Jjm Jos Trienekens

From process improvement to people improvement: enabling learning in software development

The importance of people factors for the success of software development is commonly accepted, because the success of a software project is above all determined by having the right people on the right place at the right time. As software development is a knowledge intensive industry; the ‘quality’ of developers is primarily determined by their knowledge and skills. This paper presents a conceptual model of nine ‘learning enablers’ to facilitate learning in software projects. These enablers help identifying whether individual and/or organisational learning is facilitated. The main question addressed in this paper is: ‘Which factors enable learning in software projects and to what extent?’ q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Towards a Method for the Evaluation of Reference Architectures: Experiences from a Case

Reference architectures provide major guidelines for the structure of a class of information systems. Because of their fundamental role, reference architectures have to be of high quality. Before accepting a reference architecture, it has to go through a rigorous evaluation process. A number of methods exist for the evaluation of software architectures. In this paper, we analyze the main differences between concrete software architectures and reference architectures. We discuss the effects of these differences on the evaluation of reference architectures and show that existing methods cannot be directly applied for the evaluation of reference architectures. For the evaluation of a reference architecture for e-contracting systems, we used the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method with a number of adaptations and extensions. We present our approach and share our experiences from this evaluation process. Based on the analysis and our experiences gained, we present our vision for a method for the evaluation of reference architectures.

Identification of factors that influence defect injection and detection in development of software intensive products

The objective of this study is the identification of factors that influence defect injection and defect detection. The study is part of a broader research project with the goal to lower the number of residual defects in software intensive products, by using the influencing factors to decrease injection of defects and to increase detection of defects. As a first step, we performed an extensive literature search to find influencing factors and processed the factors to achieve consistently formulated sets of factors without duplications. As a second step, we used a cluster analysis to reduce the number influencing factors to manageable-sized sets for practical application. As a last step, final groupings of factors were obtained by expert interpretation of the cluster analysis results. These steps were separately performed for defect injection and detection influencing factors, resulting in sets of, respectively, 16 and 17 factors. Finally, the resulting factor groupings were evaluated. The findings (1) are the basis for further research focusing on a framework for lowering residual defects, (2) already provide information to enable practitioners to devise strategies for lowering residual defects, and (3) may create awareness in organizations to reconsider policies regarding development and Verification & Validation.

Quality through Managed Improvement and Measurement (QMIM): Towards a Phased Development and Implementation of a Quality Management System for a Software Company

The paper describes results of a longitudinal study of developments in the area of software product and process quality improvement within a Hungarian software company, IQSOFT Ltd. This company has been active in this area since 1993, trying to build, introduce and maintain an efficiently working quality management system which, e.g., fulfils the ISO 9001 requirements, allows steady software process improvement and, at the same time, conforms to companys own needs. Over the last eight years five phases could be distinguished. Each phase is described shortly, following the same structure, namely: basic starting points, key problem areas, literature consulted, activities and design executed, reflections on what happened and why. The lessons resulting from the analysis of this case have been formulated in terms of guidelines. We feel that these are applicable to any low maturity software development organisation embarking on a product or process quality improvement endeavour. These guidelines are developed around a framework containing the basic issues of software production (project management, technical processes and products). The guidelines advocate a careful step-by-step development of definitions, quality characteristics, and metrics related to these objects while at the same time developing and introducing the associated process.

Defect detection oriented lifecycle modeling in complex product development

As the complexity of todays products increases, single projects, single departments or even single companies can no longer develop total products, resulting in concurrent and distributed development. To manage the resulting organizational complexity, projects need a lifecycle that explicitly reflects the concurrent and distributed nature of the project context. This paper addresses the essence of lifecycle modeling, with emphasis on defect detection. An adequately modeled lifecycle allows the localization and recognition of defect-sensitive areas in complex product development. A case study involving real-life development projects indicates that transitions between constituent sub-projects are in particular defect-sensitive. A second case study shows that by a defect detection-driven construction of a project-specific lifecycle, fewer residual defects can be expected.

