Quality in the software development process in SMBs. A support tool for the application of the COMPETISOFT basic profile model

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1 Quality in the sftware develpment prcess in SMBs. A supprt tl fr the applicatin f the COMPETISOFT basic prfile mdel Silvia Espnda, 1 Ariel Pasini 2, Sabrina Martrelli 3, Rdlf Bertne 4, Patricia Pesad 5 III-LIDI - Institut de Investigación en Infrmática LIDI Facultad de Infrmática Universidad Nacinal de La Plata - 50 y 120 La Plata Buens Aires Argentina. Summary. The COMPETISOFT prject, in which the authrs f this paper participated (in the framewrk f the Iber-American cperatin generated by CyTED), prpses slutins fr prcesses and prducts quality assurance, cnsidering the pssibilities f small and medium businesses. Taking this prject as starting pint, a tl t supprt SMBs in the applicatin f COMPETISOFT (basic prfile) is prpsed, with infrmatin regarding varius issues, such as the imprtance f rles and their participatin in the activities prpsed by the mdel, and the generatin f input and utput dcuments fr the different levels f these activities. Keywrd: quality mdels, cntinuus imprvement, COMPETISOFT, rles, dcuments. 1 Full-Time Assciate Prfessr, Schl f Cmputer Science, UNLP 2 Full-Time Assciate Prfessr, Schl f Cmputer Science, UNLP 3 Semi-Full-Time Graduate Assistant Prfessr, Schl f Cmputer Science, UNLP 4 Full-Time Head Prfessr, Schl f Cmputer Science, UNLP 5 Full-Time Head Prfessr, Schl f Cmputer Science, UNLP CIC Prv. f Bs. As.

2 1 Intrductin The grwing desire f sftware-develping SMBs f imprving their develpment prcesses requires the applicatin f a cntinuus imprvement mdel [1]. In recent years, sme Latin American cuntries presented varius prcess imprvement mdels fr SMBs. The COMPETISOFT prject was the result f cnsidering this prblem frm a glbal perspective, and its aim was the integratin f appraches that were cmmn t the cuntries participating in the prject under an nly mdel [2]. The COMPETISOFT mdel has three categries. [3] High Management (HMAN), cntaining the Business Management prcess Management (MAN), which includes the Prcess Management, Prject Management, and Resurce Management prcesses. The latter is in turn subdivided int the Human Resurces Management, Gds, Services and Infrastructure Management, and Knwledge Management sub-prcesses. Operatin (OPE), which includes the Specific Prject Management and the Sftware Develpment and Maintenance prcesses. The assessment mdel prpsed by COMPETISOFT is based n the ISO/IEC Infrmatin technlgy- Prcess Assessment standard. This standard defines five capability levels: Perfrmed, Managed, Established, Predictable and Optimizing. Each cuntry can adapt the mdel based n the needs f sftware develpment cmpanies [4]. As described in the Mdel, each prcess is defined by: Prcess: Name f the prcess. Categry: Name f the categry t which the prcess belngs. Purpse: General measurable gals and expected results f the effective deplyment f the prcess. Descriptin: General descriptin f the activities and prducts making up the wrkflw f the prcess. Gals: Specific gals (G1, G2, etc.) whse purpse is ensuring the fulfillment f the purpse f the prcess. Respnsibility and Authrity: Respnsibility is the rle that is respnsible fr the executin f the prcess. Authrity is the rle that is respnsible fr validating the executin f the prcess and the fulfillment f its purpse. Related prcesses: Names f related prcesses. Inputs: Names f the prducts r resurces used. Outputs: Names f the prducts r resurces generated/mdified. Internal prducts: Names f the prducts generated and used within the prcess. Practices Rles invlved: Identificatin f the rles invlved. Activities: They are assciated t the gals and describe the tasks and the respnsible rles.

3 A1. Name f the activity (G1, G2,...) Inputs Names f the prducts r resurces t be used. Rles A1.1 Descriptin f sub-activity 1. Rles A1.2 Descriptin f sub-activity 2. Outputs Wrkflw diagram Names f the prducts r resurces generated during the activity. Diagram f UML activities, where wrkflw activities and rles are specified Infrastructure resurces Descriptin f sftware and hardware tls specific fr a given activity. Guidance fr adjustments Descriptin f pssible mdificatins t the prcess that shuld nt affect its gals. The sectin Practices is where the rganizatins shuld cncentrate their effrts, since it is here where the cncepts f Rles, Input dcuments and Output dcuments fr each activity are fund. These are the cncepts that SMBs find mst difficult t apply in the prcess imprvement prcess. In the Sectin "Wrk carried ut", the develpment prcess f the tl until realizatin f the final prduct is described. 2 Wrk carried ut When the scpe definitin stage began, sme cmpnents were presented with n exact definitin in rder t allw the implementatin f the prcess prpsed by COMPETISOFT. These elements are: Rle analysis Generatin f input and utput dcuments Applicatin f gd practices The wrk carried ut began with the treatment f these cmpnents. 2.1 Rle analysis The test carried ut indicated that, in general, the rles defined by the mdel d nt match the rganizatinal structure f the cmpany. The first activity prpsed is in agreement with this cnsideratin. The equivalence between the rles f the mdel and thse presented by the rganizatin was studied. An example is presented belw.

