Building an Ambidextrous Software Security Initiative

Improving software security in software development teams is an enduring challenge for software companies. In this chapter, the authors present one strategy for addressing this pursuit of improvement. The approach is ambidextrous in the sense that it focuses on approaching software security activities both from a top-down and a bottom-up perspective, combining elements usually found separately in software security initiatives. The approach combines (1) top-down formal regulatory mechanisms deterring breaches of protocol and enacting penalties where they occur and (2) bottom-up capacity building and persuasive encouragement of adherence to guidance by professional self-determination, implementation, and improvement support (e.g., training, stimulating, interventions). The ambidextrous governance framework illustrates distinct, yet complementary, global and local roles: (1) ensuring the adoption and implementation of software security practices, (2) enabling and (3) empowering software development teams to adapt and add to overall mandates, and (4) embedding cultures of improvement.

Mobile Application for Tourism

The current study developed a proposed mobile app for tourism companies in Egypt and tested its usability. A survey from a group of 53 respondents was conducted based on the mobile app features which were developed by tourists. The proposed mobile app was then tested by using usability measurement framework which was used to test the usability of the app interface and to ensure that this app meets user requirements. Three main usability metrics were employed in this study; effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. This study contributes to the current Mobile tourism and Mobile apps literature and offers useful information for ministry of tourism, software companies, mobile application developers and, of course, mobile device users in addition to entrepreneurs, policy makers, practitioners, researchers and educators through providing a clearer view and deep understanding for the issues related to the adoption of tourism-related new mobile phone application in Egypt.

Measuring Software Development Project Performance

Adopting agile methodologies to software development processes helps software companies to sustain their growth through efficiency for long term. In the digital transformation era, Industry 4.0 as part of High-Tech Strategy 2020 for Germany involves agile principles and brings the latest technological trends in production process. The purpose of this chapter is to design a proper agile project management performance measurement model for start-up software companies. First, all key performance indicators related to agile development in the literature have been listed. Then KPIs that are provided from literature review with content analysis have been reviewed and categorized by expert opinions that were collected through in-depth interviews. Seven strategic KPIs and their data collection systems are defined and designed. Lastly, process and data collection improvements are recommended in order to sustain agile development measurement model.

The ISO/IEC 29110 Software Lifecycle Standard for Very Small Companies

For many small and start-up software companies, implementing controls and structures to properly manage their software development activity is a major challenge. It is commonly agreed that very small software companies, implementing management procedures, and controls to appropriately administer their software development activity is a significant challenge. To help meet the need for VSE-specific systems and software lifecycle profiles and guidelines, the ISO/IEC jointly published ISO/IEC 29110 “Lifecycle profiles for Very Small Entities” series of standards and guides, with the overall objective being to assist and encourage very small software organization in assessing and improving their software. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a primer on the ISO/IEC 29110 standard focusing on two main process areas of Project Management and Software Implementation.

Towards a Conceptual Framework for Security Requirements Work in Agile Software Development

Security requirement work plays a key role in achieving cost-effective and adequate security in a software development project. Knowledge about software companies' experiences of security requirement work is important in order to bridge the observed gap between software security practices and security risks in many projects today. Particularly, such knowledge can help researchers improve on available practices and recommendations. This article uses the results of published empirical studies on security requirement work to create a conceptual framework that shows key concepts related to work context, this work itself and the effects of this work. The resulting framework points to the following research challenges: 1) Identifying and understanding factors important for the effect of security requirements work; 2) Understanding what is the importance of the chosen requirements approach itself, and; 3) Properly taking into account contextual factors, especially factors related to individuals and interactions, in planning and analysis of empirical studies on security requirements work.

Examine the Factors Influencing Effectiveness of HRM Practices Designed to Improve Knowledge Transfer

Software development companies are noted for their innovative IT products. This is due to the focus on knowledge as a key driver for the innovations. Knowledge is a key element to all human resources. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors influencing the effectiveness of HRM practices designed to improve knowledge transfer within software companies. A theoretical model was developed and empirically tested to test the hypothesis. Software companies were chosen in Sri Lanka with their professionals acting as respondents to survey. A sample includes 203 employees of Sri Lankan software companies. The results show that the order of importance of the HRM practices tested here is selection and recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and reward and compensation. The results also indicate that selection and recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and reward and compensation showed a positive impact with knowledge transfer improvement, as perceived by the professionals in the Sri Lankan software industry.

Role of clusters in development of the digital ecosystem of the agro-industrial complex

The main trends in agriculture over the past few years have been export orientation and digitalization. Since 2019, the departmental project “Digital Agriculture” has been implemented. In 2021, a draft order of the government of the Russian Federation “On the Strategic Direction in the Field of Digital Transformation of the Agro-Industrial and Fishery Complex of the Russian Federation until 2030” was developed, which provides for development of a national online platform for promoting the agricultural products and the launch of a modeling and forecasting system for the agro-industrial complex. Currently, the beneficiaries of digitalization are large agricultural holdings and the IT industry (manufacturers of sensors and software developers for machinery and equipment, software companies, fertilizer producers and telecom operators). In order for small and medium-sized farms that do not have sufficient resources for end-to-end digitalization of production and business processes to be able to join the innovation race, it is necessary to look for a format of interaction in which competition and cooperation are organically combined. The article discusses one of such forms of association – clusters; explores their potential role in development of platform network architectures; the similarities and differences of cluster and digital industrial systems are analyzed. It is concluded that the flexibility and openness of cluster structures allows actors to find their functional areas and niches and organically fit into the created digital ecosystem of the agro-industrial complex.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECT SOFTWARE COMPANY IN INDIA –AN ANALYTICAL STUDY

Information Technology in India is an industry consisting of two major components: IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO).[1] The sector has increased its contribution to India's GDP from 1.2% in 1998 to 7.7% in 2017. India's IT Services industry was born in Mumbai in 1967 with the creation of Tata Consultancy Services[7] who in 1977 partnered with Burroughs which began India's export of IT services. Objectives of the study, 1. To analyze the financial performance of selected software companies in terms of liquidity and solvency, positions and to assess the working capital position of selected software companies in India. Methodology of the study, Secondary data is used for the study which is obtained from concerned companies‟ website, NSE website and also from other relevant sites. Ten companies were selected as sample size, on the basis of convenient sampling technique. To analyze the performance of the selected companies, various techniques have been applied, like ratio analysis, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and CAGR Suggestions of the study, The burden of interest has produced a deteriorating effect and reduced the percentage of net profit. It is suggested that a study of productivity and financial efficiency of the software industry of Indian companies. The few companies, which did not follow a definite policy of financing fixed assets, should follow such policy.

A Reference Standard Process Model for Agriculture to Facilitate Efficient Implementation and Adoption of Precision Agriculture

Agriculture is a sector that today demands even greater efficiency; thus, it relies extensively on the use of precision agriculture technologies: IoT systems, mobile applications, and other digitalization technologies. Experience from a large-scale EU-funded project with a consortium made up of several software companies shows that software companies have a different and unequal knowledge/understanding of agricultural processes and the use of precision agriculture in agricultural processes. This finding coupled with what is known about the standard process model for IT governance (COBIT) triggered the idea of a reference standard process model for agriculture (RSPMA), which we present in this paper. We applied the Delphi technique to assess the RSPMA and evaluate its potential implementation in the area of agriculture. A panel of 20 members from Slovenia, Romania, Croatia, and Serbia was established for the study. The majority of RSPMA elements were identified as appropriate for the use in agriculture by the panel. The study results show that RSPMA is suitable for use in this field.