Chapter 28

Process Improvement

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 1

Objectives
 To explain the principles of software process
improvement
 To explain how process factors influence
quality and productivity
 To explain the notion of process capability
and the CMMI process improvement model

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 2

Topics covered
 Process attributes
 The process improvement cycle
 Process and product quality
 The SEI’s CMMI framework

(Read chapter introduction + sections 28.1

and 28.6)

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 3

Topics covered
 Process attributes
 The process improvement cycle
 Process and product quality
 The SEI’s CMMI framework

(Read chapter introduction + sections 28.1

and 28.6)

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 4

Process attributes (too!)
 Most process improvement work has
focused on (product) defect reduction.
(This reflects the increasing attention paid
by industry to quality since the early
’80’s.)
 However, process attributes themselves
can also be the focus of improvement…

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 5

Process attributes (cont’d)
Understandability: Is the process explicitly defined
and easy to understand?
Visibility: Do process activities culminate in clear
results and is the progress being made visible
externally?
Supportability: Can CASE tools be used to support
process activities?
Acceptability: Is the process acceptable to and usable
by engineers responsible for producing the product
(as well as others…)?
(cont'd)

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 6

Process attributes (cont’d)
Reliability: Can process errors be avoided or trapped
before they result in product errors?
Robustness: Can the process continue despite
unexpected problems?
Maintainability: Can the process evolve to reflect
changing organizational requirements or to make
process improvements?
Rapidity: How fast can the process be completed?

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 7

Topics covered
 Process attributes
 The process improvement cycle
 Process and product quality
 The SEI’s CMMI framework

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 8

The process improvement cycle

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 9

Process improvement stages
 Process measurement
 Attributes of the current process are
measured. (Provides a baseline for
assessing improvements.)
 Process analysis
 Bottlenecks and weaknesses are identified.
 Changes aimed at improving measures are
identified.
 Process change
 Changes are introduced.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 10

Topics covered
 Process attributes
 The process improvement cycle
 Process and product quality
 The SEI’s CMMI framework

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 11

What is the relationship between
process and product quality?
 Obviously, process quality and product quality are
closely related…
 A “good process” is usually required to produce a
“good product.”
 For manufactured goods, process is the principal
quality determinant.
 For design-based activity, other factors are also
involved (especially the capabilities of the
designers)...

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 12

Principal product quality factors

Develo pment
techn ology
(tool support)

Pro cess Pro duct Peop le

quality quality quality

Co st, time and

schedule

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 13

More quality generalizations…
 For large projects with “average” people
capabilities, process determines product
quality.
 For small projects…
 people capabilities tend to be more
important; but
 development technology (tool support) is
also important.
 In all cases, an unrealistic schedule can
cause product quality to suffer.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 14

Topics covered
 Process attributes
 The process improvement cycle
 Process and product quality
 The SEI’s CMMI framework

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 15

Software Engineering Institute (SEI)
 DoD-funded organization established in
1984 at CMU to assess and improve the
capabilities of the US software industry.
 Developed the influential 5-level “Software
Capability Maturity Model” (CMM) in early
’90’s.
 To assess extent to which an organization’s
processes follow best practices.
 Others have extended or adapted the model
(e.g., SPICE, Bootstrap) for use in a wider
range of companies.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 16

SEI Software CMM maturity levels
1. Initial: essentially uncontrolled
2. Repeatable: product management procedures
defined and used
3. Defined: process management procedures and
strategies defined and used
4. Managed: quality management strategies
defined and used
5. Optimizing: process improvement strategies
defined and used

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 17

Software Engineering Institute (SEI)
(cont’d)
 The Software CMM was followed by the
development of more specialized CMMs:
 Systems Engineering CMM
 People CMM
 Integrated Product & Process Development CMM
 Software Acquisition CMM
 Systems Security Engineering CMM
 Each had different structures, terms, and ways
of measuring maturity.
(cont'd)

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 18

Software Engineering Institute (SEI)
(cont’d)
 This caused confusion, especially when
using more than one model at a time.
 They were difficult to integrate into a
combined improvement program.
 Also difficult to use in supplier selection and
sub-contracting.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 19

The CMMI project
 The Capability Maturity Model Integration
(CMMI) project was begun in 2001 to:
 build an initial set of integrated models
 improve best practices from existing CMM
models
 establish a framework to enable integration of
future models
 create an associated set of appraisal and
training products

(cont'd)
©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 20
The CMMI project (cont’d)
 Collaborative endeavor (over 100 people
from nearly 30 industry/government
organizations were involved)
 See www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/ for more info.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 21

CMMI framework
 Models support four “bodies of knowledge”:
 Software Engineering (SW)
 Systems Engineering (SE)
 Integrated Product and Process Development
(IPPD)
 Supplier Sourcing (SS)
 Two instantiations:
 Staged: the model is expressed in terms of 5
capability levels;
 Continuous: a capability rating is computed.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 22

CMMI process areas
 24 process areas relevant to process
capability and improvement are identified.
 Organized into 4 groups:
 Process management
 Project management
 Engineering
 Support
 Each area has associated goals and
(advisory) practices

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 23

CMMI process areas (cont’d)

Process management Organisational process definition

Organisational process focus
Organisational training
Organisational process performance
Organisational innovation and deployment
Project management Project planning
Project monitoring and control
Supplier agreement management
Integrated project management
Risk management
Integrated teaming
Quantitative project management

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 24

CMMI process areas (cont’d)

Engineering Requirements management

Requirements development
Technical solution
Product integration
Verification
Validation
Support Configuration management
Process and product quality management
Measurement and analysis
Decision analysis and resolution
Organisational environment for integration
Causal analysis and resolution

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 25

CMMI process assessment
 Examines processes used and assesses
organizational capability relative to each of
the 24 process areas.
 Based on a 6-point “capability level” scale:
0. Not performed (“Incomplete”)
1. Performed
2. Managed
3. Defined
4. Quantitatively managed
5. Optimizing

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 26

The staged CMMI model
 Comparable to the 5-level Software CMM.
 Each level has process areas and goals.
 For example, process areas associated with
Level 2 (“Managed”) include:
 Requirements management
 Project planning
 Project monitoring and control
 Supplier agreement management
 Measurement and analysis
 Process and product quality management

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 27

Staged CMMI model maturity levels

"Managed" in CMM

5 “Maturity Levels”
"Repeatable" in CMM

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 28

The continuous CMMI model
 A finer-grain model that considers individual or
groups of practices and assesses their use.
 The maturity assessment is a set of “capability
values” (based on the 6-point “capability level”
scale described earlier) in each area.
 The advantage of a continuous approach is that
organizations can pick and choose process
areas to improve according to their local needs.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 29

A process capability profile
Pro ject mon ito rin g
and co ntro l

Supp lier ag reemen t

managemen t

Risk
managemen t

Co nfiguratio n
managemen t

Requiremen ts
managemen t

Verificatio n

Validatio n

0 1 2 3 4 5

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 30

 Key points
 The process improvement cycle involves
process measurement, process analysis
and process change.
 Process measurement should be used to
answer specific process questions based on
improvement goals.

(cont’d)

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 31

 Key points (cont’d)
 SEI’s CMMI framework provides a common,
integrated vision of improvement for all
elements of an organization.
 Process improvement in the CMMI framework
is based on reaching a set of goals related to
good engineering practices from multiple
disciplines.

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 32

 Chapter 28

Process Improvement

©Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering. Chapter 28 Slide 33