4 The rles defined t carry ut this Specific Prject Management (SPM) prcess and the rles used in a pilt cmpany where the prcess imprvement prcess is being implemented are presented in Table 1. Mdel Rles Abr. Rle PMS PM Supervisr PM Prject Manager CU Custmer SCM Subcntract Manager SDM Sftware Develpment Manager SMM Sftware Maintenance Manager WT Wrking Team Pilt Cmpany Rles Abr. Rle PL Prject Leader BM Business Manager GM General Manager CU Custmer WT Wrking Team Table 1. Cmparisn f mdel rles and pilt cmpany rles In Table 1, the rles f the pilt cmpany are presented, and, as it can be bserved, they d nt match thse defined by the mdel. As a way f settling this divergence, the creatin f a relatin between the different rles expressed in percentages is prpsed. Table 2 shws an example f this relatin. Equivalence percentages between rles PL BM GM CU WT PMS 0% 50% 50% 0% 0% PM 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% CU 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% SDM 50% 25% 25% 0% 0% WT 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% Table 2. Relatin between mdel rles and the pilt cmpany rles Percentages are defined within the rganizatin itself based n the descriptin f the mdel rle and the respnsibilities f that rle as defined by the rganizatin. In the mdel, each sub-activity defined presents, in general, a series f rles invlved. These rles d nt have equal respnsibility fr the sub-activity; their share f invlvement depends n their cmpetencies.

5 With the prblem presented, the situatin was assessed fr each particular case, establishing the respnsibilities f each f the rles fr each sub-activity, and three types f pririties were defined: mandatry (man), advisable (adv), and irrelevant (irr) Table 3 presents the pririties f the first sub-activities f the SPM prcess Management f a Specific Prject Activity PMS PM CU SCM SDM SMM WT A1.1 Man Man Adv Adv Adv Irr Irr A1.2 Man A1.3 Man Man A1.4 Man Adv Adv Table 3. Rle pririties Based n this reference table, the essential rles fr each sub-activity can be determined. 2.2 Generatin f input and utput dcuments As mentined befre, the generatin f input and utput dcuments frm and t the sub-activities is ne f the main prblems fr the imprvement prcess. Fig. 1. Delivery prtcl

6 In general, when preparing the dcument, the rganizatin must cnsider in detail the infrmatin that will be cntained in the dcument. T this end, it is useful t define dcument templates cntaining the infrmatin base t be included in the dcument. Fr the definitin f the templates prpsed, the infrmatin base required has been taken int accunt, and certain wrk standards have been adjusted. [7] Figures 1 and 2 present examples f templates, in this case fr the definitin f the delivery prtcl. Fig. 2. Risk sheet 2.3 Applicatin f gd practices The mdel prpses 5 capability levels, each f which can be reached as a result f the imprvement cycles implemented by the SMB. T achieve these prcess imprvements, the mdel requires the applicatin f certain tasks that are knwn as Gd Practices, amng which the fllwing can be mentined: Verificatin & Validatin Definitin f Indicatrs Generatin f Guidance fr Adjustments The bjective f the research grup cnsists in studying and presenting the best implementatin alternative fr each Gd Practice and analyzing the crrespnding implementatin methd with the Cmpany. Als, a knwledge base that allws

