Search

There is a significant need to give careful consideration to the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) level 2 specific practices (i.e. SP 1.1 ‘understand requirements’ and SP 1.2 ‘obtain commitment to requirements’), especially in the context of small- and medium-sized software development organisations, in order to assist such organisations in effectively managing their requirements engineering processes. In this study, the authors propose an abstract-level model for each of these two specific practices as well as cover the initial evaluation of the models. In addition, necessary templates and checklists are also provided for each proposed model. The proposed models are based on a significant amount of research in software process improvement, CMMI and requirements engineering. The initial evaluation of the proposed models was executed using an expert panel review process. The results showed that the proposed models provide ease of learning and ease of use, provide stakeholder satisfaction and can be applied to small-and medium-sized software development organisations. It is important to highlight that this study contributes not only to the implementation of SP 1.1 and SP 1.2 of REQM process area in the context of small- and medium-sized software development organisations but also to the body of knowledge on REQM.

Security has become a vital factor for any Internet of things network but it is of paramount importance for Internet of Health Things (IoHT). IoHT also known as Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is integration of IoT and healthcare environment, where fragile data related to the patients is transmitted from IoT devices to server. During this transmission, if, any eavesdropping or intrusion occurs then it will not only lead to the serious mutilation of entire network but this data will be handled maliciously for wrong doings as well. Therefore, a proper security is indispensable for IoHT based equipments due to exposure to different attacks. Security of IoHT has been the burning issue in last couple of years. In this regard different security models, surveys, frameworks have been presented. In this article, a proposed Identified Security Attributes (ISA) framework is presented to evaluate the security features of IoHT based device in healthcare environment. The proposed framework uses hybrid MCDM methods such as Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). This framework works in two phase: in first phase the weights of attributes are derived by using AHP method and in second phase security assessment of alternatives is performed based upon security criteria by using TOPSIS method. The outcomes of proposed security assessment framework demonstrate that the reliable and secure alternative among alternatives is selected in IoMT system. This approach can be used as a guideline for future use in IoMT systems or any other IoT based domain. To the best of our knowledge, it is novel approach to address the security assessment of IoT and these MCDM methods have never been used before for assessment and decision making in IoHT system for security.

Security is one of the most important software quality attributes. Software security is about designing and developing secure software that does not allow the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of its code, data, or service to be compromised. Organizations tend to consider security as an afterthought, and they continue to suffer from security risks. Developing secure software requires taking security into consideration in all phases of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Several approaches have been developed to improve software quality, such as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). However, software security issues have not been addressed in a proper manner and incorporating security practices into the SDLC remains a challenge. The objective of this paper is to develop a framework to improve the process of designing secure products in software development organizations. To achieve this objective, a Multivocal Literature Review (MLR) was conducted to identify the relevant studies in both the formal and grey literature. A total of 38 primary studies were identified, and available evidence was synthesized into 8 knowledge areas and 65 best practices to build a Secure Software Design Maturity Model (SSDMM). The framework was developed based on the structure of CMMI v2.0 and evaluated through case studies in real-world environments. The case study results indicate that SSDMM is useful in measuring the maturity level of an organization for the secure design phase of SDLC. SSDMM will assist organizations in evaluating and improving their software design security practices. It will also provide a foundation for researchers to develop new software security approaches.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. There is an increasing interest in IoT-enabled smart digital systems. However, it is important to address their security concerns. This paper aims to address this need and proposes an adaptive architecture driven approach to securing IoT systems. The paper proposes IoT security principles and a foundational adaptive architecture framework. These two combined provide a guide to design and embed the security across various layers of an IoT system. This will ensure that the important aspects of the IoT security are not accidentally missed, and thus provides a holistic end to end adaptive architecture driven approach for IoT security. This paper covers the interaction, human, digital technology, physical facility and environment architecture layers and principles related to IoT security as opposed to focusing only on the IoT devices. Thus, it demonstrates and concludes that the IoT security is much more than IoT device, network and perimeter security.

