International Software Process Association (ISPA)

SP'96 - Tutorials

Who should attend

This tutorial/seminar is intended for senior decision makers, organisational policy makers, software programme managers, software acquisition managers and senior technologists involved in software- intensive lines of business.

Goals

- 1/3 of all large-scale developments are cancelled. - The average software development project overruns its budget by 50%, larger projects usually more.

- 3/4 of all large-scale systems are operational failures (they do not function as intended or do not perform at all). - Software is still hand-crafted by artisans using techniques they can not manage nor repeat consistently.

Source: Scientific American.

With the above in mind the objectives of this tutorial are to help organisations understand the economic issues and risks associated with developing software-intensive systems, and discusses how modern iterative processes have been successfully applied to develop some of the world's most demanding complex systems on time, within budget and fully meeting operational requirements.

Contents

Motivation: The tutorial discusses the search for software best practices and addresses the issues associated with software development economics.

Technology: Introduces the basic concept of an iterative software development programme, explains why it works and discusses the corresponding shifts in technology, goals and culture. The tutorial also defines software architecture in sufficient detail to understand its central role in an iterative development process.

Software process: Presents the Rational process from a perspective of an off-the-shelf organisational policy including all the mechanisms necessary to achieve SEI level 3 or 4 and ISO 9000 certification. This definition can be adapted to a wide range of both commercial and government domains.

Experience and Results: A specific project case study from Rational's experience, with real-world benchmarks of performance and objective metrics, that describe how well the Rational process has worked in the field.

Benefits for those attending

Any organisation looking to reduce the risk and costs associated with developing and deploying software systems will benefit from this briefing. Many of the topics covered are addressed in Grady Booch's book "Managing Object-Oriented Projects". The tutorial will give participants a perspective on successfully applying the approach that will result in an improved competitive position.

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