Transcript Software Process Assessment & Improvement

Software Process Improvement
in the Small
…and its Application in a
Scandinavian Picture Agency
Group
Rune Toalango Johannesen
[email protected]
M.Sc. Information Technology Management
●
Dissertation Project
●
October 2004
The Presentation
• Key elements of the
dissertation
• The chosen improvement
and assessment approach
• Highlights from the
problem diagnosis
• Limitations of research
undertaken
• Overall dissertation
conclusion
• Questioning
Dissertation Outline
The Academic Perspective
1. Introduction
2. Research Methodology
3. Research Review
4. Chosen SPI Approach
5. Case Study Highlights
6. Evaluation
7. Conclusion
The Practical Perspective
Accounts for both the
Practical and the
Academic Perspectives
The Chosen Approach
The IDEAL model as SPI framework
Document
Reviewing
Problem
Diagnosis
Method
A Hybrid
SPA
Approach
Case Study
Problem Diagnosis Highlights
• An efficient smallness culture of
adhocracy
Diagnosing
• An intricate and inexpedient
ownership structure
• Local incentives despite group-wide
projects
• Messy relationships between
internal buyer(s) and IT supplier(s)
• IT owns the systems, not business
• Intermixed operations and
developments efforts
• Communication gap between biz
and tech
1) An new organisational model
2) A distributed project-driven
development unit
3) Remote development facilities
and formalised
methodological software
process practises
Limitations of Research
• Only the two first phases of the IDEAL model, Initiating and
Diagnosing, were applied
• The peculiar ownership constellation of SCANPIX makes the
case interesting for organisations in “political battlefields”
• The intense assessment made it difficult to use the outcome of
one interview as input to the preparations of the next
• Problem-based assessment approaches offer limited guidance
in identifying, prioritising and improving problem areas
• A quasi-experiment applied as action research on a case
study basis offers limited basis for validation of findings since
the research does not include a basis of comparison
Conclusion
• Previous research has been largely misguided by
focusing too much on quantitative model-based
approaches not suitable for small organisations
• The chosen improvement and assessment
approach was found applicable in the case based
on the sponsor’s commitment and feedback
• An alignment between large-scale and smallscale approaches, without enforcing large-scale
models on small-scale organisations, is desirable
• More research is needed on how the problembased approaches can guide the advocates of
improvement in identifying, prioritising and
improving problem areas
Questions?