The majority of organisations are globalising their software development activities by following the ideas of global software development (GSD). The motivation behind the adoption of GSD phenomena are the list of benefits gained by the software industry. However, there are different challenges face by the GSD organisations, particularly the issues related to software process improvement (SPI). The aim of this study is the identification and classification into categories of the success factors that can impact SPI initiatives taken in GSD organisations. The systematic literature review (SLR) method has been used to extract the success factors from the literature. SLR phases, ‘planning, conducting, and reporting the review’ have been followed to perform this study. Totally, 15 success factors were identified and classified into the six main categories. The authors have also reported the critical success factors of SPI, i.e. management commitment, staff involvement, roles and responsibilities, communication, and resources allocation. This article also reported the similarities and differences between the success factors classified on the bases of client-vendor organisation and size of the organisation. The identified factors can contribute towards the implementation of SPI programme in both client and vendor GSD organisations because these factors represent key areas of process improvement.

The focus on secure software development has been growing steadily in all phases of the software development life cycle. Security awareness in the requirements engineering stage of software development is important in building secure software. One of the major issues faced by the software industry is that many organizations undertake secure software development initiatives without knowing whether they are ready to undertake them. Currently, there is no model to measure the readiness of security requirements engineering in an organization. The objective of this paper is to develop a security requirements engineering readiness model (SRERM) to enable organizations to assess their security requirements engineering (SRE) readiness levels. In order to achieve this goal, a systematic mapping study was conducted to identify the relevant studies in the SRE domain. A total of 104 primary studies were identified, and available evidence was synthesized into 12 security requirements categories and 76 best practices to build a SRERM. Initially, two case studies were conducted in order to evaluate the SRERM in a real-world environment. Based on the outcomes of the two case studies, some modifications were proposed to further improve the SRERM. After modifying the SRERM, two more case studies were conducted in order to evaluate the modifications made to the SRERM. The case study results indicate that the SRERM has the ability to identify the readiness levels of SRE in the software industry.

Identify factors that influence the task allocation activity of a GSD project.Implement an SLR and questionnaire survey methodologies to collect evidence.Identify 11 factors that influence the task allocation activity in a GSD project.The results indicate that the SLR findings and the industry experts feedback are aligned.The results are analyzed in relation to centralized and distributed project structures. ContextPlanning and managing task allocation in Global Software Development (GSD) projects is both critical and challenging. To date, a number of models that support task allocation have been proposed, including cost models and risk-based multi-criteria optimization models. ObjectiveThe objective of this paper is to identify the factors that influence task allocation in the GSD project management context. MethodFirst, we implemented a formal Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach and identified a set of factors that influence task allocation in GSD projects. Second, a questionnaire survey was developed based on the SLR, and we collected feedback from 62 industry practitioners. ResultsThe findings of this combined SLR and questionnaire survey indicate that site technical expertise, time zone difference, resource cost, task dependency, task size and vendor reliability are the key criteria for the distribution of work units in a GSD project. The results of the t-test show that there is no significant difference between the findings of the SLR and questionnaire survey. However, the industry study data indicates that resource cost and task dependency are more important to a centralized GSD project structure while task size is a key factor in a decentralized GSD project structure. ConclusionGSD organizations should try to consider the identified task allocation factors when managing their global software development activities to better understand, plan and manage work distribution decisions.

Presently, most of the software development organizations are adopting the phenomena of Global Software Development (GSD), mainly because of the significant return on investment it produces. However, GSD is a complex phenomenon and there are many challenges associated with it, especially that related to Software Process Improvement (SPI). The aim of this work is to identify humans' related success factors and barriers that could impact the SPI process in GSD organizations and proposed a theoretical framework of the factors in relation to SPI implementation. We have adopted the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method in order to investigate the success factors and barriers. Using the SLR approach, total ten success factors and eight barriers were identified. The paper also reported the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Critical Barriers (CBs) for SPI implementation following the criteria of the factors having a frequency ≥ 50% as critical. Our results reveal that five out of ten factors are critical for SPI program. Moreover, total three barriers were ranked as the most critical barriers. Based on the analysis of the identified factors, we have presented a theoretical framework that has highlighted an association between the identified factors and the implementation of the SPI program in GSD environment.