7 learning frm experience will be prduced, in rder t find the best adaptatin pssible fr each plan. [8] The first stage t be analyzed was the definitin f indicatrs that allw determining t what extent each f the activities is achieved. As already mentined, each prcess defined in the mdel presents a series f gals whse purpse is ensuring adequate fulfillment. Each f the activities established fr each prcess must be assciated t the gals t attain (G1, G2...). In rder t determine gal fulfillment, metrics fr each gal will be generated, defining indicatrs as well in rder t be able t determine the crrespnding scpe. Taking the ISO/IEC standard defining the sftware develpment measurement prcess [10] as a starting pint, the steps t be fllwed by the cmpany in rder t attain the desired results are determined. Then, the use f GQ(I)M (Gal Questin Indicatr Metric) [11] is presented as the methdlgy prpsed fr generating indicatrs. GQ(I)M is similar t the gal methdlgy f GQM (Gal Questin Metric) [6], but with mre detail regarding the generatin f indicatrs. 3 Tl The tl develped is aimed at assisting the user during the first stages f the implementatin f the mdel. The greatest prblems fund at the cmpanies that were evaluated are related t rles, dcumentatin, and gd practice implementatin. Fr this reasn, a supprt tl fr the implementatin f the mdel was designed (Fig. 3). This tl is based n the basic prfile f the COMPETISOFT mdel. This mdel results in an adaptatin f the full mdel, where nly ne maturity categry is prpsed. This new mdel is the result frm the assessment f several cmpanies under a cntrlled test envirnment, which was dne by each member grup f the CyTED COMPETISOFT prject. The cnclusin drawn was that the best chice t start an imprvement prcess in SMBs is t begin with the basic, initial categry, since mst SMBs are at least familiar with it. This categry has three defined prcesses: Management f a Specific Prject Sftware Develpment Sftware Maintenance

8 Fig. 3. Wizard The tl prpsed presents a descriptin f each f the prcesses with their activities and sub-activities in a clr-cded manner. Each clr defines the level established fr the sub-activity. Fig. 4. Activities

9 Sub-activities are in turn described, including a brief descriptin and a hyperlink in case an utput dcument has t be generated. This hyperlink pens the template fr the prductin f the required dcument. The rles invlved are defined as well, indicating which f them are mandatry. Figure 3 shws ne f the subactivities f the Management f a Specific Prject activity. In the case f rles, the tl supprts users by allwing them t manage invlvement percentages f each rle. The end result will allw generating the equivalence between the rles f the mdel and thse f the cmpany. Additinally, guidelines are presented fr the develpment f the subactivities related t verificatin and validatin. In this case, a brief tur f the definitins f these cncepts is taken, and users are guided fr the perfrmance f each sub-activity. [9] In the case f indicatrs, the tl prpses an established prcess using the GQ(I)M methdlgy t generate them, guiding users in the develpment f the crrespnding metrics and presenting supprt templates t carry ut the task. Als, examples f already established metrics are presented t help users fully understand the issue. 4 Cnclusins A tl t assist SMBs in the implementatin f the basic prfile f the COMPETISOFT imprvement mdel was develped. The imprtance f defining a relatin between the rles defined by the mdel and thse actually used by the cmpany was analyzed, and the relevance f these rles fr each f the activities was determined in accrdance t the level that the cmpany wishes t reach. Finally, a tl was presented fr the generatin f the input and utput dcuments required by each activity f the mdel in rder t ensure standardizatin. The tl is being used in the imprvement prcess being carried ut by tw sftware develpment cmpanies f Argentina. 5 Future lines f wrk The pssibility f extending the tl fr the full COMPETISOFT mdel is being cnsidered, including the activities f the High Management and Management categries. Based n feedback regarding the use f the tl in real cmpanies, the items included as Gd Practices will be imprved.

10 6 References 1. Bertne, Pasini, Ramón, Espnda, Pesad, Mn, Gigante, De María, Estayn Gestión de Calidad en la Cnstrucción del Sftware. Un enfque para PyME s. Cacic Cncrdia Entre Rís, Argentina Pasini, A, Espnda S, Bertne R, Pesad P. Aseguramient de Calidad en PYMES que desarrllan sftware. Una experiencia desde el pryect COMPETISOFT. CACIC Chilecit La Rija Octubre Piattini, M; Oktaba, H; Pin, F; Orzc, M; Alquicira, C. COMPETISOFT. Mejra de Prcess Sftware para Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas y Pryects. Editrial RaMa. ISBN; COMPETISOFT Mdel de Prcess para PyMEs de Iberamérica, Pryect CYTED (Cde 3789) August COMPETISOFT Perfil Básic Mdel de Prcess para PyMEs de Iberamérica, Pryect CYTED (Cde 3789) August Applying the Gal/Questin/Metric paradigm in the experience factry. Victr R. Basili Institute fr Advanced Cmputer Studies Department f Cmputer Science. 7. IEEE Std IEEE Recmmended Practice fr Sftware Requirements Specificatins 8. Pflegger, S. Ingeniería de Sftware. Tería y Práctica. Pearsn Educatin Smmerville, Ian, Ingeniería de Sftware. Pearsn Addisn Wesley ISO/IEC 15939:2007 Systems and sftware engineering -- Measurement prcess 11. Gal-Driven Sftware Measurement A Guidebk.Sftware Engineering Institute Carnegie Melln University 12. IEEE Std Standard fr Sftware Prject Management Plans