Software Process Improvement: Practical Guidelines for Business Success [Hardcover]

Sami Zahran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 1998

This book will help you to manage and control the quality of your organization's software products. Continually dealing with the problems caused by software defects can be both time-consuming and demanding but Sami Zahran's pragmatic approach will take you from reactive fire-fighting to a preventative culture of disciplined and continuous process improvement. This book will help you: * establish a process-focused software development organizatio * design and implement procedures for developing quality software in time and within budge * benchmark your organization against the industry standards for the software process, including the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), ISO 9001, the new standard ISO/IEC 15504 (originally known as SPICE) and Bootstrap.

Editorial Reviews

Review

` In addition to talking about process improvement, Sami Zahran provides useful guidance from a practitioner's perspective....Most importantly he discusses the issues which you, the user, will face as you pursue process improvement on your own'
Watts Humphrey, Software Engineering Institute

` Regardless of the approach selected, building competitive advantage should be focused on improvement, not on achieving a score... Dr Zahran's book should help the reader understand the trade-offs and issues associated with effective software process improvement.'
Mark C. Paulk, Software Engineering Institute

`This is exactly the kind of book that is needed to spread awareness of the potential of Software Process Improvement and how to succeed in it.....It is to be warmly welcomed and recommended.'
Colin Tully, Independent Consulting Software Engineer

" Software Process Improvement-Practical Guidelines for Business Success provides comprehensive guidance on implementing software process improvement and more..... The concluding sections of the book provide excellent summaries of the various Software Process standards/guidelines covering the SEI/CMM, ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE), Bootstrap, ISO 9000, Trillium and others..... With a forward from Watts Humphrey, a preface by the SEI's Mark Paulk, well ordered layout and copious use of diagrams, charts and tables, Dr Zahran's book will provide rewarding reading and an excellent reference work for anyone who is intent on bringing about software process improvement."
The Software Manager

From the Back Cover

((Shelving Category)) Software EngineeringSOFTWARE PROCESS IMPROVEMENTPractical Guidelines for Business SuccessSami Zahran‘This is exactly the kind of book that is needed to spread awareness of the potential of Software Process Improvement and how to succeed in it. As well as presenting current models and methods it contains new ideas and approaches. It will interest and inform not only those who have prior knowledge of this critically important field, but also those who come new to it. It is to be warmly welcomed and recommended.'Colin TullyIndependent Consulting Software EngineerEvery year, software failure is responsible for huge losses both in financial and human terms. While businesses and individuals depend increasingly on their information systems, it is imperative that software is developed to be all the more reliable and robust.This book will help you to manage and control the quality of your organization's software products. Continually dealing with the problems caused by software defects can be both time-consuming and demanding but Sami Zahran's pragmatic approach will take you from reactive fire-fighting to a preventative culture of disciplined and continuous process improvement.This book will help you:· establish a process-focused software development organization· design and implement procedures for developing quality software in time and within budget· benchmark your organization against the industry standards for the software process, including the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), ISO 9001, the new standard ISO/IEC 15504 (originally known as SPICE) and Bootstrap.‘In addition to talking about process improvement, Sami Zahran provides useful guidance from a practitioner's perspective. He clearly explains the purposes and methods of process improvement, and compares the leading methods, their principal features and characteristics. Most importantly, he discusses the issues which you, the user, will face as you pursue process improvement on your own.'Watts HumphreySoftware Engineering InstituteAbout the author:Dr. Sami Zahran is one of the chief advocates of software process improvement and its impact on organizations. He has over three decades of experience in the software industry assuming senior positions with large organizations including ICL (International Computers Limited), the United Nations, Digital Equipement Corporation, and currently with IBM. He was trained in Software Process Improvement at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr Zahran regularly teaches courses on the subject and is an invited speaker at numerous international conferences and workshops.Visit Addison Wesley Longman on the World Wide Web at:http://www.awl-he.com/computinghttp://www.awl.com/csengVisit ACM Press on the World Wide Web at:http://www.info.acm.org((Addison Wesley Longman logoSEI logo))

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (February 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 020117782X
• ISBN-13: 978-0201177824
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,244,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Aimed more at Managers than QA Engineers, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Software Process Improvement: Practical Guidelines for Business Success (Hardcover)

I purchased this book because of the good reviews and the 'practical' in the title. Overall this book does a good Job of presenting the 'What' of Continous Process improvement, Plan/Do/Check etc. but lacks the 'How To' which I was looking for as a SQA engineer. I would have liked more 'practical' examples of (e.g.) a compliant Configuration Management Process. The book does give a good 'Overview' of the various Process models - CMM, SPICE etc. but if your looking for a detailed 'How To' implemention guide then I would try elsewhere.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference manual for Software Process Improvement, October 19, 1999

By 

Jackie Weaver - See all my reviews

This review is from: Software Process Improvement: Practical Guidelines for Business Success (Hardcover)

This book is the best implementation guide on the market for Software Process Improvement. Whether you're a fledgling company trying to design quality software with no guidelines to go by or a well-developed organization with processes in place, this book offers up many ways you can improve your software quality.

It gives you a benchmark to compare your company with ISO 9001, CMM and others which is invaluable. If you're looking for help bringing your software processes into alignment - you want this book!

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rewarding reading and an excellent reference, October 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Software Process Improvement: Practical Guidelines for Business Success (Hardcover)

Dr Sami Zahran is a long time advocate and practitioner ofsoftware process improvement with a track record of work in ICL,United Nations, DEC and IBM.

'Software Process Improvement - Practical Guidelines for Business Success' provides comprehensive guidance on implementing software process improvement and more.

In five largely independent sections, Dr Zahran covers, Process Thinking, A Framework for Software Process Improvement, Making Software Process Improvement Happen, Current Models and Standards for Software Process Improvement and Business Benefits of Software Process Improvement.

Finally, there is some data on the benefits of software process improvement and more usefully, a number of detailed case studies of software process improvement experience gained in US and European environments.

With a forward from Watts Humphrey, a preface by the SEI's Mark Paulk, well ordered layout and copious use of diagrams, charts and tables, Dr Zahran's book will provide rewarding reading and an excellent reference work for anyone who is intent on bringing about software process improvement END