There is an increase use of security driven approaches to support software development activities, such as requirements, design and implementation. The objective of this paper is to identify the existing software security approaches used in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). In order to meet our goal, we conducted a systematic mapping study to identify the primary studies on the use of software security techniques in SDLC. In total, we selected and categorized 118 primary studies. After analyzing the selected studies, we identified 52 security approaches and we categorized them in to five main categories, namely, 'secure requirements modeling', 'vulnerability identification, adaption and mitigation', 'software security focused process', 'extended UML-based secure modeling profiles', 'non UML-based secure modeling notations'. The results show that the most frequently used approaches are static analysis and dynamic analysis that provide security checks in the coding phase. In addition, our results show that many studies in this review considered security checks around the coding stage of software development. This work will assist software development organizations in better understanding the existing software security approaches used in the software development lifecycle. It can also provide researchers with a firm basis on which to develop new software security approaches. The objective is to identify the existing software security approaches used in the software development lifecycle.We have conducted a systematic mapping study to identify the primary studies on the use of software security techniques.We selected and categorized 118 primary studies.We identified 52 security approaches and we categorized them in to five main categories.The results show that the most frequently used approaches are static analysis and dynamic analysis.Our results show that many studies considered security checks around the coding stage of software development.This work will assist software development organizations in better understanding the existing software security approaches.

There is a significant need to give careful consideration to Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 2 specific practices-SP 1.3 “manage requirements changes,”and SP 1.4 “maintain bidirectional traceability of requirements,”especially in the context of smalland medium-sized software development organizations in Saudi Arabia, in order to assist such organizations in getting one step closer to achieving CMMI Level 2 certification. The objective of this research is to implement CMMI Level 2 specific practices-SP 1.3 and SP 1.4. In this paper, a workflow model for each specific practice has been developed. In addition, initial evaluation of the models has been discussed. It is necessary to highlight that this paper contributes not only to the implementation of SP 1.3 and SP 1.4 of Requirements management process area in the context of smalland medium-sized software development organizations but also to the body of empirical studies in various context. Data has been collected by exploring published research articles and high-level software process descriptions. Moreover, previous research works that dealt with the implementation of CMMI Level 2 process areas have been reviewed. Furthermore, research articles that provide guidance to software development organizations for implementing process areas of CMMI Level 2 in their environments have been considered. After careful analysis of the collected data, we have proposed the models for two specific practices of CMMI level 2, i.e., managing requirements change and maintaining bidirectional traceability of requirements. Each model is divided into core stages, and different activities associated with each stage are clearly indicated. Initial evaluation of the proposed models was also conducted using the expert review process. Based on the initial evaluation, we are confident that our proposed models are clear and easy to learn, follow, and use. Moreover, our models are applicable to smalland medium-sized software development organizations in Saudi Arabia. The proposed models can also assist such organizations in implementing these two specific practices. For further evaluation, we need to perform multiple case studies in an industrial setting to test the proposed models.

Context Global Software Development (GSD) is the process whereby software is developed by different teams located in various parts of the globe. One of the major reasons for GSD project failure is that a number of organizations endorse global development prior to understanding project management challenges for the global activity. Objective The objective of this paper is to identify the challenges, from the client and vendor perspectives, which can undermine the successful management of GSD projects. Method We followed a two-phase approach: we first identified the challenges via a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and then the identified challenges were validated using a questionnaire-based survey. Results Through both approaches, we identified 19 challenges important to the success of GSD project management. A comparison of the challenges identified in client and vendor organizations indicates that there are more similarities than differences between the challenges. Our results show a positive correlation between the ranks obtained from the SLR and the questionnaire ((r s (19) = 0.102), p = 0.679). The results of t -test (i.e., t = 0.299, p = 0.768 > 0.05) show that there is no significant difference between the findings of SLR and questionnaire. Conclusions GSD organizations should try to address the identified challenges when managing their global software development activities to increase the probability of project success.

