Vancouver, Canada. May 16 - 17, 2009 A Process for Driving Process Improvement in VSEs Francisco J. Pino1,2, Julio Hurtado1, Juan Vidal1,3, Félix García2, Mario Piattini2 1 IDIS Research Group Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering Faculty. University of Cauca, Popayán, Colombia. 2 Alarcos Research Group Institute of IT & Systems. Dep. of IT & Systems – ESI. University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain. 3 Faculty of Engineering and Business University of Computer Science, Santiago, Chile Contents 1. Introduction 2. COMPETISOFT project 3. Improvement framework • PmCOMPETISOFT process 4. Case studies 5. Conclusions 2 A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 19 Introduction Motivation • SPI in small software companies. – Software industry in many countries is composed mainly of SMEs – To carry out a systematic SPI initiative in SMEs is necessary: • Have good and available practices for software development (processes reference model), • Determine the state of the processes and discover opportunities for improvement (process assessment method) • Direct the process improvement activities towards the innermost part of the organization (model to guide SPI). 3 A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 19 Introduction Motivation • Traditional SPI models and standards (CMMI, ISO 15504,..) do not suit well this kind of companies. • The model to guide SPI is the used least. – It is a great drawback because this model provides the guidelines needed to carry out the SPI tasks. • We have developed the COMPETISOFT project [1] in order to address the following issues: – To provide a strategy for increasing the level of competitiveness of Latin-American small firms. – To give great importance to the model for guiding SPI activities. [1] Oktaba, H., F. Garcia, M. Piattini, F. Pino, C. Alquicira, and F. Ruiz, Software Process Improvement: The COMPETISOFT Project. IEEE Computer, 2007. Vol. 40(10) October pp. 21-28. A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 4 19 COMPETISOFT project Methodological Framework of COMPETISOFT 5 A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 19 COMPETISOFT project Process Reference Model of COMPETISOFT 6 A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 19 COMPETISOFT project Evaluation Model of COMPETISOFT 7 A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 19 COMPETISOFT project Improvement Model of COMPETISOFT Process for driving process improvement in VSEs In this paper: • An explicit process which will be a step-by-step guide to the implementation of process improvement is presented (PmCOMPETISOFT) • PmCOMPETISOFT constitutes the backbone of the improvement framework 8 A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 19 Improvement Framework PmCOMPETISOFT • PmCOMPETISOFT process encourages: – – – – – Early and continuous achievement of improvements. Continuous and rapid process diagnosis. Elemental process measurement. Effective group collaboration and communication. Continuous learning. • Influenced by: ISO/IEC 15504-4, IDEAL and SCRUM – We analyzed, integrated and tailored several improvement practices of these models, – Goal: to create a specialized and suitable guide which meet the needs of VSEs to carry out SPI. 9 A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 19 Improvement Framework Roles and work products of PmCOMPETISOFT • PmCOMPETISOFT defines: – Roles: • Responsible for process improvement (RPI) • Management Improvement Group (MIG) • Process Improvement Group (PIG) • Responsible for process or Participant (RP) • Evaluator (EV) – Work products: • Improvement proposal • General improvement plan, it make up of: – The Assessment report – Preliminary improvement plan • Improvement implementation plan • Improvement report, it make up of the different improvement iteration reports A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 10 19 Improvement Framework Activity diagram of PmCOMPETISOFT RPI Strategic plan MIG <<Improvement requirement>> EV PIG RPI RPI RP MIG <<Input>> Initiating the cycle Supported by METvalCOMPETISOFT RP Supported by a Agile process for improvement introduction <<Output>> <<Output>> Improvement proposal <<Input>> Diagnosing the process Formulating improvements <<Input>> Improvement implementation plan <<Input>> <<Output>> Assessment report General improvement plan Executing improvements [Another iteration] Preliminary improvement plan [One more cycle] [No more cycles] <<Output>> [No more iterations] Revising the cycle <<Output>> Improvement report A process for driving process improvement in VSEs Improvement iteration report 11 19 Improvement Framework Activity diagram of PmCOMPETISOFT RPI Strategic plan MIG <<Improvement requirement>> EV PIG RPI RPI RP MIG <<Input>> Initiating the cycle Supported by METvalCOMPETISOFT RP Supported by a Agile process for improvement introduction <<Output>> <<Output>> Improvement proposal <<Input>> Diagnosing the process Formulating improvements <<Input>> Improvement implementation plan <<Input>> <<Output>> Assessment report General improvement plan Executing improvements [Another iteration] Preliminary improvement plan [One more cycle] [No more cycles] <<Output>> [No more iterations] Revising the cycle <<Output>> Improvement report A process for driving process improvement in VSEs Improvement iteration report 12 19 Improvement Framework Activities of PmCOMPETISOFT – Five activities: • Initiating the cycle – A Improvement Proposal aligned to the organization’s strategic planning is created – This proposal guides the organization through each of the following activities of the improvement cycle • Diagnosing the process – A no formal internal evaluation to discover