CS4311 Spring 2011 Process Improvement Dr CS4311 Spring 2011 Process Improvement Dr. Guoqiang Hu Department of Computer Science UTEP

Basic Concepts Process: Is about how to go about things. More strictly, it is the sequence of steps required to do a job, whether that process guides a medical procedure, a military operation, or the development and maintenance of software. When properly designed and defined, a process will guide you in doing your work: for example, help you plan your work, coordinate the activities, manage the progress; If not, your work will most probably follow a random and chaos process. More specifically, the software process establishes the technical and management framework for applying methods, tools, and people to the software tasks. The process definition identifies roles, specifies tasks, establishes measures, and provide entry and exit criteria for the major steps. It ensures that every work item is properly assigned and its status consistently tracked. It also provides an orderly mechanism for learning and improving. Software process vs. software lifecycle models

Basic Concepts Basic model of improvement: Process improvement model: Observe the difficulties and problems Collect some data Identify the root causes (hypothesis) Develop reasonable solutions Plan and implement the changes Continue this process Process improvement model: Process improvement model provides a common set of process requirements that capture the best practices and knowledge in a format that can be used to guide the process improvement. Both change and stability are fundamental to process improvement CMM (Capability Maturity Model)

Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for Software Process capability: The ability of a process to produce planned results Software Engineering Institute (SEI): Carnegie Mellon 5 Levels Certification is based on audits

CMM Maturity Level 1: Initial Characteristics: No sound SE management principles in place Ad hoc practices May be successful because of competent manager and team Activities are not preplanned, but response to crisis Unpredictable process Cannot predict time and cost of development To get to next level: Initiate Project Management

Elements of Basic Project Management Software Configuration Management Software Quality Assurance Software Acquisition Management Software Project Control Software Project Planning Software Requirements Management

CMM Maturity Level 2: Repeatable Characteristics: Basic SE management practices in place Planning and management are based on experience with similar products (repeatable) Track costs and schedules Identify problems as arise and take immediate corrective action To get to next level: Standardize Processes

Process Standardization Peer Reviews Project Interface Coordination Software Product Engineering Methods and technologies Software development process architecture Integrated Software Management Organization-level Awareness Organization training program Organization process definition Organization process focus

CMM Maturity Level 3: Defined Characteristics: Process for development fully documented Reviews used to achieve software quality Introduce CASE Tools To get to next level: Quantitative Management

Quantitative Management Statistical process management Quantify quality and cost parameters Process database to maintain process data Assess relative quality of each product

CMM Maturity Level 4: Managed Characteristics: Organization sets quality and productivity goals for each project Continually measure Statistical quality control in place To get to next level: Support automatic gathering of process data Use data to analyze and modify the process Defect Prevention

CMM Maturity Level 5: Optimizing Characteristics: Statistical quality and process control techniques are used and guide the organization Process has positive feedback loop To maintain level: Continue improvement and optimization of the process

Four Process Categories Process Management Process Definition Training Project Management Project Planning Monitoring and Control Risk Management Engineering Requirements Development and Management Product Engineering V&V Support Configuration Management Measurement and Analysis Decision Analysis and Resolution