Abstract

Software development is in constant change. New software development strategies, methods, processes, and tools are constantly introduced and taken in use. Simultaneously, the growth and importance of software has accelerated, and software has become a fundamental part of a whole range of different products.

Software development strategies are changing as well: globally distributed software development, use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), and Open Source development are some examples of the latest tendencies. Ever-tightening competition has led to shortened lead-time requirements and variety of customised software versions targeted to divergent markets. Software development needs to be optimised to meet these challenges — without sacrificing quality. To keep abreast of change software process improvement (SPI) should develop, too, over time.

Well-managed software development processes has become strategic core competency in many organisations, enabling high-class software development, quality estimation, control, and prediction. However, improving software development processes is demanding and complex task. Numerous software process improvement (SPI) methods in the market offer help and guidance, but unfortunately they only partially address factors found essential for achieving SPI success.

This dissertation develops, presents and argues for the SPI methods embodying characteristics directing towards successful process improvement. As the results, the thesis extracts critical success factors for SPI initiatives using SPI lessons learnt. Furthermore, it incrementally develops and evaluates SPI methods, incorporating means to achieve the above-mentioned critical success factors. The research is based on several industrial case studies.