Smaller projects (represented by size of the project team) are also associated with high quality software products than larger projects. Implications for SPI programs in small firms and future research is discussed.

Introducing Agility into Plan-Based Assessments

2011 ◽  
pp. 281-314
Author(s):  
Minna Pikkarainen ◽  
Fergal McCaffery
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Capability Maturity ◽  
Improvement Programme ◽  
Development Assessment ◽  
Software Development Practices

Agile or Plan-driven approaches to software process improvement (such as the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and the ISO/IEC 15504 standard) claim to provide companies with improved processes, higher quality software and faster software development. Assessment is an important component of any software process improvement programme, as in order for an organisation to commence an improvement programme, they must first be aware of the current state of their software development practices. Therefore, in the case of small companies such assessments need also to be cost effective and focused only on the most relevant process areas.

scholarly journals Strategic Issues on Implementing a Software Process Improvement Program

10.28945/2193 ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogério Rossi ◽  
Kechi Hirama
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Strategic Issues ◽  
Software Product ◽  
Engineering Models

Software technology has high impact on the global economy as in many sectors of contemporary society. As a product enabling the most varied daily activities, the software product has to be produced reflecting high quality. Software quality is dependent on its development that is based in a large set of software development processes. However, the implementation and continuous improvement of software process aimed at software product should be carefully institutionalized by software development organizations such as software factories, testing factories, V&V organizations, among others. The institutionalization of programs such as a Software Process Improvement Program, or SPI Program, require a strategic planning, which is addressed in this article from the perspective of specific models and frameworks, as well as reflections based on software process engineering models and standards. In addition, a set of strategic drivers is proposed to assist the implementation of a Strategic Plan for a SPI Program which can be considered by the organizations before starting this kind of Program.

Effect of knowledge management on software product experience with mediating effect of perceived software process improvement: An empirical study for Indian software industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-272
Author(s):  
Mitali Chugh ◽  
Nitin Chanderwal ◽  
Rajesh Upadhyay ◽  
Devendra Kumar Punia
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Software Product ◽  
The Impact

The software development industry is characterised by swift innovation and competition. To survive, software engineering (SE) organisations need to develop high-quality software products in a timely fashion and at low cost. Knowledge-based approaches to software development are extremely supportive to acquiring new knowledge and leveraging existing knowledge from software projects; this enables constant improvement of software development practices. In this empirical study of Indian SE organisations, we study the impact of managing knowledge for perceived software process improvement (PSPI) and its effect on software product quality. Information technology (IT) in knowledge management (KM) is an important facilitator for any SE organisation desiring to exploit evolving technologies for management of their knowledge assets and for carrying out various KM processes of knowledge capture, storage, retrieval and sharing. Surveys collected from Indian SE organisations were analysed to propose a model using a structured equation modelling (SEM) technique. Our findings reveal that the relation between KM and quality of software product is positively mediated by PSPI. These findings reinforce an arena that is of growing importance to researchers and practitioners and which has seen only a limited number of empirical studies to date in the context of Indian SE organisations.

scholarly journals Are project managers informally following capability maturity model integration practices for project management?

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-94
Author(s):  
Javed Iqbal ◽  
Muzafar Khan ◽  
Nasir Mehmood Minhas
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Model Integration ◽  
Capability Maturity Model ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Capability Maturity

Project planning is crucial for fruitful completion of a software development project. In case of a certified software development organisation, one can guess whether the software development projects are planned properly or not. But, what to do for a non-certified organisation? The objective of this study is to address this problem. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey has been conducted by involving experienced practitioners. The results show that several software development organisations follow Capability Maturity Model Integration) Project Planning-Process Area practices unofficially. Such organisations are potential candidate organisations for software process improvement initiatives, and would be cheap and safe for successful completion of a project. Keywords: CMMI, software project management, software process improvement, specific goals, specific practices, subpractices.

scholarly journals SOFTWARE PROCESS IMPROVEMENT: AWARENESS, USE, AND BENEFITS IN CANADIAN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FIRMS

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
DELROY CHEVERS
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Quality Systems ◽  
Software Products ◽  
Software Companies ◽  
Systems Software ◽  
Software Product ◽  
Develop Software

ABSTRACT Since 1982, the software development community has been concerned with the delivery of quality systems. Software process improvement (SPI) is an initiative to avoid the delivery of low quality systems. However, the awareness and adoption of SPI is low. Thus, this study examines the rate of awareness, use, and benefits of SPI initiatives in Canadian software development firms. Using SPSS as the analytical tool, this study found that 59% of Canadian software development firms are aware of SPI programs and 43% of employees use a form of SPI programs to develop software products. Although the sample size is small and the results cannot be generalized, the sample firms that use SPI programs reported an improvement in software product quality as the greatest benefit. These findings confirm the importance of SPI programs as a means of producing higher-quality software products, which can increase the likelihood of software companies winning global contracts.

scholarly journals CMMI and Ideal in Software Process Improvement

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.

Managing Tacit Knowledge to Improve Software Processes

2014 ◽  
pp. 143-160
Author(s):  
Alberto Heredia ◽  
Javier García-Guzmán ◽  
Fuensanta Medina-Domínguez ◽  
Arturo Mora-Soto
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Development Cost ◽  
Software Product ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Software Processes

In general, software process improvement entails significant benefits such as increased software product quality, decreased time and development cost, and decreased risks. To obtain these, organizations must apply knowledge management because the identification of new knowledge is considered key to success when improving software processes. Existing knowledge is, however, difficult to find, and when found, it is often difficult to reuse in practice. This is due to the fact that a considerable part of the knowledge that is useful for executing software processes is tacit and not all of it can be captured and made explicit. The purpose of this chapter is to present a framework for software process improvement based on the enrichment of organizational knowledge by means of the acquisition of tacit knowledge from individuals working in different teams and environments. The framework includes the specification of roles, processes, and tools, and is based on a process asset library and the introduction of configuration and change management mechanisms.

Benefits of CMM and CMMI-Based Software Process Improvement

2014 ◽  
pp. 1385-1400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maged Abdullah ◽  
Rodina Ahmad ◽  
Lee Sai Peck ◽  
Zarinah Mohd Kasirun ◽  
Fahad Alshammari
Keyword(s):  
Process Improvement ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Capability Maturity Model ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Software Products ◽  
Capability Maturity ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Maintenance Activities

Software Process Improvement (SPI) has become the survival key of numerous software development organizations who want to deliver their products cheaper, faster, and better. A software process ultimately describes the way that organizations develop their software products and supporting services; meanwhile, SPI on the other hand, is the act of changing the software process and maintenance activities. This chapter purposefully describes the benefits of software process improvement. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) are briefly surveyed and extensively discussed. Prior literature on the benefits and impacts of CMM and CMMI-based software process improvement is also highlighted.

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