Optimum release policies for a software system with a scheduled software delivery time
Shigeru Yamada, Hiroyuki Narihisa, Shunji Osaki · International Journal of Systems Science · 1984
Optimum release policies minimizing the total expected software cost with a scheduled software delivery time are discussed. Such cost considerations enable us to make a release decision as to when to transfer a software system from testing phase to operational phase. The underlying reliability model describing a software error occurrence phenomenon is a software reliability growth model based on a non-homogeneous Poisson process. It is assumed that the penalty cost functions due to delay for a scheduled software delivery time are proportional and exponential to time, respectively. We consider two cases; when the scheduled software delivery time is a constant and when it is a random variable with an arbitrary distribution. Four useful theorems are derived to determine optimum release times of a software system for operational use. Numerical examples are shown to illustrate the results.