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

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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

6. 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

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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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