Requirements Engineering Process Improvement and Related Models

Requirements Engineering (RE) is a key discipline in software development, and several standards and models are available to help assess and improve RE processes. However, different standards and models can also help achieve different improvement goals. Thus, organizations are challenged to select these standards and models to best suit their specific context and available resources. This chapter presents a review of selected RE-specific and generic process improvement models that are available in the public domain. The review aims to provide preliminary information that might be needed by organizations in selecting these models. The chapter begins with analyses of how RE maturity is addressed in the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for Development. Then, it describes the principal characteristics of, and the assessment and improvement framework applied in four RE-specific process assessment and improvement models: the Requirements Engineering Good Practice Guide (REGPG), the Requirements Engineering Process Maturity(REPM), the Requirements Capability Maturity Model (R-CMM), and the Market-Driven Requirements Engineering Process Model (MDREPM). This chapter also examines the utility and lesson learned of these models.

Towards an Integrated Personal Software Process and Team Software Process Supporting Tool

Personal Software Process (PSP) and Team Software Process (TSP) have been developed and used to help individual developers and teams make high-quality products through improving their personal and team software development processes. For the PSP and TSP practices, data collection and analysis of software metrics need to be done at fine-grained levels. These tasks are not trivial, requiring tool support. This chapter aims to discuss issues to building such a tool, and introduce our on-going endeavor towards an integrated PSP and TSP supporting tool. In particular, features of sensor-based automated data collection for PSP, utilization of Six Sigma techniques into PSP and TSP activities, and incorporation of electronic process guide will be paid attention.

Resistance Factors in Software Processes Improvement

Several companies have been carrying out software processes improvement projects. However, some of them give up before the project ends, and others take much longer than expected to get it accomplished. This way, identifying the resistance factors that influence the implementation of such projects might serve as a reference to professionals in this area on the one hand, and help to manage future projects on the other, through the use of preventive actions that either lessen or eliminate the resistance factors’ consequences. For this matter, this chapter presents a survey with 36 professionals involved in initiatives of software processes improvement in 18 companies in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Software Process Improvement for Small and Very Small Enterprises

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.

Benefits of CMM and CMMI-Based Software Process Improvement

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.

Implementation of the Personal Software Process in Academic Settings and Current Support Tools

The Personal Software Process (PSP) is a structured software development framework that includes defined operations, measurements, and analysis techniques designed to help software engineers understand and build on their personal skills and improve their performance. The PSP provides a defined personal process, guides software engineers in collecting and recording data, and defines ways to analyse data and make process improvements. This chapter reviews the previous literature on the implementation of the PSP in academic settings. Lessons learned from PSP implementations are then highlighted. We found that there were mixed outcomes due to several issues that later become a barrier to the adoption of the PSP. Several tools have been developed to overcome these barriers and constitute a helping hand for both students and engineers in adopting the PSP.

Implementing Internal Software Process Assessment

Software process assessments have become commonplace in the software industry because the software industry usually does not recognize the level of their software process. From the time software is developed, a phenomenon called software crisis exists subsuming wrong schedules and cost estimates, low productivity of people, as well as low productivity. A promising approach out of this crisis is now growing up in the software engineering community. One of the approaches is Software Process Assessment. We present our experience in implementing internal software process assessment at one of the mid-size Information Technology (IT) company by using the customized SPA method. The customized model is basically based on Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI).

The Development of International Standards to Facilitate Process Improvements for Very Small Entities

Industry recognizes that Very Small Entities (VSEs) that develop software are very important to the economy. A Very Small Entity (VSE) is an entity (enterprise, organization, department or project) with up to 25 people..Failure to deliver a quality product on time and within budget threatens the competitiveness of VSEs and impacts their customers. One way to mitigate these risks is to put in place proven software engineering practices. Many international standards and models, like ISO/IEC 12207 or CMMI®1, have been developed to capture proven engineering practices. However, these documents were not designed for VSEs and are often difficult to apply in such settings. This chapter presents a description of the development of process improvement international standards (IS) targeting VSEs developing or maintaining software as a standalone product or software as a component of a system. The documents used by ISO/IEC JTC1/SC72 Working Group 24 (WG24), mandated to develop a set of standards and guides, and the approach that led to the development, balloting of the ISs, and TRs (Technical Reports) for VSEs are also presented. The chapter focuses on the ISO/IEC 29110 Standard3, the development of means to help VSEs improve their processes, and the description of a few pilot projects conducted to implement the processes of ISO/IEC 29110 standard.

Software Process Lines

The industrial revolution transformed the cottage industry into mass production. In this chapter, the authors trace the recent advancement of the software industry and establish that it is following a similar route followed by the manufacturing industry towards industrialization. The chapter positions the concept of Software Product Lines (http://www.sei.cmu.edu/productlines/), as a possible foundation for software industrialization, and the authors introduce the concept of Software Process Lines as complimentary foundation for software industrialization. The chapter discusses a number of questions: What are the Software Process Lines? What are the justifications and benefits of Software Process Lines? What are the steps for implementing Software Process Lines? How can Software Process Lines enable and facilitate the establishment of a continuous Software Process Improvement environment?

Managing Software Projects with Team Software Process (TSP)

Despite the widespread use of sound project management practices and process improvement models over the last several years, the failure of software projects remains a challenge to organisations. As part of the attempt to address software industry challenges, several models, frameworks, and methods have been developed that are intended to improve software processes to produce quality software on time, under budget, and in accordance with previously stipulated functionalities. One of the most widely practised methods is the Team Software Process (TSP). The TSP was designed to provide an operational framework for establishing an effective team environment and guiding engineering teams in their work. This chapter provides an overview of the TSP and its associated structures and processes. It also highlights how the TSP operational framework can assist project manager and software development team to deliver successful projects by controlling and minimizing the most common software failure factors. Comparative analysis between the TSP and conventional project management has also been presented. Additionally, the results of TSP implementation in industrial settings are highlighted with particular reference to scheduling, quality, and productivity. The last section indicates additional advantages of TSP and comments on the future of TSP in the global software development project.