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Online ISSN 1751-8814 Print ISSN 1751-8806

IET Software

Volume 6, Issue 5, October 2012

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Volume 6, Issue 5

October 2012

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  • European Systems and Software Process Improvement and Innovation (EuroSPI)

    • Editorial: European Systems and Software Process Improvement and Innovation (EuroSPI)
      Design of a competence model for testing teams
      • Author(s): J. Saldaña-Ramos ; A. Sanz-Esteban ; J. García-Guzmán ; A. Amescua
      • Source: IET Software, Volume 6, Issue 5, p. 405 –415
      • DOI:  10.1049/iet-sen.2011.0182
      • Type: Article
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      • p. 405 –415 (11)
        More and more software development organisations are paying attention to the improvement of the software testing process, because it is considered a key factor to ensure the quality of software products. However, the staff usually has problems developing testing activities because they do not have the appropriate competences to carry out these activities effectively; this results in low performance in organisations and increased costs of software products. A way to reduce this gap is developing a competence model that defines the roles who participate in the software testing activities as well as the general and technical competences required for them. Therefore this model could be applied to train staff in software testing activities and to recruit the appropriate profiles, which contribute to improving their performance. Considering that there is no published competence model specifically addressed to software testing, this study presents one that has been developed, analysing the literature and testing jobs and validated by experts in the software testing field using a survey as a validation method. So, as a result of this work, a competence model for software testing close to the software industry has been obtained.
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      Improving agility and discipline of software development with the Scrum and CMMI
      • Author(s): K. Łukasiewicz  and  J. Miler
      • Source: IET Software, Volume 6, Issue 5, p. 416 –422
      • DOI:  10.1049/iet-sen.2011.0193
      • Type: Article
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      • p. 416 –422 (7)
        This study presents a method of combining the Scrum methodology with the CMMI maturity model to improve both agility and discipline of software development. First, the authors propose the CMMI–Scrum reference model, which maps Scrum practices onto 123 practices of CMMI staged levels 2 and 3. For 60% of CMMI practices, which are insufficiently covered by Scrum they add new practices that improve discipline while maintaining agility. The practices to improve an actual software development process are selected from the reference model with the P–Sel algorithm based on answers to a questionnaire with 25 single-choice questions. They have applied our approach to processes of two IT companies, where on average 72% of the suggested practices were confirmed, 24.5% were mismatched and 3.5% were rejected.
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      Process reference model construction: implementing an evolutionary multi-method research approach
      • Author(s): P. O'Leary  and  I. Richardson
      • Source: IET Software, Volume 6, Issue 5, p. 423 –430
      • DOI:  10.1049/iet-sen.2011.0195
      • Type: Article
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      • p. 423 –430 (8)
        Process reference models can serve as a tool for simplifying process problem-solving during software development software. In the authors' research project, they developed a process reference model for software product line product derivation. The development was completed in four stages using sources in industry and academia. In this study, the authors discuss their research approach. They include an explanation on how the different stages of the research form a continuum in which the model is continually adjusted, and describe how empirical evidence was used in the development of the reference model through following an evolutionary multi-method research approach. Following a discussion on each research stage, the authors briefly present the evolution of the reference model they have developed, Pro-PD, as an exemplar of their approach. The study contributes to an improved understanding of real world reference model construction. Importantly, the authors also present lessons learned while implementing the approach. This research contributes to the practical implementation of reference model construction guidelines.
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      Software process improvement to assist medical device software development organisations to comply with the amendments to the medical device directive
      • Author(s): M. McHugh ; F. McCaffery ; V. Casey
      • Source: IET Software, Volume 6, Issue 5, p. 431 –437
      • DOI:  10.1049/iet-sen.2011.0198
      • Type: Article
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      • p. 431 –437 (7)
        A recent revision to the European Medical Device Directive (MDD) 2007/47/EC made 14 amendments to the original directive (93/42/EEC). A number of these changes directly affect the development of software for use in healthcare. The most significant change in relation to medical device software development is that stand-alone software is now seen as an active medical device and should be developed following state-of-the-art medical device software development processes. State-of-the-art medical device software processes are understood within the industry as developing software in accordance with IEC 62304 and standards that are aligned with it. This study identifies how changes to the MDD affect medical device software development companies and recommendations are made as to how medical device software development companies can conform to the latest regulatory requirements. Additionally, the study provides an overview of how Medi SPICE is currently being developed to provide organisations with a single point of reference for the practices that should be implemented in order to produce regulatory compliant medical device software.
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      Metrics-based control in outsourced software development projects
      • Author(s): L. Ponisio  and  P. van Eck
      • Source: IET Software, Volume 6, Issue 5, p. 438 –450
      • DOI:  10.1049/iet-sen.2011.0199
      • Type: Article
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      • p. 438 –450 (13)
        Measurements have been recognised as vital instruments to improve control in outsourced software development projects. However, project managers are still struggling with the design and implementation of effective measurement programs. One reason for this is that although there is a large body of research literature on metrics, practical guidelines for choosing among concrete measurements are scarce. The authors address this gap between research and practice by synthesising knowledge from frameworks and guidelines presented in the software process improvement (SPI) literature. The contribution comprises a framework that provides a set of measurements (selected from the research literature) for control of software development in cooperative settings, and a set of principles and guidelines for the design of an information infrastructure that provides managers with control information. As implication for research, the authors identify the need to develop new theories of SPI through the lens of inter-organisational networks, and taking into account relevant practices from the world of open-source software development. Also lessons for managers of outsourced software development projects are discussed. The results have been validated via expert interviews and by a panel of experts.
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      Analysing the corporate responsibility Web pages of consumer electronics companies: implications for process improvement
      • Author(s): M. Garre-Rubio ; E. García-Barriocanal ; K. Siakas ; M.-A. Sicilia ; S. Koinig ; R. Messnarz ; A. Clarke
      • Source: IET Software, Volume 6, Issue 5, p. 451 –460
      • DOI:  10.1049/iet-sen.2011.0207
      • Type: Article
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      • p. 451 –460 (10)
        Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a set of principles and practices that encourages companies to be responsibile for the impact that their activities have on society. CSR positions are publicly communicated through information usually made available through corporate Web sites. Previous studies have shown that these are heterogeneous in the way they present the companies as socially responsible. This paper reports an exploratory study on these differences and their relation to diverse CSR-related indexes and rankings in a sample of consumer electronic companies that participate in the Greener Electronic Guide. The ISO 26000 standard is used to analyse the core subjects that are explicitly mentioned in corporate Web pages and how they relate to the scores obtained in the mentioned Guide and other rankings and indexes available. Results obtained point out to a positive correlation between environmental issues and overall CSR behaviour, but differences indicate a need for further research. That behaviour in turn appears to be related to how CSR is communicated externally through corporate Web sites to some extent, but differences are also apparent. This may have potential implications for process improvement. Concretely, in that higher levels of transparency in communication may be achieved by aligning common processes with actual CSR actions more closely, including communication processes.
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