Value-based software engineering

Abstract

Much of current software engineering practice and research is done in a value-neutral setting, in which every requirement, use case, object, and defect is treated as equally important; methods are presented and practiced as largely logical activities; and a "separation of concerns" is practiced, in which the responsibility of software engineers is confined to turning software requirements into verified code. In earlier times, when software decisions had relatively minor influences on a system's cost, schedule, and value, the value-neutral approach was reasonably workable. But today and increasingly in the future, software has a major influence on most systems' cost, schedule, and value; and value-neutral software decisions can seriously degrade project outcomes.This paper presents an agenda for a discipline of Value-Based Software Engineering. It accepts the challenge of integrating value considerations into all of the existing and emerging software engineering principles and practices, and of developing an overall framework in which they compatibly reinforce each other. Example elements of this agenda include value-based requirements engineering, architecting, design and development, verification and validation, planning and control, risk management, quality management, and people management. It presents seven key elements that provide candidate foundations for value-based software engineering: Benefits Realization Analysis; Stakeholder Value Proposition Elicitation and Reconciliation; Business Case Analysis; Continuous Risk and Opportunity Management; Concurrent System and Software Engineering; Value-Based Monitoring and Control; and Change as Opportunity.