Reducing Risk with Software Process Improvement recommends the critical practices that aid in the successful delivery of software products and services. The author describes the observations that he made over a period of ten years in IT projects and organizations. He focuses on the areas of software development and maintenance, highlighting the mos

Every development organization can benefit by paying attention to process improvement, yet all too many "process improvement initiatives" fail to deliver on their promises. In this concise book, two of the field's leading consultants present easy-to-apply techniques for achieving rapid and quantifiable benefits -- and then maintaining your momentum to deliver even greater value over time. Drawing on their experience with more than 3,000 developers and 100 organizations, Neil S. Potter and Mary E. Sakry show you exactly what works -- and what doesn't work. Next, they present a step-by-step guide to identifying your best opportunities for process improvement, deploying changes effectively, and tracking your progress. The book also includes a detailed example plan document designed to help you jumpstart your process improvement initiative. Making Process Improvement Work includes a foreword by noted software process expert Karl Wiegers. For all developers, project and IT managers, and clients seeking to maximize the effectiveness of the software development process and the value of the software it delivers.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Product Focused Software Process Improvement, PROFES 2007, held in Riga, Latvia in July 2007. The 29 revised full papers presented together with 4 reports on workshops and tutorials and 4 keynote addresses were carefully reviewed and selected from 55 submissions. The papers constitute a balanced mix of academic and industrial aspects; they are organized in topical sections on global software development, software process improvement, software process modeling and evolution, industrial experiences, agile software development, software measurement, simulation and decision support, processes and methods.

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in attention and focus on the discipline of software engineering. Software engineering tools and techniques have been developed to gain more predictable quality improvement results. Process standards such as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), ISO 9000, Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE), Agile Methodologies, and others have been proposed to assist organizations to achieve more predictable results by incorporating these proven standards and procedures into their software process. Software Process Improvement and Management: Approaches and Tools for Practical Development offers the latest research and case studies on software engineering and development. The production of new process standards assist organizations and software engineers in adding a measure of predictability to the software process. Companies can gain a decisive competitive advantage by applying these new and theoretical methodologies in real-world scenarios. Researchers, scholars, practitioners, students, and anyone interested in the field of software development and design should access this book as a major compendium of the latest research in the field.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Product-Focused Software Process Improvement, PROFES 2010, held in Limerick, Ireland, in June 2010. The 28 revised full papers presented together with the abstracts of 2 keynote addresses were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on software quality assurance; agile software development; software business; software systems; process quality; software measurement; and software process improvement.

On behalf of the PROFES organizing committee we would like to welcome you to the 4th International Conference on Product Focused Software Process Impro- ment (PROFES 2002) in Rovaniemi, Finland. The conference was held on the Arctic Circle in exotic Lapland under the Northern Lights just before Christmas time, when Kaamos (the polar night is known in Finnish as ”Kaamos”) shows its best characteristics. PROFES has established itself as one of the recognized international process improvement conferences. Despite the current economic downturn, PROFES has attracted a record number of submissions. A total of 70 full papers were subm- ted and the program committee had a di?cult task in selecting the best papers to be presented at the conference. The main theme of PROFES is professional software process improvement (SPI) motivated by product and service quality needs. SPI is facilitated by so- ware process assessment, software measurement, process modeling, and techn- ogy transfer. It has become a practical tool for quality software engineering and management. The conference addresses both the solutions found in practice and the relevant research results from academia.

The Third International Conference on Product Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2001) continued the success of the PROFES’99 and PROFES 2000 conferences. PROFES 2001 was organized in Kaiserslautern, Germany, September 10 13, 2001. The PROFES conference has its roots in the PROFES Esprit project (http://www.ele.vtt.fi/profes/), but it quickly evolved into a full fledged general purpose conference in 1999 and since then it has gained wide spread international popularity. As in previous years, the main theme of PROFES 2001 was professional software process improvement (SPI) motivated by product and service quality needs. SPI is facilitated by software process assessment, software measurement, process modeling, and technology transfer and has become a practical tool for quality software engineering and management. The conference addresses both the solutions found in practice as well as relevant research results from academia. The purpose of the conference is to bring to light the most recent findings and results in the area and to stimulate discussion between the researchers, experienced professionals, and technology providers for SPI.

