Jørn Johansen

The SPI manifesto and the ECQA SPI manager certification scheme

Software process improvement (SPI) can be seen as a profession having its own competence needs and its own community of interest. European projects EQN and EU Cert have defined skill sets and a common certification scheme for about 20 professions, mainly in the IT domain. European Certification and Qualification Association ECQA is created to manage certification and provide the necessary infrastructure. A common way to approach the IT domain from a process perspective is the ‘3S’ concept (Software, Systems, Services). Software process can be seen as the first spearhead among these. The first software process models, such as CMM and SPICE, have already existed for about 20 years. With all the experience that the models bring, it is reasonable to start the PI profession from the software process. Software Process Improvement Manager (SPI Manager) is one of the new topics in ECQA. The development of the SPI Manager training and certification scheme has been done in many small steps so far. This paper explains the current structure and the main components of SPI Manager competences, training needs and the certification scheme. Several other schemes will be developed in the future for process improvement‐related competences. The current version of the SPI Manager skill set is mainly based on software, systems and service processes and their related reference models. It could also be used in the future in domains other than IT. Copyright

The people aspects in modern process improvement management approaches

Since the beginning of the 1990s, process improvement was considered as a formal issue. Focus was on process description, and improvement was a somewhat better description. Also, process improvement was driven by the customer side. Symptoms were ISO 9001 and Capability Maturity Model (CMM) [11]. This situation remained stable even if at the mid of the fist decade of this century, ISO/IEC 15504 was published. On the contrary, approaches like People Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), EU Support and Guidance to the Procurement of Information and Telecommunication Systems and Services (SPRITE S2) Project and the European Qualification Network European Certification and Qualification Association (ECQA) were established, but their relevance was not recognised by IT people [1]. Currently, we see a move forward to focus on people because they are recognised as key success factors. The first model that really emphasised the ownership and empowerment of people was the Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) model of Michael Hammer [14]. In the IT community, Ivar Jacobson [15] developed his approach while criticising the current process description approach. At the same time, Jan Pries-Heje did research related to effective Software Process Improvement (SPI) approaches [6]. In 2007, a first attempt was made to develop a training curriculum for SPI Management. From the very beginning, it was clear that people are a key factor to be addressed. This process of reorientation of the SPI community reached a milestone, when the SPI manifesto [12] was published and the Skill Card for the SPI Manager Qualification Scheme was approved by the authorised Job Role committee. Right now, the first training is delivered and experience is excellent.

Does ISO 9001 increase software development maturity

Can an ISO 9001 certification lead to software process improvement? Yes, is the answer the paper gives. The answer is based on 25 BOOTSTRAP maturity assessments carried out in Danish companies; twelve of these for ISO 9001 certified companies. One of the findings in the paper is that there is a clear correspondence between the maturity in software development processes and the holding of an ISO 9001 certificate covering software development. It is not only the quality system and software quality management that is influenced by an ISO 9001 certification, but other software processes such as project management, testing, and resource management are also influenced. In other words there is a spin-off effect from an ISO 9001 certification leading to software process improvement in other, not closely related areas.

An investigation of software development process terminology

The practice of software development has evolved considerably in recent decades, with new programming technologies, the affordability of hardware, pervasive internet access and mobile computing all contributing to the emergence of new software development processes. The newer process initiatives, which include those which are sometimes referred to as agile or lean methods, have brought with them new terms, which sometimes reflect the introduction of novel concepts. Other times, new terms correspond to long established concepts that have been repackaged. The net position is that we have a proliferation of language and term usage in the software development process domain, a problem which has implications for assessors and assessment frameworks, and for the broader community. In this paper, we explore this problem, finding that it is worthy of further research. Plus, we identify a technique suited to addressing this concern: the establishment of a canonical software process ontological model.

