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Software Process Improvement in an International Company
... However, companies using such an approach commonly identify a large number of problems of which all cannot be implemented at the same time. Therefore, the challenge is to prioritize the areas in order to know where to focus the improvement work (Wohlwend and Rosenbaum 1993). Without a proper decision support for selecting which problem areas to address, it is common that improvements are not implemented because organizations find them difficult to prioritize (Wohlwend and Rosenbaum 1993). ...
... Therefore, the challenge is to prioritize the areas in order to know where to focus the improvement work (Wohlwend and Rosenbaum 1993). Without a proper decision support for selecting which problem areas to address, it is common that improvements are not implemented because organizations find them difficult to prioritize (Wohlwend and Rosenbaum 1993). To manage this problem, hard numbers on likely benefits from implementing suggested improvements are needed to make them possible to prioritize. ...
... When potential improvement areas are identified, organizations commonly know what need to be done to solve identified problems (Wohlwend and Rosenbaum 1993). However, traditional solutions are not always enough, new innovative solutions are sometimes needed. ...
Avoidable rework constitutes a large part of development projects, i.e. 20-80
percent depending on the maturity of the organization and the complexity of the
products. High amounts of avoidable rework commonly occur when having many
faults left to correct in late stages of a project. In fact, research studies
indicate that the cost of rework could be decreased by up to 30-50 percent by
finding more faults earlier. However, since larger software systems have an
almost infinite number of usage scenarios, trying to find most faults early
through for example formal specifications and extensive inspections is very
time-consuming. Therefore, such an approach is not cost-effective in products
that do not have extremely high quality requirements. For example, in
market-driven development, time-to-market is at least as important as quality.
Further, some areas such as hardware dependent aspects of a product might not
be possible to verify early through for example code reviews or unit tests.
Therefore, in such environments, rework reduction is primarily about finding
faults earlier to the extent it is cost-effective, i.e. find the right faults
in the right phase.
Through a set of case studies at a department at Ericsson AB, this thesis
investigates how to achieve early and cost-effective fault detection through
improvements in the test process. The case studies include investigations on
how to identify which improvements that are most beneficial to implement,
possible solutions to the identified improvement areas, and approaches for how
to follow-up implemented improvements.
The contributions of the thesis include a framework for component-level test
automation and test-driven development. Additionally, the thesis provides
methods for how to use fault statistics for identifying and monitoring test
process improvements. In particular, we present results from applying methods
that can quantify unnecessary fault costs and pinpointing which phases and
activities to focus improvements on in order to achieve earlier and more
cost-effective fault detection. The goal of the methods is to make
organizations strive towards finding the right fault in the right test phase,
which commonly is in early test phases. The developed methods were also used
for evaluating the results of implementing the above-mentioned test framework
at Ericsson AB. Finally, the thesis demonstrates how the implementation of such
improvements can be continuously monitored to obtain rapid feedback on the
status of defined goals. This was achieved through enhancements of previously
applied fault analysis methods.
... at considered RE performance primarily in terms cost-efficacy or hours saved, although they also found significant impact on software quality and the ability to meet schedule commitments. They report that particular techniques, such as user scenarios and early usability testing were clearly superior to others techniques, according to their metrics. Wohlwend and Rosenbaum (1993), in their account of long-term SPI improvements at Schlumberger, found that a successful experience can simply be a matter of on-time software delivery. Next, there are many claims about improved quality realized through RE process improvement. Herbsleb and Goldenson (1996) conducted a survey among SEI assessed organizations and found t ...
... Herbsleb and Goldenson (1996) conducted a survey among SEI assessed organizations and found that mature organizations, according to CMM, exhibited significant improvements in self-assessed product quality and customer satisfaction. Following software improvement initiatives at Schlumberger, engineering teams that had formally been plagued with delivering incomplete functionality, began to ship software that was Fcomplete_ and Fcorrect_ (Wohlwend and Rosenbaum, 1993). While productivity and quality are critical factors in the development of software, Broadman and Johnson (1996) surveyed and interviewed 35 companies to find that, in fact, many companies look to implement SPI primarily as a means of reducing their exposure to risk. ...
Requirements management is being recognized as one of the most important albeit difficult phases in software engineering. The literature repeatedly cites the role of well-defined requirements and requirements management process in problem analysis and project management as benefiting software development throughout the life cycle: during design, coding, testing, maintenance and documentation of software. This paper reports on the findings of an investigation into industrial practice of requirements management process improvement and its positive effects on downstream software development. The evidence reveals a strong relationship between a well-defined requirements process and increased developer productivity, improved project planning through better estimations and enhanced ability for stakeholders to negotiate project scope. These results are important since there is little empirical evidence of the actual benefits of sound requirements practice, in spite of the plethora of claims in the literature. An account of these effects not only adds to our understanding of good requirements practice but also provides strong motivation for software organizations to develop programs for improvement of their requirements processes.
... The CMM was not originally devised to evaluate bidders on government contracts. Some of the most successful applications of CMM-based improvement programs have been in commercial companies such as Schlumberger (Wohlwend & Rosenbaum, 1993). However, when the Air Force's Electronic Systems Command asked the SEI to develop a method for evaluating the development capability of contractors, the maturity framework found a new application beyond guiding improvement programs. ...
James Bach's philippic against the Capability Maturity Model for Software (Paulk, Curtis, et al., 1993; Paulk, Weber, et al., 1993; Paulk, et al., in press) provides an opportunity to respond to several misconceptions about the CMM and its application. Some of these misconceptions I shared when I read Watts Humphrey's (1988) first paper on the maturity framework. Many of these misconceptions were not in what Humphrey had written, but in how I interpreted it. As I reflected on what characterized the well run projects and caused the disasters I had experienced, the framework made more sense. I have never thought that the CMM was perfect, but having worked with and for many software development organizations for 17 years, I understand why industry and government need such a model to help guide their efforts to improve.
