SPICE The Theory and Practice of Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination

by El Emam, Khaled; Drouin, Jean-Normand; Melo, Walcé; lio; Dorling, Alec

• ISBN13: 9780818677984
• ISBN10: 0818677988
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-11-13
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr

Summary

The SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination) Project is a joint effort by the ISO and IEC to create an international standard for software process assessment. This book covers both the theory of SPICE and its practical applications, including the lessons learned from the SPICE trials. It includes a valuable automated tool on CD-ROM to help you apply the concepts presented in the book. The text shows the evolution of the most recent developments in the SPICE project. It documents the major products and the empirical evaluations that have been conducted thus far. The book is jointly written by the key experts involved in the SPICE project. The theory chapters describe the rationale behind the architecture and the contents of the V1.0 and V2.0 document set and how to interpret them. The remaining chapters describe the applications and how that make use of the theory behind them.

Author Biography

Khaled El Emam obtained his PhD from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, King's College, the University of London (UK) in 1994. He was previously a research scientist at the Centre de recherchT informatique de Montreal (CRIM) in Canada. Currently he is the head of the Quantitative Methods Group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering in Germany. El Emam is also the founding and current editor of the IEEE TCSE Software Process Newsletter. He is a member of the Core Trials Team of ISO's SPICE Project, which is empirically evaluating the emerging International Standard. He has previously worked in both small and large software research and development projects for organizations such as Toshiba International Company and Honeywell Control Systems. He has published more than forty articles on software engineering measurement, empirical evaluation in software engineering, software process improvement, and requirements engineering. Jean-Normand Drouin has more than 12 years experience as a software engineer at Bell Canada, the largest Telecom company in Canada. He is a Trillium author and assessor (Trillium is Bell Canada's own Software Process Assessment method for the Telecommunications industry). He is also the SPICE Technical Center Manager for Canada, Central and South America, as well as one of the first SPICE assessors. Alec Dorling is the international SPICE Project Manager. He is currently resident at IVF's Centre for Software Engineering in Sweden. Previously he was the International and Strategic Project Manager at the European Software Institute (ESI) in Spain. Alec is a Chartered Engineer with 25 years experience in the software industry gained both in real-time and commercial systems environments. He is an internationally-recognized expert in the field of Software Quality Management and Process Improvement. Alec has been involved with most of the UK Government's initiatives in software engineering and software quality over the years, including the STARTS program, the Software Tools Demonstration Centre, the Software Engineering Solutions program, the Quality Management Library, and TickIT. He has also been consultant to the Software Quality Unit of the UK Department of Trade and Industry providing advise on priorities for government action on Software Quality, Standards, and Certification . He carried out the initial studies for the UK Ministry of Defence which were a precursor to the launch of the SPICE Project.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii	(2)
Alec Dorling
Preface	ix	(6)
Acknowledgments	xv
Part 1	1	(30)
Chapter 1: Introduction to Software Engineering Standards	1	(18)
Francois Coallier
Motoei Azuma
Chapter 2: Introduction to SPICE	19	(12)
Jean-Normand Drouin
Harry Barker
Part 2	31	(238)
Chapter 3: Introduction to the SPICE Documents and Architecture	31	(44)
Terry P. Rout
Peter G. Simms
Chapter 4: The Reference Model	75	(24)
Alan W. Graydon
Risto Nevalainen
Jean-Normand Drouin
Chapter 5: Process Assessment Using SPICE: The Assessment Activities	99	(24)
Antonio Coletta
Chapter 6: Process Assessment Using SPICE: The Rating Framework	123	(16)
Mac Craigmyle
Chapter 7: The Assessment Model	139	(32)
Carroline Buchman
Helen Thomson
Chapter 8: Guidelines for Process Improvement	171	(22)
Pascal Jansen
Joc Sanders
Chapter 9: Guidelines for Determining Supplier Process Capability	193	(22)
John Hamilton
Chapter 10: Qualification and Training of Assessors	215	(18)
Alan Davies
Alastair Walker
Chapter 11: A Comparison of ISO 9001 and the SPICE Framework	233	(36)
Victoria A. Hailey
Part 3	269	(168)
Chapter 12: Introduction to the SPICE Trials	269	(18)
Fiona Maclennan
Gary Ostrolenk
Mary Tobin
Chapter 13: Empirical Evaluation of SPICE	287	(20)
Khaled El Emam
Dennis R. Goldenson
Chapter 14: Analysis of Assessment Ratings from the Trials	307	(36)
Ian Woodman
Robin Hunter
Chapter 15: Analysis of Observation and Problem Reports	343	(14)
Peter Marshall
Fiona Maclennan
Mary Tobin
Chapter 16: Interrater Agreement in Assessment Ratings	357	(6)
Khaled El Emam
Peter Marshall
Chapter 17: Using SPICE as a Framework for Software Engineering Education: A Case Study	363	(32)
Val E. Veraat
Sid L. Wright
Chapter 18: Assessment Using SPICE: A Case Study	395	(26)
Jean-Martin Simon
Chapter 19: The Future of the SPICE Trials	421	(16)
Robert Smith
Appendix A: SEAL of Quality SPICE Assessment Tool	437	(6)
Appendix B: Strathclyde Process Visualization Tools	443	(2)
Glossary	445	(10)
Bibliography	455	(6)
Index	461	(14)
Author Biographies	475