Sammanfattning
The intangible nature of software means that traditional processes for managing product development are not sufficiently effective. This, in combination with the increasing share of software in technical products, has had the effect of making it difficult to identify improvement proposals for engineering processes in many cases. This thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate methods that involve the entire development organisation in software process improvement.
The research is performed in cooperation with several companies developing software products in different countries. The studied organisations range from small development companies, using light, informal methodologies, to large corporations, with thousands of developers, using large frameworks of formal process models. The need for organisations to use both local experience as well as generally accepted best practice in process improvement is addressed.
A method that uses input from the whole organisation for strategic software process improvement is created and evaluated. The introduction of one agile methodology, Extreme Programming, is studied in a small team and a decision support method is evaluated for introducing the methodology. Also, a framework based approach to process improvement is applied to testing practices. The approach allows a small, rapidly evolving, company to introduce suitable practices that solve problems apparent in the current state of the company. This allows the processes to evolve in small steps without introducing formal practices too early in the company’s evolution.
An integration of agile methods and high-level product management processes is proposed and evaluated on both the engineering level and the product management level of organisations. The integration allows contrasting elements of the processes to remain effective within each respective domain and in some instances even perform synergetically.
The research is performed in cooperation with several companies developing software products in different countries. The studied organisations range from small development companies, using light, informal methodologies, to large corporations, with thousands of developers, using large frameworks of formal process models. The need for organisations to use both local experience as well as generally accepted best practice in process improvement is addressed.
A method that uses input from the whole organisation for strategic software process improvement is created and evaluated. The introduction of one agile methodology, Extreme Programming, is studied in a small team and a decision support method is evaluated for introducing the methodology. Also, a framework based approach to process improvement is applied to testing practices. The approach allows a small, rapidly evolving, company to introduce suitable practices that solve problems apparent in the current state of the company. This allows the processes to evolve in small steps without introducing formal practices too early in the company’s evolution.
An integration of agile methods and high-level product management processes is proposed and evaluated on both the engineering level and the product management level of organisations. The integration allows contrasting elements of the processes to remain effective within each respective domain and in some instances even perform synergetically.
Originalspråk | engelska |
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Kvalifikation | Doktor |
Tilldelande institution |
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Handledare |
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Tilldelningsdatum | 2004 dec. 8 |
Förlag | |
Status | Published - 2004 |
Bibliografisk information
Defence detailsDate: 2004-12-08
Time: 10:15
Place: Room E:1406, E-building, Lund Institute of Technology
External reviewer(s)
Name: Kontio, Jyrki
Title: Professor
Affiliation: Finland
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Article: Paper 1 - Aggregating Viewpoints for Strategic Software Process Improvement – A Method and a Case StudyKarlström, D, Runeson, P. , Wohlin, C.,Published in IEE Proceedings Software, October 2002.
Article: Paper 2 - Introducing Extreme Programming - An Experience ReportKarlström, D.,Published in proceedings of the third International Conference on Extreme Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering, 2002.
Article: Paper 3 - Decision Support for Extreme Programming Introduction and Practice SelectionKarlström, D., Runeson, P.,Published in proceedings of the fourteenth International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, 2002.
Article: Paper 4 - Incremental Introduction of a Structured Test Practice Framework in Emerging Software Development OrganisationsKarlström, D., Runeson, P., Nordén, S.,Accepted for publication in the Journal of Software Testing Verification and Reliability, preliminary publication issue: June 2005.
Article: Paper 5 - Agile Methods and Software Product Management – An Integrative and Hybrid ApproachRuneson, P., Karlström, D.,Technical report, Lund Institute of Technology, CODEN : LUTEDX (TETS-7203) / 1-34 / (2004) & local 16, 2004.
Article: Paper 6 - Integrating Agile Software Development into Stage-Gate Managed Product DevelopmentKarlström, D., Runeson, P.,Submitted to the Journal of Empirical Software Engineering, 2004.
Article: Paper 7 - Exploring Agile Influences in Stage-Gate Management of Software Product DevelopmentKarlström, D.,Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 2004.
Ämnesklassifikation (UKÄ)
- Datavetenskap (datalogi)