Project management in the context of global software development (GSD) is challenging due to a number of issues. This paper has a two-fold objective: (1) to identify the factors from the literature related to the successful project management in GSD and to validate the identified factors in the real-world practice; (2) to map the identified factors to 10 project management knowledge areas of PMBOK. Our results show a positive correlation between the ranks obtained from the literature and the survey. The results of t-test (i.e., t = 1.979, p = 0.061 > 0.05) show that there is no significant difference between the findings of the literature and survey. Our mapping shows that most of the success factors are related to human resource knowledge area. It is anticipated that the identified success factors can be helpful to practitioners for developing strategic implementation of project management activities in GSD environment.

Requirements engineering (RE) being a foundation of software development has gained a great recognition in the recent era of prevailing software industry. A number of journals and conferences have ...

The adoption of agility at a large scale often requires the integration of agile and non-agile development elements for architecting a hybrid adaptive methodology. The challenge is ”which elements or components (agile or non-agile) are relevant to develop the context-aware hybrid adaptive methodology reference architecture?” This paper addresses this important challenge and develops a hybrid adaptive methodology reference architecture model using a qualitative constructive empirical research approach. In this way, we have uncovered the agility, abstraction, business value, business policy, rules, legal, context and facility elements or components that have not been explicitly modelled or discussed in International Standards (IS) such as the ISO/IEC 24744 metamodel. It is anticipated that a context-aware hybrid adaptive methodology can be architected by using the proposed context-aware hybrid adaptive methodology reference architecture elements for a particular situation when using a situational method engineering approach.

Security is considered to be a critical software quality attribute. Tackling security at the requirements phase helps to avoid the need to rework secure software development issues. The aim of this paper is to develop a Requirements Engineering (RE) Security Maturity Model (RESMM) to assist software development organizations to better specify the requirements for secure software development. To achieve this objective, first, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify the requirement practices for secure software development. Then we modified Sommerville's requirements engineering practices. We also conducted a questionnaire survey based on the identified security requirements practices. Next, the RESMM was built based on the results of the SLR, the modified Sommerville practices and feedback from the security practitioners. Finally, two case studies were conducted to assess RESMM. RESMM has 79 practices classified into 7 RE categories. The case study results show that RESMM has a clear structure and is easy to comprehend and use. In addition, the case study participants recommended that software organizations adopt RESMM. RESMM has the ability to identify the RE security maturity levels in software organizations. RESMM can also help software development organizations deliver secure software.

© 2018, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. Software practitioners have always shown a significant interest in implementing software process improvement (SPI) initiatives to ensure the delivery of quality products. Software industry and SPI methodologies have evolved over a period of time; however, still many SPI initiatives have not been successful. There is a need to understand software practitioners’ perspectives on SPI success which can be helpful for tailoring or improving effective situation-specific SPI methodologies. This research presents an exploratory study of Turkish software development organizations. The main research question is: What software practitioners’ really think about SPI project success. This study was conducted with 27 Turkish software development organizations to identity and analyse important SPI factors that contribute to the success of SPI projects. The results reveal that professional growth, increased professional recognition, project planning, monitoring of project risks, providing technical support, adoption of current technologies, strong leadership and commitment are among the highest ranked factors that contribute towards the success of SPI initiatives. The findings of this research provide a foundation for further work in tailoring and improving situation-specific SPI methodologies for software project environments.

Global software development (GSD) is continuously increasing because of many factors such as high quality software production in offshore destinations with significant cost-savings. Objective - The objective of this study is to identify the challenges of the existing tools used in GSD projects. Method - The authors applied the systematic literature review (SLR) approach and a survey-based empirical study approach to address the research objective. Results - From both data sets, the authors identified eight challenges of the existing tools used in GSD projects. The top-ranked challenges in the SLR are the `inappropriate use of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools' and `difficulties in adopting and learning to use the existing tools'. The top-ranked challenges in the questionnaire-based empirical study are the `lack of awareness of existing tools used in GSD projects' and the `lack of support for collaboration and group decision making'. The results show a weak negative correlation between the ranks obtained from the SLR and the questionnaire-based empirical study ((r s (8) = -0.313), p = 0.450) Conclusion: GSD organisations should address the challenges of the existing tools used in GSD projects, especially the most common ones.

