Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition.

Chapter 28 Slide 1
Process Improvement
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 2
To explain the principles of software process
improvement
To explain how software process factors
influence software quality and productivity
To explain how to develop simple models of
software processes
To explain the notion of process capability
and the CMMI process improvement model
Objectives
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 3
Process and product quality
Process classification
Process measurement
Process analysis and modelling
Process change
The CMMI process improvement framework
Topics covered
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 4
Understanding existing processes and
introducing process changes to improve
product quality, reduce costs or accelerate
schedules.
Most process improvement work so far has
focused on defect reduction. This reflects the
increasing attention paid by industry to
quality.
However, other process attributes can also
be the focus of improvement
Process improvement
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 5
Process attributes
Process
characteri stic
Description
Understandability To what extent is the process explicitly defined and how easy is it t o
understand the process definition?
Visibility Do the process activities culminate in clear results so that the progress
of the process is externally visible?
Supportability To what extent can CASE tools be used to support the process
activities?
Accept ability Is t he defined process accept able to and usable by the engineers
responsible for producing t he software product?
Reliability Is the process designed in such a way that process errors are avoided or
trapped before they result in product errors?
Robustness Can the process continue in spite of unexpected problems?
Maint ainability Can the process evolve to reflect changing organisational requirement s
or identified process improvement s?
Rapidity How fast can t he process of delivering a syst em from a given
specificat ion be completed?
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 6
The process improvement cycle
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 7
Process measurement
Attributes of the current process are
measured. These are a baseline for
assessing improvements.
Process analysis
The current process is assessed and
bottlenecks and weaknesses are identified.
Process change
Changes to the process that have been
identified during the analysis are introduced.
Process improvement stages
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 8
Process quality and product quality are closely
related and process improvement benefits arise
because the quality of the product depends on its
development process.
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.
Process and product quality
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 9
Principal product quality factors
Product
qual i ty
Development
t echnol ogy
Cost , ti me and
schedul e
Process
qual i ty
Peopl e
qual i ty
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 10
Quality factors
For large projects with average capabilities,
the development process determines
product quality.
For small projects, the capabilities of the
developers is the main determinant.
The development technology is particularly
significant for small projects.
In all cases, if an unrealistic schedule is
imposed then product quality will suffer.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 11
Informal
No detailed process model. Development team chose
their own way of working.
Managed
Defined process model which drives the development
process.
Methodical
Processes supported by some development method such
as the RUP.
Supported
Processes supported by automated CASE tools.
Process classification
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 12
Process applicability
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 13
Process used should depend on type of
product which is being developed
For large systems, management is usually the principal
problem so you need a strictly managed process;
For smaller systems, more informality is possible.
There is no uniformly applicable process which
should be standardised within an organisation
High costs may be incurred if you force an inappropriate
process on a development team;
Inappropriate methods can also increase costs and lead
to reduced quality.
Process choice
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 14
Process tool support
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 15
Wherever possible, quantitative process data
should be collected
However, where organisations do not have clearly defined
process standards this is very difficult as you dont know
what to measure. A process may have to be defined
before any measurement is possible.
Process measurements should be used to
assess process improvements
But this does not mean that measurements should drive
the improvements. The improvement driver should be the
organizational objectives.
Process measurement
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 16
Time taken for process activities to be
completed
E.g. Calendar time or effort to complete an
activity or process.
Resources required for processes or
activities
E.g. Total effort in person-days.
Number of occurrences of a particular event
