Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination

Essentially, ISO/IEC 15504 comprises a guide to performing an assessment for software development projects. It includes a description of this assessment process, a model for performing an assessment, a description of tools that may be used as part of the assessment process and a discussion of factors that contribute to the success of such an assessment.

ISO/IEC make reference to more specific standards but do not set them out. The SPICE standard seeks to describe the preferred order in which activities should occur in a software development project, with particular emphasis on an organization's management and process definition structures. The ultimate goal of ISO/IEC 15504 is to achieve process improvement within a technology organization, based on rigorous definition of objectives and programs to help attain them.

ISO/IEC 15504 is organized around a reference model that is divided into two dimensions: a process dimension and a capability dimension. Processes are divided into 5 categories: customer-supplier, engineering, supporting, management and organization. Processes are also defined as to capability levels numbered from 0 to 5, where 0 describes an incomplete process, 1 a performed process, and so on, with 5 equating to an optimizing process. Process capabilities can also acquire process attributes, numbered c.x, where c is the capability level (1 for performed process, 2 for managed process and so forth), and x is a number associated with a specific related attribute, so that 2.1 represents performance management, while 2.2 represents work product management.

See also SPICE circuitry simulation.

Read more about Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination: - Carnegie-Mellon's Software Engineering Institute provides a FAQ list for 15504 (SPICE). - Griffith University also offers a free, beta version of an Appraisal Assistant designed to help organizations interested in pursuing adoption of SPICE assessments and techniques. - SearchSoftwareQuality.com offers relevant news, research and tips in their project management resources.

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT What are the traits of a successful project manager? Successful project managers come in all varieties, but they all have some common traits that contribute to getting the job done. Lawrence Oliva... Integrating application lifecycle management (ALM) processes provides additional benefits Learn how you can benefit from integrating the five processes of application lifecycle management (ALM) How Google developed the Chrome Web browser Google's Darin Fisher, a software engineer on the Chrome project, talks about how the Web browser was developed and tested. Agility, speed, and...

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary collaboration diagram  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) A collaboration diagram, also called a communication diagram or interaction diagram, is an illustration of the relationships and interactions among... Gantt chart  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart developed as a production control tool in 1917 by Henry L. Gantt, an American engineer and social scientist.