Using Software Inspection as a Catalyst for SPI in a Small Company | SpringerLink
Skip to main content

Using Software Inspection as a Catalyst for SPI in a Small Company

  • Conference paper
Product Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2004)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 3009))

  • 1206 Accesses

Abstract

Process improvement activities in small and medium size enterprises (SME) are challenging due to small number of personnel and projects, people have to perform in a variety of roles. Assigning process improvement activities to the overburdened personnel may be seen as a threat to ongoing projects. Both management and staff should become convinced of the benefits of the improvement actions before taking the first step of the process. Even in this situation the software inspection provides a tempting starting point for process improvement. It is a focused and well defined subprocess and enables high return on investment benefits even in short period use. Our experiment in a small software company confirms that software inspection provides the justified starting point for process improvement. By means of the inspection maturity model the company recognises the weak points in their review practice and inspection patterns help in discovery of improvement actions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
¥17,985 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
JPY 3498
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
JPY 5719
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
JPY 7149
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Grunbacher, P.: A Software Assessment Process for Small Software Enterprises. In: Proceedings of the 23rd EUROMICRO. Conference, Budapest, pp. 123–128 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Batista, J., Dias de Figueiredo, A.: SPI in a Very Small Team: a Case with CMM. Software Process - Improvement and Practise 5, 243–250 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Potter, N.S., Sakry, M.E.: Making Process Improvement Work. A Concise Action Guide for Software Managers and Practitioners. Addison Wesley, Boston (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Rico, D.F.: Software Process Improvement (SPI): Modeling Return on Investment, ROI (2002), http://davidfrico.com/dacs02pdf.htm

  5. Conradi, R., Marjara, A., Skåtevik, B.: Empirical Study of Inspection and Testing Data at Ericsson, Norway. In: Proceedings of PROFES 1999, Oulu, pp. 263–284 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gilb, T., Graham, D.: Software Inspection. Addison-Wesley, Wokingham (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  7. O’Neill, D.: Issues in Software Inspection. IEEE Software 14, 18–19 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Weller, E.F.: Lessons learned from Three Years of Inspection Data. IEEE Software 10, 38–45 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Fagan, M.E.: Design and Code Inspections to Reduce Errors in Program Development. IBM Systems Journal 15, 182–211 (1976)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Perpich, J.M., Perry, D.E., Porter, A.A., Votta, L.G., Wade, M.W.: Anywhere, anytime code inspections: Using the web to remove inspection bottlenecks in large-scale software development. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 14–21 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Tervonen, I., Iisakka, J., Harjumaa, L.: A Tailored Capability Model for Inspection Process Improvement. In: Proceedings of the Second Asia-Pacific Conference on Quality Software, pp. 275–282 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ward, R.P., Fayad, M.E., Laitinen, M.: Software Process Improvement in the Small. Communications of the ACM 44, 105–107 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Kuvaja, P., Similä, J., Krzanik, L., Bicego, A., Koch, G., Saukkonen, S.: Software Process Assessment and Improvement: The BOOTSTRAP Approach. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Burnstein, I., et al.: A Testing Maturity Model for Software Test Process Assessment and Improvement. Software Quality Professional 1 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Gelperin, D., Hayashi, A.: How to support better software testing. Application Trends, 42–48 (May 1996)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Emam El, K., Drouin, J., Melo, W.: SPICE: The Theory and Practice of Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (1998)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  17. Grady, R., van Slack, T.: Key Lessons in Achieving Widespread Inspection Use. IEEE Software 11, 46–57 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Zahran, S.: Software Process Improvement, Practical Guidelines for Business Success. Addison-Wesley, UK (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Buchman, C.D., Bramble, L.K.: Three-tiered Software Process Assessment Hierarchy. Software Process – Improvement and Practice 1, 99–106 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Horvat, R.V., Rozman, I., Gyorkos, J.: Managing the Complexity of SPI in Small Companies. Software Process – Improvement and Practice 5, 45–54 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Sakamoto, K., Nakakoji, K., Yasunari, T.: Toward Computational Support for Software Process Improvement Activities. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Software Engineering, Kyoto, pp. 22–31 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Tyran, C.K., George, J.F.: Improving Software Inspections with Group Process Support. Communications of the ACM 45, 87–92 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. O’Neill, D.: National Software Quality Experiment: Results 1992-1996. In: Proceedings of Quality Week Europe Conference, Brussels, pp. 1–25 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Wiegers, K.E., Sturzenberger, D.C.: A Modular Software Process Mini-assessment Method. IEEE Software 17, 62–69 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Richardson, I.: SPI Models: What Characteristics are Required for Small Software Development Companies? Software Quality Journal 10, 101–114 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kelly, D.P., Culleton, B.: Process Improvement for Small Organizations. IEEE Computer 32, 41–47 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Herbsleb, J., Zubrow, D., Goldenson, D., Hayes, W., Paulk, M.: Software Quality and the Capability Maturity Model. Communications of the ACM 40, 25–29 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R., Vlissides, J.: Design Patterns – Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Appleton, B.: Patterns for Conducting Process Improvement. In: PloP 1997 Conference (1997), http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/docs/i-spi/plop97.html

  30. Rising, L.: Patterns: A way to reuse expertise (1998), http://www.agcs.com/supportv2/techpapers/patterns/papers/expertise.htm (referenced 01.03.2003)

  31. Sakamoto, K., Kishida, K., Nakakoji, K.: Cultural Adaptation of the CMM: A Case Study of a Software Engineering Process Group in a Japanese Manufacturing Company. In: Fugetta, A., Wolf, A. (eds.) Software Process, pp. 137–154. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, West Sussex (1996)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Harjumaa, L., Tervonen, I., Vuorio, P. (2004). Using Software Inspection as a Catalyst for SPI in a Small Company. In: Bomarius, F., Iida, H. (eds) Product Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3009. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24659-6_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24659-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-21421-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-24659-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics