Design of SPICE experience factory model for accumulation and utilization of process assessment experience

Abstract

With growing interest in software process improvement (SPI), many companies are introducing international process models and standards. SPICE is most widely used process assessment model in the SPI work today. In the process of introducing and applying SPICE, practical experiences contribute to enhancing the project performance. The experience helps people to make decisions under uncertainty, and to find better compromises. This paper suggests a SPICE experience factory (SEF) model to use SPICE assessment experience. For this, we collected SPICE assessment results which were conducted in Korea from 1999 to 2004. The collected data does not only contain rating information but also specifies strengths and improvement point for each assessed company and its process. To use this assessment result more efficiently, root words were derived from each result items. And root words were classified into four: 1) measurement, 2) work product, 3) process performance, and 4) process definition and deployment. Database was designed and constructed to save all analyzed data in forms of root words. Database also was designed to efficiently search information the organization needs by strength/improvement point, or root word for each level. This paper describes procedures of SEF model and presents methods to utilize it. By using the proposed SEF model, even organizations which plan to undergo SPICE assessment for the first time can establish the optimal improvement strategies.