Donald J. Reifer

Web development: estimating quick-to-market software

Developers can use this new sizing metric called Web Objects and an adaptation of the Cocomo II model called WebMo to more accurately estimate Web based software development effort and duration. Based on work with over 40 projects, these estimation tools are especially useful for quick-to-market development efforts.

How good are agile methods

The software industry seems to be embracing yet another change to the way it does business. Because of their emphasis on agility and time-to-market, many programming shops are moving to agile methods. Unlike more traditional approaches, these methods focus on generating early releases of working products using mostly collaborative techniques such as pair programming, refactoring, and having customers work on site as team members. Programmers use these releases-which are working products, not prototypes-to demonstrate features and functions to stakeholders involved in their use, marketing, and support. This article surveys the experience software engineers in a wide, range of industries have had in deploying agile methods.

Eight lessons learned during COTS-based systems maintenance

To make better decisions relative to CBSs, we need empirical knowledge. To gain this knowledge, we must more fully understand the lifecycle processes people use when harnessing COTS packages. The initial findings reported here are but the first step in our attempts to capture this empirical knowledge. We plan to continue collecting data and investigating the phenomenology of COTS-based systems.

Scaling agile methods

Using agile methods to develop large systems presents a thorny set of issues. If large teams are to produce lots of software functionality quickly, the agile methods involved must scale to meet the task. After all, a small team could create the software if the functionality to be delivered was small and, conversely, could be delivered given we had the time. Scaling agile teams thus becomes an issue if the only option for meeting a system delivery deadline is to have many developers working concurrently.

XP and the CMM

Organizations implementing XP practices can easily fit them under the SW-CMM because it represents a framework for self-improvement. However, there is a problem that organizations must address: putting XP to work in an SW-CMM environment is often difficult, because guidance on how to take advantage of existing best practices is not available while transitioning to XP.

How to Get the Most out of Extreme Programming/Agile Methods

This paper reports the results of an analysis of thirty-one extreme programming (XP)/agile methods early adopter projects completed by fourteen firms who have embraced the techniques in the form of lessons learned. The survey results show that early adopters have cut costs, improved productivity and reduced time to market through the use of these methods. To get the most from these methods, fifteen lessons learned have been developed that build on the experiences of others. Several of these lessons run counter to the teachings of the methodology developers. The paper next provides a scorecard that rates XPs performance in eight application domains. The paper concludes by summarizing four critical success factors for early adopters.

Is the software engineering state of the practice getting closer to the of the art

How do the state of the art and the state of the practice of software engineering differ? Having surveyed them using current frameworks, the author identifies missing research areas and good practices and identifies eight critical success factors that can help managers close the gap.

Seven hot outsourcing practices

We believe that an outside group will be more productive, better skilled in the application, cheaper, or more efficient, working with less bureaucracy. We will look at those assumptions and suggest a sensible seven-step approach to outsourcing. Procurement personnel have an important job to do. Our aim was to stimulate teamwork and partnerships. we focus on building win-win relationships with our suppliers.

COTS-Based Systems - Twelve Lessons Learned about Maintenance

This paper presents the twelve most significant lessons the CeBASE community has learned across a wide variety of projects, domains, and organizations about COTS-Based Systems (CBS) maintenance. Because many of the lessons identified are not intuitive, the source and implications of the lesson are discussed as well within the context of maintenance model for CBS.

Estimating the Cost of Security for COTS Software

This paper describes enhancements being made to the University of Southern Californias COnstructive COTS (COCOTS) integration cost model to address security concerns. The paper starts by summarizing the actions we have taken to enhance COCOMO II to model the impact of security on development effort and duration. It then relates the COCOMO II approach to the COCOTS estimating framework so that the enhancements proposed can be incorporated into the COCOTS model. After summarizing the teams progress in developing counterpart COCOTS security cost drivers and expert-consensus cost driver parameter values, the paper points to the steps that will be taken to validate the findings and calibrate the model.