... Organizations that follow a consistent process across projects have a significant influence on project performance because they transfer process knowledge from one project to another [11, 12, 52, 73]. For example, by adopting a standard project status reporting and review system, over a three-year period the percentage of projects completed on schedule improved from 50 percent to 99 percent [69]. ...
It has been assumed for years that process standardization in the development of software will improve the efficiency of the development project by the virtues of applying a learned procedure and tight controls. Past research, however, is inconclusive in the elements that must be in place to achieve the benefits. In this study, we employ the software quality principle of flexibility as a mediator variable to determine if certain design aspects play a key role in achieving the benefits to the project of process standardization. A survey of computer professionals indicates that software flexibility is a positive influence. System designers should apply standard processes but with an eye toward quality design principles.
... For example El Emam and Briand (1997) reviewed and summarized the empirical evidence on the costs and benefits of SPI up to 1997. In this review, they report that the assessment of SPI effort led by the Schlumberger Laboratory for Computer Science have reported several important benefits (Wohlwend and Rosenbaum, 1993). These include: improved project communication, customer reports confirmed improved product quality, improved time to market by reducing requirement validation cycles, defect Publication appears in Empirical Software Engineering Journal, 9(1-2), pp.45-75, Mar. ...
This paper describes an industrial experience in process improvement at one of the Unisys development labs in Australia. Following a capability maturity model (CMM) mini-assessment, the organization is undertaking significant changes in the requirements management process, which include the introduction of group session approaches to requirements analysis and a structured method for writing requirements. An empirical evaluation which investigated other aspects of the process improvement than the CMM model indicates tangible benefits as well as perceived long-term benefits during design and testing. Findings confirm that a more thorough requirements analysis results in more clearly defined, better understood and specified requirements, and an enhanced ability to address the market needs and product strategy requirements. The catalyst behind these improvements included project management leadership, managing the human dimension, collaboration among stakeholders and senior management support.
... Raytheon has a significant in-house training program, and the attendance of software engineers at training courses is timed to coincide with the needs of the project that they are working on. Schlumberger [41] has had a process improvement programme since 1989 and has seen measurable improvements in all of its development groups taking part in the programme . One group found that the introduction of requirements management meant that products were developed with 15 validation cycles (code/test/re-code) rather than the previous 34 validation cycles. ...
The drive for productivity in the software industry is forcing major changes in the ways that software development and maintenance are being done. The technical trends contributing most to improved productivity are the improvement in quality of products and processes; and the reuse of code and other software components, such as design and requirements. We survey these technical trends. Each has gone beyond the research stage, and the preliminary results from pilot industrial projects have been reported. We summarize the information available on the costs and benefits of the approaches, and the criteria which determine a successful transfer of the technique to industry. Each has demonstrated a long-term (3--6 years) return on investment, under the right circumstances. They have not in general delivered short-term payoffs. 1. Introduction The drive for productivity in the software industry is forcing major changes in the ways that software development and maintenance are being done. Mo...
Process maturity models are used not only to assess the capability
of software development organization but also as a tool to identify
areas that need improvement. These models, however, may not be
applicable to all organizations in equal degree and they are not
connected with business objectives. This paper presents a framework that
integrates the strategic planning process with software process
improvement planning. Through an iterative approach, competitive and
technology strategies are identified and the process improvement plan
can be defined according to these strategies
Requirements engineering is an important component of effective software engineering, yet more research is needed to demonstrate the benefits to development organizations. While the existing literature suggests that effective requirements engineering can lead to improved productivity, quality, and risk management, there is little evidence to support this. We present empirical evidence showing how requirements engineering practice relates to these claims. This evidence was collected over the course of a 30-month case study of a large software development project undergoing requirements process improvement. Our findings add to the scarce evidence on RE payoffs and, more importantly, represent an in-depth explanation of the role of requirements engineering processes in contributing to these benefits. In particular, the results of our case study show that an effective requirements process at the beginning of the project had positive outcomes throughout the project lifecycle, improving the efficacy of other project processes, ultimately leading to improvements in project negotiation, project planning, and managing feature creep, testing, defects, rework, and product quality. Finally, we consider the role collaboration had in producing the effects we observed and the implications of this work to both research and practice.
This work presents a guideline for medium size software houses to adhere to SW-CMM Level 2 for improvement in cycle time, defect density, and productivity though software process enhancement. This work takes a case study of a medium size software house in Pakistan, which has undertaken a complex software project and has been using its own standards and practices for execution. After comprehensive study of CMM Level 2, the company's processes are mapped to confine them to adhere to CMM Level 2. This case study helps other software houses in the country to quickly adapt to CMM Level 2 and thereby keep on improving the maturity of their processes and earn strips of higher CMM levels.
The drive for productivity in the software industry is forcing major changes in the ways that software development and maintenance are being done. The technical trends contributing most to improved productivity are the improvement in quality of products and processes; and the reuse of code and other software components, such as design and requirements. The author surveys these technical trends. Each has gone beyond the research stage, and the preliminary results from pilot industrial projects have been reported. He summarizes the information available on the costs and benefits of the approaches, and the criteria which determine a successful transfer of the technique to industry. Each has demonstrated a long-term (3-6 years) return on investment, under the right circumstances. They have nor in general delivered short-term payoffs
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