E.g. Number of defects discovered.
Classes of process measurement
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 17
Goals
What is the organisation trying to achieve? The
objective of process improvement is to satisfy
these goals.
Questions
Questions about areas of uncertainty related to
the goals. You need process knowledge to
derive these.
Metrics
Measurements to be collected to answer the
questions.
Goal-Question-Metric Paradigm
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 18
Process analysis and modelling
Process analysis
The study of existing processes to understand
the relationships between parts of the process
and to compare them with other processes.
Process modelling
The documentation of a process which records
the tasks, the roles and the entities used;
Process models may be presented from
different perspectives.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 19
Study an existing process to understand its
activities.
Produce an abstract model of the process.
You should normally represent this
graphically. Several different views (e.g.
activities, deliverables, etc.) may be required.
Analyse the model to discover process
problems. This involves discussing process
activities with stakeholders and discovering
problems and possible process changes.
Process analysis and modelling
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 20
Published process models and process
standards
It is always best to start process analysis with an existing
model. People then may extend and change this.
Questionnaires and interviews
Must be carefully designed. Participants may tell you what
they think you want to hear.
Ethnographic analysis
Involves assimilating process knowledge by observation.
Best for in-depth analysis of process fragments rather
than for whole-process understanding.
Process analysis techniques
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 21
Process model elements 1
Activity
(shown as a round-edged
rectangle with no drop
shadow)
An activity has a clearly defined object ive, entry and exit
conditions. Examples of activities are preparing a set of test data to
test a module, coding a fu nction or a module, proof-reading a
document, etc. Generally, an activity is at omic i.e. it is the
responsibility of one person or group. It is not decomposed into sub-
activities.
Process
(shown as a round-edged
rectangle with drop
shadow)
A p rocess is a set of act ivities which have some coherence and
whose objective is generally agreed within an organisation.
Examples of processes are requirements analysis, archit ect ural
design, t est planning, et c.
Deliverable
(shown as a rect angle with
drop shadow)
A deliverable is a tangible out put of an activity that is predicted in a
project plan.
Condition
(shown as a parallelogram )
A condition is either a pre-condit ion that must hold before a process
or activity can st art or a post-condit ion t hat holds after a process or
activity has finished.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 22
Process model elements 2
Role
(shown as a circle with
drop shadow)
A role is a bounded area of responsibilit y. Examples of roles might
be configuration manager, t est engineer, software designer, et c. One
person may have several different roles and a s ingle role may be
associated with several different people.
Exception
(not shown in examples
here but may be
represent ed as a double
edged box)
An exception is a description of how to modify t he process if some
ant icipat ed or unanticipated event occurs. Except ions are often
undefined and it is left to the ingenuity of the project managers and
engineers to handle the exception.
Communication
(shown as an arrow)
An interchange of information between people or between people
and supporting comput er syst ems. Communications may be
informal or formal. Formal communicat ions might be the approval
of a deliverable by a p roject manager; informal communications
might be the interchange of electronic mail to resolve ambiguities in
a document .
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 23
The module testing activity
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 24
Activities in module testing
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 25
Process exceptions
Software processes are complex and process
models cannot effectively represent how to handle
exceptions:
Several key people becoming ill just before a critical
review;
A breach of security that means all external
communications are out of action for several days;
Organisational reorganisation;
A need to respond to an unanticipated request for new
proposals.
Under these circumstances, the model is suspended
and managers use their initiative to deal with the
exception.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 26
Process change
Involves making modifications to existing
processes.
This may involve:
Introducing new practices, methods or
processes;
Changing the ordering of process activities;
Introducing or removing deliverables;
Introducing new roles or responsibilities.
Change should be driven by measurable
goals.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 27
The process change process
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 28
Process change stages
Improvement identification.
Improvement prioritisation.
Process change introduction.
Process change training.
Change tuning.

Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 29
The CMMI framework
The CMMI framework is the current stage of work on
process assessment and improvement that started
at the Software Engineering Institute in the 1980s.
The SEIs mission is to promote software technology
transfer particularly to US defence contractors.
It has had a profound influence on process
improvement
Capability Maturity Model introduced in the early 1990s.
Revised maturity framework (CMMI) introduced in 2001.

Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 30
Process capability assessment
Intended as a means to assess the extent to
which an organisations processes follow
best practice.
My providing a means for assessment, it is
possible to identify areas of weakness for
process improvement.
There have been various process
assessment and improvement models but
the SEI work has been most influential.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 31
Initial
Essentially uncontrolled
Repeatable
Product management procedures defined and used
Defined
Process management procedures and strategies defined
and used
Managed
Quality management strategies defined and used
Optimising
Process improvement strategies defined and used
The SEI capability maturity model
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 32
Problems with the CMM
Practices associated with model levels
Companies could be using practices from different levels
at the same time but if all practices from a lower level
were not used, it was not possible to move beyond that
level
Discrete rather than continuous
Did not recognise distinctions between the top and the
bottom of levels
Practice-oriented
Concerned with how things were done (the practices)
rather than the goals to be achieved.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 33
The CMMI model
An integrated capability model that includes
software and systems engineering capability
assessment.
The model has two instantiations
Staged where the model is expressed in terms
of capability levels;
Continuous where a capability rating is
computed.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 34
CMMI model components
Process areas
24 process areas that are relevant to process capability
and improvement are identified. These are organised into
4 groups.
Goals
Goals are descriptions of desirable organisational states.
Each process area has associated goals.
Practices
Practices are ways of achieving a goal - however, they
are advisory and other approaches to achieve the goal
may be used.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 35
CMMI process areas 1
Process management Organisational process definition
Organisational process focus
Organisational training
Organisational process performance
Organisational innovation and deployment
Project management Project planning
Project monitoring and cont rol
Supplier agreement management
Integrated project management
Risk management
Integrated teaming
Quantit ative project management
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 36
CMMI process areas 2
Engineering Requirement s management
Requirement s development
Technical solution
Product int egrat ion
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, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 37
CMMI goals
Goal Process area
Corrective actions are managed to
closure when the projects performance
or results deviate significantly from the
plan.
Specific goal in Project
Monitoring and Control
Actual performance and progress of the
project is monitored against the project
plan.
Specific goal in project
monitoring and control
The requirements are analysed and
validated and a definition of the required
functionality is developed.
Specific goal in
requirements
development.
Root causes of defects and other
problems are systematically determined.
Specific goal in causal
analysis and resolution.
The process is institutionalised as a
defined process.
Generic goal
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 38
CMMI practices
Practi ce Associated goal
Analyse derived requirement s to ensure that they are
necessary and sufficient
Validate requirements to ensure that t he result ing
product will perform as intended in the users
environment using multiple techniques as
appropriate.
The requirements are analysed and
validated and a definition of the
required funct ionality is developed.
Select the defects and other problems for analysis.
Perform causal analysis of selected defects and ot her
problems and propose actions to address them.
Root causes of defect s and other
problems are syst ematically det ermined.
Establish and maintain an organisat ional policy for
planning and performing the requirements
development process.
Assign responsibility and authority for performing
the process, developing the work products and
providing the services of the requirements
development process.
The process is inst itutionalised as a
defined process.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 39
CMMI assessment
Examines the processes used in an organisation
and assesses their maturity in each process area.
Based on a 6-point scale:
Not performed;
Performed;
Managed;
Defined;
Quantitatively managed;
Optimizing.

Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 40
The staged CMMI model
Comparable with the software CMM.
Each maturity level has process areas and
goals. For example, the process area
associated with the managed level include:
Requirements management;
Project planning;
Project monitoring and control;
Supplier agreement management;
Measurement and analysis;
Process and product quality assurance.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 41
The staged CMMI model
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 42
Institutional practices
Institutions operating at the managed level
should have institutionalised practices that
are geared to standardisation.
Establish and maintain policy for performing the
project management process;
Provide adequate resources for performing the
project management process;
Monitor and control the project planning
process;
Review the activities, status and results of the
project planning process.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 43
The continuous CMMI model
This is a finer-grain model that considers individual
or groups of practices and assesses their use.
The maturity assessment is not a single value but is
a set of values showing the organisations maturity in
each area.
The CMMI rates each process area from levels 1 to
5.
The advantage of a continuous approach is that
organisations can pick and choose process areas to
improve according to their local needs.
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 44
A process capability profile
Proj ect monit ori ng
and control
Suppli er agreement
management
Ri sk
management
Confi gurati on
management
Requirement s
management
Veri ficat i on
Vali dat ion
1 2 3 4 5
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 45
Process improvement involves process analysis,
standardisation, measurement and change.
Processes can be classified as informal, managed,
methodical and improving. This classification can be
used to identify process tool support.
The process improvement cycle involves process
measurement, process analysis and process
change.
Process measurement should be used to answer
specific process questions, based on organisational
improvement goals.

Key points
Ian Sommerville 2004 Software Engineering, 7th edition. Chapter 28 Slide 46
The three types of process metrics used in the
measurement process are time metrics, resource
utilisation metrics and event metrics.
Process models include descriptions of tasks,
activities, roles, exceptions, communications,
deliverables and other processes.
The CMMI process maturity model integrates software
and systems engineering process improvement.
Process improvement in the CMMI model is based on
reaching a set of goals related to good software
engineering practice.
Key points