Identifying embedded software quality : two approaches

This paper focuses on strategies for the identification and specification of embedded software quality. After having identified the need for additional support in eliciting quality requirements, two different approaches are presented. The multi-party chain approach is based on an explicit identification of stakeholders and their concerns with the proposed system. The second approach is questionnaire-based. It links quality characteristics to the characteristics in the environment within which the system is to function. Both approaches are based on the assumption that interrelations exist and can be determined between business system characteristics and embedded software quality characteristics. Both approaches are validated in various case studies in practice. This paper discusses the major results of these case studies. Advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are looked into. Both approaches proved to be fruitful, encouraging further research and experimentation. Copyright

Service orientation in demand-supply chains : towards an integrated framework

Offering customer-centric value through dynamic and networked capabilities is a strategic need in the current business environment. This strategic need can be met by a Service-Oriented Demand-Supply Chain (SODSC) concept. Various direct and indirect notions in different contexts have been developed about SODSC concept. However, the lack of integration between these notions can easily lead to confusion. This paper aims to counter this confusion by providing a framework for structuring various related notions and explaining them through illustrative cases. Based on a cybernetic system approach, the service-oriented value, partnership and control aspects of SODSC have been investigated respectively. On the basis of a distinction between demand and supply chain perspectives, two distinct dimensions of service orientation have been explored in each of the aspects. The resulting integrated framework, visualized by three related two-dimensional matrices and illustrated by real cases, offers the possibility to characterize and analyze the various SODSC notions.

Information Quality in Dynamic Networked Business Process Management

The competition in globalized markets forces organizations to provide mass-customized integrated solutions for customers. Mass-customization of integrated solutions by business network requires adaptive interactions between parties to address emerging requirements of customers. These adaptive interactions need to be enabled by dynamic networked business processes (DNBP) that are supported by high quality information. However, the dynamic collaboration between parties can result in information quality (IQ) issues such as information syntactic and semantic misalignment, information leakage, and unclear information ownership. To counter negative consequences of poor IQ on the performance, the orchestrator of business network needs to clearly recognize these IQ issues. In this paper, we develop and evaluate a framework to address potential IQ issues related to DNBP. The development of the framework is based on a three step methodology that includes the characterization of dynamism of networked business processes, the characterization of IQ dimensions, and the exploration of IQ issues. To evaluate the practical significance of the explored IQ issues, we conduct a case study in a service ecosystem that is shaped by a car leasing organization to provide integrated mobility solutions for customers.

Quality specification and metrication, results from a case-study in a mission-critical software domain

Software quality is of increasing importance in mission-critical embedded software systems. Due to the fast growing complexity and accompanying risks of failures of these systems, software quality needs to be addressed explicitly by software developers, preferably with a systematic method for an optimal implementation of software qualities, such as reliability, time-behavior and usability. At the Centre of Automation of Mission-critical Systems (CAMS) of the Dutch Royal Navy, a new approach has been defined for software developers to improve the way that they deal with software quality in the process of mission-critical systems engineering. The stepwise approach is based on both an international quality standard for software product quality, i.e. ISO9126, and on Multi-Criteria Decision Making techniques, i.e. analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The stepwise approach has been validated in a case study. In particular, the tailoring of the ISO9126 standard toward the specific CAMS development situation, and the applicability of AHP techniques, from the perspective of software developers, has been investigated. The case study is carried out in a representative software development project, i.e. the software for combat management systems (CMS) of warships. Results of the case study show that software developers can explicitly deal with quality on the basis of both the ISO9126 standard and the AHP techniques, respectively regarding the specification, prioritization and metrication of software product quality.

Business-IT Alignment in PSS Value Networks

Offering a PSS that is based on co-creating value with customer, starts with understanding customer needs. Customer understanding is realized through the process of managing customer knowledge across a PSS value network. In this respect, customer knowledge management (CKM) is seen as a core business capability. We extend the notion of CKM capability to a PSS value network, defining it as a value network CKM (VN-CKM) capability. We also look at the supportive IT capability, which we define as the value network social customer relationship management (VN-SCRM) capability. At operational level VN-CKM and VN-SCRM capabilities are reflected in the execution of business processes and information systems. To achieve BIA, a linkage is required between the VN-CKM capability and the VN-SCRM capability and between its accompanying business processes and systems. If in the process of VN-CKM, activities such as creation, storage/retrieve, transfer, and usage of customer knowledge are enabled by VN-SCRM systems across a network, the established BIA will support the functioning of the PSS. In this study we discuss the role of a VN-SCRM capability and identify requirement components of accompanying systems in relation to a VN-CKM capability and accompanying processes, in order to foster BIA at a network level.