Software Process Improvement [Paperback]

Robin B. Hunter (Editor), Richard H. Thayer (Editor), Mark C. Paulk (Foreword), BPO0999 (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0769509991 | ISBN-13: 978-0769509990 | Edition: 1

The creation of quality software on time and within budget has been a major problem facing the software industry for several decades. Consideration of software development and maintenance as an engineering discipline to control the developmental process can help alleviate these obstacles. This new book focuses on the best practices for software process improvement (SPI) and related international standards providing a valuable guide and reference.

The text is a collection of original and republished papers providing a significant survey on the use of SPI and software process assessment (SPA) as practiced by companies such as Lockheed Martin, Siemens, and Hewlett Packard. Among the important features of the book are chapters on software process evaluation, how to best perform SPI, ISO 9000 and TickIT-an alternative approach to SPA, as well as the latest information on the CMM integration project. The text also provides vivid descriptions on the most important international and national standards for SPI, in particular ISO 9001, ISO 9000-3, ISO/IEC 9126. ISO/IEC 15504, ISO/IEC 12207.

Software Process Improvement benefits software managers who want to learn about the requirements and effects of SPI, software process staff who need to understand the mechanisms of SPA and SPI, software developers who are affected by SPI and need to know how to apply it, and college students who want to understand the various methods of SPA and SPI.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Software Process Improvement is a useful book and an office resource must have." (Software Quality Professional Journal, March 2009)

From the Back Cover

The best practices for software process improvement (SPI) and the related international standards are the focus of this new and valuable reference. It is a collection of republished papers from some of the best journals in SPI and original papers commissioned from some of the leading international experts in field, providing in one volume a significant proportion of he accumulated expertise on SPI.

This book presents a practical survey on the use of SPI and software process assessment (SPA) as practiced by companies such as Lockheed Martin, Siemens, and Hewlett Packard. Some of its important features are chapters on software product evaluation, how to best perform SPI, ISO 9000 and TickIT—an alternative approach to SPA—as well as the latest information on the CMM integration project. The text also provides vivid descriptions on the most important international and national standards for SPI, in particular ISO 9001, ISO 9000-3, ISO/IEC 9126, ISO/IEC 15504, and ISO/IEC 12207.

Software Process Improvement should benefit:

• Software managers who want to learn about the requirements and effects of SPI
• Software process staff who need to understand the mechanisms of SPA and SPI
• Software developers who are affected by SPI and need to know how to apply it
• College students who want to understand the various methods of SPA and SPI

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 630 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr; 1 edition (November 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0769509991
• ISBN-13: 978-0769509990
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,541,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compendium of articles for SPI & SPA practitioners, June 26, 2002

By 

Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Software Process Improvement (Paperback)

With exceptions that I've noted below this is an in-depth examination of standards, initiatives and methods for software process improvement (SPI) and software process assessment (SPA).

The book is divided into twelve chapters, each of which contains two or more papers written by top experts in the field, including Mark Paulk (of CMM fame), Watts S. Humphrey (creator of PSP and TSP, and prolific author of software engineering process papers), Robert B. Grady (author of three standard references on metrics), and others who key players, but are not as widely known outside of the SPI and SPA community.

Chapter 1 covers software process assessment with an article by Paulk that surveys the more common models for SPI and SPA, and a reprint of Sarah Sheard's excellent article from CrossTalk Magazine titled "The Frameworks Quagmire". Chapter 2 contains three articles on the SW-CMM, which seems to be the centerpiece of this book. Chapter 3, "Other Approaches to Software Process Assessment" contains four articles that add balance by covering non-CMM approaches that are in common use, especially in Europe (Bootstrap). I especially liked the article by David N. Card titled "Sorting out Six Sigma and the CMM", which combines two hot topics. One of the exceptions that I cited at the beginning of this review is the article on Trillium, which in my opinion has been superseded by TL 9000 in the telecommunications industry.

The three articles in Chapter 4 (Software Process Improvement: How To Do It) address common concerns and barriers to any SPI initiative, and each add well thought out ideas, especially Sandra McGill's "Overcoming Resistance to Standard Processes, or, Herding Cats", and William Florac's "Statistically Managing the Software Process".

Watts Humphrey's Personal and Team Software Processes, and CMMI are the key topics in Chapter 5, which covers developments inspired by the SW-CMM. All of Chapter 6's Software Product Evaluation articles were my favorites from among the collection in this book, and I particularly liked Jørgen Bøegh's "Quality Evaluation of Software Products" and Geoff Dromey's "A Model for Software Product Quality" because they go to the heart of key issues in both product line engineering challenges and user acceptance testing.

Chapter 7, ISO 9000 Series and TickIT, is the second exception that I previously noted. Much has changed in ISO 9000 with the 2000 standard, which renders this entire chapter moot in my opinion. I also thought the five articles in Chapter 8, The SPICE Project, would have been a better fit in Chapter 3. The same goes for Chapter 9, Experiences of Software Process Assessment, which is nearly an extension of Chapter 8, and is closely related to Chapter 3.

Two other favorite chapters are 10 (Software Process Improvement for Small Organizations) and 11 (Benefits of Software Process Improvement). Chapter 10's three articles dispell any notion that SPI is only feasible for large organizations, and the three articles in Chapter 11 focus on the benefits of SPI, especially Herb Krasner's article titled "Accumulating the Body of Evidence for the Payoff of Software Process Improvement". I also liked the final chapter, which covers software processes in general, including an excellent article on modeling. I felt that this chapter should have been at the beginning of the book instead of the end.

Overall, this is a book for those of us who are nearly religious about SPI; but is not a good introductory text. It's main value will be to IT consultants who specialize in either SPI or SPA (or both), and who need to be familiar with the mainstream standards and approaches.