the general state of the organization’s processes is carried out. – The results are analyzed to establish improvement opportunities of processes and to define their priority. – Preliminary and general planning for the improvement cycle is carried out. A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 13 19 Improvement Framework Activities of PmCOMPETISOFT • Formulating improvements – The general improvement plan is validated. – The current iteration is planed and designed. – The strategy to be followed to improve the process is defined. • Executing improvements – The improvement opportunities which correspond with the current iteration are managed and executed. – If the improvement opportunities has been satisfactorily implemented in the process, it new process is accepted and established in the company – The performance and evaluation of the current iteration and the analyzes of the improvements introduced are registered • Revising the cycle – A post-mortem analysis of the work carried out in the entire improvement cycle is performed A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 14 19 Case studies Research methods Activities of the Case study Ei Software Process Improvement for Latin American SMEs (Object of research) Responsible of activities Design Subjects Field procedure Analysis A3 A1 to E1 A2 to E2 A3 to E3, E4 A1 to E1 A2 to E2 A3 to E3, E4 A3 Supported by A2 Case study E2 A1 Deliverables (norms, models, methods, tools, handbooks, etc) Case study E1 A3 Case study E3 A3 Case study E4 time Advisers A1, A2, A3 Activities, responsible and time line of the case studies Case studies of the proposal PmCOMPETISOFT Research results Research group participating in the COMPETISOFT project (Researchers) Companies E1, E2, E3, E4 Companies and organizations participating in the COMPETISOFT project (Critical reference group) Refine results from case studies Latin American SMEs (Stakeholders) Results application A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 15 19 Case studies Design and subjects • Research question: Is the PmCOMPETISOFT process suitable for carrying out SPI efforts in VSEs? • Design type: Multiple cases - holistic • Measures: – Effort of carrying out the activities of PmCOMPETISOFT. – Capability level of the processes under analysis of each company. • Companies involved in the case studies Company Country Employees Path Main areas of professional activity E1 Argentina 8 (7) 15 years / Development of new tailored information systems N&I with ongoing integration of new technology E2 Chile 18 (12) 9 years / N&I Computer Engineering projects for the agricultural (wine and food) industry. E3 Spain 7 (6) 4 years / N Software development on WEB. E4 Spain 21 (15) 12 years / N Software development through contracts and agreements with public organizations. Employees: Number of employees in the enterprise (People in software development and maintenance) Path: Number of years of existence of the company / scope of the market for its products (National–N / International–I) A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 16 19 Case studies Analysis unit, field procedures and data collection • Analysis units – Activities of PmCOMPETISOFT and processes to be improved in the firms • Field procedures and data collection – The procedure governing field procedure and the data collection of the case studies is closely related to the activities, roles and work products of PmCOMPETISOFT. A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 17 19 Case studies Initial and final process capability and effort • At the beginning and at the end of each process improvement cycle an internal capability assessment was performed. • How much effort spent to carry improvement cycle was also registered. PjM HRM KM IM SD 0 +1 1 0 +1 1 PM E4 0 +1 1 BM E3 - +1 1 SM E2 Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final SPA E1 Assess ment Com. Capability of Processes 2 2 1 +1 2 0 * 0 * * 0 * - 1 * - 1 - 1+1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - out the Effort (hours) Cycle length (months) Adviser (A) 6 40 264 304 5 89 255 344 3 15 39 54 3 41 47 88 Comp. Total (C) * Base practices of this process have been implanted A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 18 19 Conclusions • Through the application of PmCOMPETISOFT process the VSEs: the – introduced new base practices to their processes, – increased the capability of their processes. • Effort spent on improvement initiatives: – It is approximately hours/week. one person taking 10 – We observed that employees of each company were able to take on this effort in SPI activities with no detriment to their daily activities. • The companies have reported benefits of the application of SPI. A process for driving process improvement in VSEs several 19 19 Conclusions • The VSEs have: – Moved from a chaotic and unpredictable software process to a tangible one – Generated a knowledge base of their processes – Perceived the benefits and they have realized the need to maintain continuous and ongoing improvement. – Been motivated about SPI: • E1 is conducting an ISO 9001 certification • E3 is working in a formal assessment CMMI level 2 • The results, in terms of effort, increase of capability and benefits, are an indicator that PmCOMPETISOFT can be a practical and useful strategy when facing the difficulty of carrying out SPI in VSEs. A process for driving process improvement in VSEs 20 19 Vancouver, Canada. May 16 - 17, 2009 !!! Thanks !!! Francisco J. Pino fjpino@unicauca.edu.co Alarcos Research Group Institute of IT & Systems. Dep. of IT & Systems – ESI. University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain. A process for driving process improvement in VSEs