A Knowledge Exchange Platform for the Software Product Industry
Agenda 1. Welkom 2. Pakketsoftware en kennisuitwisseling 3. Bestaande activiteiten in Nederland CITIM, Jan van den Ende KU Nijmegen, Rinus Plasmeijer Serc, Jurriaan van Rijswijk Baan, Sjaak Brinkkemper Andere aanwezige bedrijven 4. Discussie over samenwerking 5. Concretizering van activiteiten 6. Afsluiting (gepland tegen 18.00)
Software Product Industry: Some Observations The Netherlands have a good reputation in software products: Compuware (Uniface), Baan, Exact, USoft, King, Applicare, Davilex, Hiscom, Pluriform, Unit4, Augeo, and many others Development of software products is very different from software services Concurrent engineering of code, documentation, training, collateral Market focus instead of working for one customer Release based development, with regular market launches Application domain expertise is critical Extensive testing and call handling processes Pre-investment required; variable costs are zero! No education for software product development Best managerial and financial model of company is still unclear Huge pre-investments are required Services are more profitable on the short term No cooperation platform existent
Expertise in Software Product Development The Netherlands need to capitalize on its expertise in Software Product development. Many companies are prepared to share their expertise: software architecture web-enabled knowledge management distributed software engineering and product testing strategies documenting and translation software process improvement. The foundation of a national research and expertise center for Software Product development must be considered E.g. Baan, Hiscom, Compuware, Davilex, King,
Possible working themes Voor- en nadelen van ontwikkelplatformen (VB, VC++, Oracle, ASP) Coderingstandaarden: naamgeving en constructs Testen en testtools Managen van requirements Ervaringen met Configuration Management tools ISO 900X, SPI, CMM en TSP/PSP Ontwikkelproces, standaarden, templates Partnering in binnen- en buitenland Octrooieren, trade-marks, copy-right en non-disclosures Technical authoring, schrijven van gebruikers- en installatiemanuals
Organization We do it because it s important for ourselves it s fun leverage the professional status of our business Working groups on themes Student assignments Exchange platform for non-strategic information Web-site
Essentials for cooperation Lean organization Driven by demand, powered by contributions Pre-competitive cooperation only No recruiting!!
Baan Baan Company Requirements Management expertise Modeling for Vision, Design, Test and Implementation Web-enabled knowledge infrastructure Research Work; Jacquard program
The Baan Company An Invensys Company Over 20 years experience in technology innovation About 3000 employees, with 900 in R&D Over 7.000 customer sites in more than 80 countries Among the five largest Enterprise Applications companies worldwide Project Manufacturing Electronics A &D Automotive Process
From Requirements Management to Development Management Market Requirements Release Themes Business Requirements Baan Requirements Database Version Definition Conceptual Solution Conceptual Solution Conceptual Solution ongoing, continuous release based Requirements Management release based Development Management Definition Study Functional Design Technical Design Software Component
Scope Change Management Procedure Requirements change request 1. Check urgency and validity of request Verdi2 Requirements Managers Corresponding Concept Document Business Requirements of Verdi2 scope Analyze change impact 2. Communicate change request to involved parties Change Administrator 3. Determine impact of change Development Groups 4. Compile impact and commitment of changes Change Administrator 5. Decide on implementation Change proposal (Content plus Capacity changes) Verdi2 Steering board Reject 6. Notify involved parties Implementation of change Accept Accept Change Administrator 7. Update BR Details 8. Update Project Plan Project Plans Verdi2 Requirements Managers Verdi2 Rel Mgr Project Leaders Notification Business Requirements of Verdi2 Scope 9. Update Design documents and/or software components Software Engineers Design Documents Software Components
BRD Business Requirement
Semantics of BCMs Assembly Scheduling Production Order Control Sales Order Request Definition Sales Order Fulfillment Sales Order to be Fulfilled Fulfilled Sales Order C U S T O M E R Pick Control (Prod.) Production Operation Control Receipt Control (Prod.) Pick Control (Sales) Packing Control Shipping Control Semi- Fin. OUT Assembly IN Finished Goods OUT Packing Shipping T R
Knowledge Infrastructure
Research areas for Innovation Technology areas that are critical for the Netherlands Software Product industry: 2. Intelligent application integration 3. Efficient upgrading 4. Expertise in Software Product Development 5. ASP for education Note: Although these areas have been formulated based on the experiences of Baan, we are convinced that these areas are generic and urgent needs for the whole industry Jacquard: National Research Programme for Software Engineering Start September 2001
Intelligent Application Integration Each customer requires different integrations: Legacy systems Third party applications Change of BaanERP integrations Standard interface definitions (API, OAG, Corba) don t work Intelligent integration: Adaptability by customer Semantic interface technology (based on XML, and industry derivatives like Electronic Business XML Open Architectures Expertise needed: software architecture, code generation, business applications
Efficient Upgrading Rationale: Customers have various releases installed (e.g. in the case of Baan: Triton, Baan IVb, IVc, BaanERPb, c) Migration very costly; ROI needs drastic improvements Cumbersome Propagation of software changes in different releases Efficient Upgrading: Remote installation of new releases Remote data migration Gradual piloting and implementation Usage of web and ASP technology Expertise needed: configuration management, databases, internet technology
ASP for Education Internet as ASP backbone for software product usage Service provider for SME Internal services for dispersed companies Industry service to Educational institutions Local installation puts extreme demand on resources Educational institutes: too many, too small Initiative for national ASP net for higher educational institutes (WO, HBO, MBO) Simple access and arrangements to educational facilities Exposure to realistic business operations Demo companies in various industries: logistics, food and beverage, projects Creating awareness for E-commerce opportunities: Nederland gaat digitaal
The next steps Discussion on options Needs and opportunities Who and what Next meetings