This textbook is intended for SPI (software process improvement) managers and - searchers, quality managers, and experienced project and research managers. The papers constitute the research proceedings of the 16th EuroSPI (European Software Process Improvement, www.eurospi.net) conference held in Alcala (Madrid region), September 2–4, 2009, Spain. Conferences have been held since 1994 in Dublin, 1995 in Vienna (Austria), 1997 in Budapest (Hungary), 1998 in Gothenburg (Sweden), 1999 in Pori (Finland), 2000 in Copenhagen (Denmark), 2001 in Limerick (Ireland), 2002 in Nuremberg (G- many), 2003 in Graz (Austria), 2004 in Trondheim (Norway), 2005 in Budapest (Hungary), 2006 in Joensuu (Finland), 2007 in Potsdam (Germany), 2008 in Dublin (Ireland), and 2009 in Alcala (Spain). EuroSPI established an experience library (library.eurospi.net) which will be conti- ously extended over the next few years and will be made available to all attendees. EuroSPI also created an umbrella initiative for establishing a European Qualification Network in which different SPINs and national initiatives join mutually beneficial collaborations (ECQA – European Certification and Qualification Association, www.ecqa.org). With a general assembly during October 15–16, 2007 through Euro-SPI partners and networks, in collaboration with the European Union (supported by the EU L- nardo da Vinci Programme) a European certification association has been created (www.eu-certificates.org, www.ecqa.org) for the IT and services sector to offer SPI knowledge and certificates to industry, establishing close knowledge transfer links between research and industry.

Few software projects are completed on time, on budget, and to their original specifications. Focusing on what practitioners need to know about risk in the pursuit of delivering software projects, Applied Software Risk Management: A Guide for Software Project Managers covers key components of the risk management process and the software development process, as well as best practices for software risk identification, risk planning, and risk analysis. Written in a clear and concise manner, this resource presents concepts and practical insight into managing risk. It first covers risk-driven project management, risk management processes, risk attributes, risk identification, and risk analysis. The book continues by examining responses to risk, the tracking and modeling of risks, intelligence gathering, and integrated risk management. It concludes with details on drafting and implementing procedures. A diary of a risk manager provides insight in implementing risk management processes. Bringing together concepts across software engineering with a project management perspective, Applied Software Risk Management: A Guide for Software Project Managers presents a rigorous, scientific method for identifying, analyzing, and resolving risk.

Software development has been a troubling since it first started. There are seven chronic problems that have plagued it from the beginning: Incomplete and ambiguous user requirements that grow by >2% per month. Major cost and schedule overruns for large applications > 35% higher than planned. Low defect removal efficiency (DRE) Cancelled projects that are not completed: > 30% above 10,000 function points. Poor quality and low reliability after the software is delivered: > 5 bugs per FP. Breach of contract litigation against software outsource vendors. Expensive maintenance and enhancement costs after delivery. These are endemic problems for software executives, software engineers and software customers but they are not insurmountable. In Software Development Patterns and Antipatterns, software engineering and metrics pioneer Capers Jones presents technical solutions for all seven. The solutions involve moving from harmful patterns of software development to effective patterns of software development. The first section of the book examines common software development problems that have been observed in many companies and government agencies. The data on the problems comes from consulting studies, breach of contract lawsuits, and the literature on major software failures. This section considers the factors involved with cost overruns, schedule delays, canceled projects, poor quality, and expensive maintenance after deployment. The second section shows patterns that lead to software success. The data comes from actual companies. The section’s first chapter on Corporate Software Risk Reduction in a Fortune 500 company was based on a major telecom company whose CEO was troubled by repeated software failures. The other chapters in this section deal with methods of achieving excellence, as well as measures that can prove excellence to C-level executives, and with continuing excellence through the maintenance cycle as well as for software development.