Towards a Manifesto for Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism

In June 2015 a group of experts in Software Process Improvement (SPI) and Education from all over the world gathered at the 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism held in connection with 15th International Conference Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination. Discussions with key players in the relevant professional and personal certification fields, as well as experienced educators led to a consensus that it is time for the industry to rise to the new challenges and set out in a manifesto a common vision for educators and trainers together with a set of recommendations to address the challenges faced. At the workshop 14 “experts” from education and industry presented and discussed their “wisdom and experience” of the challenges faced for software process education, training and professionalism, especially with the background of the new modes of learning and teaching in higher education. Based on the presentations, 32 workshop participants brainstormed core values and principles specifically addressing the needs of software process education, training and professionalism. Via affinity analysis and group thinking exercises we identified an initial manifesto, consisting of 10 values and 4 principles. It is expected that this draft manifest will give expression to state-of-the-art knowledge on software process education, training and professionalism. It is based on hundreds of person-years of practice and experience from educators and industry professionals globally. Further work is currently being undertaken to extend and validate this draft manifesto with a view to publishing in its entirety by 2016.

Refactoring software development process terminology through the use of ontology

In work that is ongoing, the authors are examining the extent of software development process terminology drift. Initial findings suggest there is a degree of term confusion, with the mapping of concepts to terms lacking precision in some instances. Ontologies are concerned with identifying the concepts of relevance to a field of endeavour and mapping those concepts to terms such that term confusion is reduced. In this paper, we discuss how ontologies are developed. We also identify various sources of software process terminology. Our work to date indicates that the systematic development of a software development process ontology would be of benefit to the entire software development community. The development of such an ontology would in effect represent a systematic refactoring of the terminology and concepts produced over four decades of software process innovation.

Networked technologies - the role of networks in the diffusion and adoption of software process improvement (SPI) approaches

Software process improvement (SPI) is a field of research and practice focused on improving the practice of software engineering by frequently introducing new methods and technical tools attuned to the managerial and process-oriented aspects of software development. Social networks play a key role in the adoption and diffusion of software process improvement as a networked technology. This panel addressed actual examples of SPI networks and identified key characteristics of and roles in these emergent networks.

AIM – ability improvement model

Too many improvement and innovation projects fail. We have studied characteristics of successful and failed projects. From this study we derived 19 parameters that influence success and failure. We used the parameters to build an Ability Improvement Model (AIM), which is a model that can be used to measure an organizations or a projects ability to succeed with improvement. After having build AIM we tested it in real life in a large organization, learned from the experience and improved the model. Then we tested it again in two organizations with promising results. In the paper we report on the considerations and research behind AIM. Finally we describe the method, and how the model can be used in practice.

Choosing change strategy for ISO/IEC 33014

The ISO/IEC 33014.2013 standard on process improvement includes a core activity called ‘identify the overall change strategy’, which includes selecting a change strategy among the many available. This selection can be carried out using the ImprovAbility model in which there is a framework of how to select change strategy. The framework contains 10 different change strategies to choose from. But which ones are chosen in practice? To answer that, we have analyzed data from 134 assessments in 129 organizations that have used the framework. We give a ranking of strategies chosen, and we analyze how they adapt the change strategy to their specific conditions. We conclude that the most often recommended organizational change strategy is optionality followed by three other strategies: specialist‐driven, production‐organized, and learning‐driven. Copyright

Change Strategy for ISO/IEC 33014: A Multi-case Study on Which Change Strategies Were Chosen

In the newly published ISO/IEC 33014.2013 [1] standard there is a strategic activity called “Identify the overall change strategy” that includes selecting a change strategy “from among a myriad of available change models”. The book [2] on the ImprovAbility model describes a framework of how to select change strategy. There are 10 different change strategies to choose from. But which ones are chosen in practice? To answer that we have analysed data from 49 assessments in 44 organizations that have used the framework. We give a ranking of strategies chosen and we analyse how they adapt the change strategy to their specific conditions. We conclude that the most often recommended organizational change strategy is Optionality followed by three other strategies: Socializing, Learning-driven, and Specialist-driven.