Software process re‐engineering: a model and its application to an industrial case study
Nannette P. Napier, Jonathan D. Kim, Lars Mathiassen · Software Process Improvement and Practice · 2008
Abstract Many software organizations engage in software process improvement (SPI), but process descriptions may soon become outdated especially if the organization, for a while, has given low priority to SPI. As a result, software organizations may need to re‐engineer process descriptions that are inconsistent with desired process practices. While the literature addresses how organizations can re‐engineer business processes and legacy systems, no guidance exists on re‐engineering legacy process descriptions. Software process re‐engineering (SPR) is a transitional activity that helps organizations effectively re‐engage in SPI by assessing legacy process descriptions; selecting process descriptions that need to be removed, innovated, or implemented; and defining a plan to align process descriptions with desired process practices. SPR results in a repository of managed process descriptions and a plan for disciplined software process management. In this article, we derive principles for SPR, use these principles to propose a model for re‐engineering legacy process descriptions, and present an industrial case study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model. In the presented case, SPR had several benefits: it leveraged earlier investments in SPI; it engaged key stakeholders in revitalizing improvement efforts; it created a shared understanding of the organization's desired process practices; and, it established a solid platform for continued SPI. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.