Software Process Improvement

Abstract

In recent years, software has come to be used increasingly in various domains. Consequently, the scale and complexity of software is increasing, and development organizations are becoming large. In order to build in higher quality and develop large-scale or complex software efficiently, it is necessary to implement the optimum software development process in a development organization. Indeed, the development process of software has become a focus of attention in recent years. The various process models and software development methods which are represented by Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and agile software development are proposed. However, in order to improve a software development process efficiently, it is not necessarily sufficient just to introduce such an existing process improvement technique. Regarding the improvement of a software development process, a Quality Management System (QMS) is an important factor in determining success or failure. Thus, for the effective introduction of new process and techniques in a organization, it is necessary to establish the framework of fundamental software quality control. This paper explains the outline and history of QMS, and shows how software process improvement activities should be promoted with some practical examples.