Software Process Assessments

Abstract

Abstract Process, whether it is for the development of software or any other production process, is an asset. This has been acknowledged by the U.S. Patent Office, which allows for the protection of processes through patents. This is a de facto admission that processes as well as products have business value. Moreover, processes have significant proprietary value when they lead to better products, improved customer satisfaction, or improved revenues and profits. In simple terms, if everything else is equal and one company has a better process than another, they will win. This is common sense. Yet, we have to wonder why more businesses do not try to consciously and consistently improve their processes. Perhaps they do not know how to improve or, even more fundamentally, they do not even know how to begin. Well, there is a way in the software industry, and that way is to use software process assessments and there are discussed here. A software process assessment is a study and appraisal of an organization's software development process by a trained team of experienced software professionals to understand where the organization's process practices are with respect to an established software development model; e.g., the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) or as of August 2000, the Capability Maturity Model‐Integrated (CMMI) SM . (Capability Maturity Model and CMM are registered trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. CMM Integration and CMMI are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University.) The purpose of using a software process assessment is to define an improvement program for the software development organization per the defined model. The model is based on time proven quality principles with roots in statistical quality control and total quality management (TQM) adapted to software development. There is growing evidence from organizations that have used software process assessments that the model provides more than ample payback for the investment. Organizations have documented a five‐ to ninefold payback on a recurring yearly basis. While these returns may not manifest for all organizations, all are seeing reasonable return on investment (ROI). Once an organization management team understands the requirements and commitments that enable a software process assessment to be successful, they can then use it as an integrated approach for advancing the state of software engineering practices in their organization and consequently in improving the quality and reducing the cost of their software solutions.