In this paper the author demonstrates how the GSE course was executed related to each level of the Bloom's taxonomy. It was observed that Bloom's taxonomy can play a vital role in order to effectively design and deliver a GSE course. Overall, the six levels of Bloom's cognitive domain were helpful in transforming students learning from the knowledge level to the evaluation level. However, it was observed that the knowledge level is not appropriate for higher calibre students because the content used in the knowledge level is often referred to as simple. The comprehension level seemed appropriate for all levels of students as they were able to produce different solutions based on their understanding of the problem domain. Many international students had problems with the application level as they were unable to apply the concepts and theories in the laboratories. For the analysis level, some students had difficulties in breaking down the bigger problem into smaller components. Students had mixed responses to the synthesis level. Students had some minor problems in the evaluation level. However, it was observed that if Bloom's taxonomy is used with other available teaching guidelines, the overall design and delivery of different courses can be improved.

The goal of software process improvement (SPI) is to improve software processes and produce high-quality software, but the results of SPI efforts in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that develop software have been unsatisfactory. The objective of this study is to support the prolific and successful CMMI-based implementation of SPI in SMEs by presenting the facts related to the unofficial adoption of CMMI level 2 process area-specific practices by software SMEs. Two questionnaire surveys were performed, and 42 questionnaires were selected for data analysis. The questionnaires were filled out by experts from 42 non-CMMI-certified software SMEs based in Malaysia and Pakistan. In the case of each process area of CMMI level 2, the respondents were asked to choose from three categories, namely `below 50 %,' `50---75 %,' and `above 75 %'. The percentages indicated the extent to which process area-specific practices are routinely followed in the respondents' respective organizations. To deal with differing standards for defining SMEs, the notion of the common range standard has been introduced. The results of the study show that a large segment of software development SMEs informally follows the specific practices of CMMI level 2 process areas and thus has true potential for rapid and effective CMMI-based SPI. The results further indicate that, in the case of four process areas of CMMI level 2, there are statistically significant differences between the readiness of small and medium software enterprises to adopt the specific practices of those process areas, and between trends on their part to do so unofficially. The findings, manifesting various degrees of unofficial readiness for CMMI-based SPI among SMEs, can be used to define criteria for the selection of SMEs that would be included in SPI initiatives funded by relevant authorities. In the interests of developing fruitful CMMI-based SPI and to enhance the success rate of CMMI-based SPI initiatives, the study suggests that `ready' or `potential' SMEs should be given priority for SPI initiatives.

Context It has been observed that software process improvement (SPI) initiatives have been around for more than a decade, yet many companies are still facing SPI implementation challenges. Objective In this paper, a systematic literature review (SLR) has been conducted, and the results are compared with the previously collected data of SPI implementation success factors. The overarching objective of this research is to gain an in-depth understanding of success factors that play a positive role in SPI implementation; this will assist SPI managers in better designing and managing SPI programs. We are interested to discover if there are any differences in the success factors identified by the three research strategies used, that is, informal literature review, SLR, and interviews. Method Data were collected and analyzed using the three research strategies. For informal literature review, the snowballing technique was used. The SLR was conducted for formal literature reviews. For an empirical study, interviews were conducted with Australian SPI practitioners. Results Results show that (i) senior management commitment and (ii) staff involvement are the frequently cited common SPI success factors in all three research strategies. The results also uncover similarities and differences among the three research strategies regarding the importance of the SPI success factors: (i) SPI awareness is a frequently cited common SPI success factor in interviews and formal literature review, and the Spearman's rank-order correlation is rs(37) = 0.413, p = 0.011; (ii) reviews are a frequently cited common SPI success factor in formal and informal literature reviews, and the Spearman's rank-order correlation is rs(37) = 0.517, p = 0.001; and (iii) training and mentoring is a frequently cited common SPI success factor in interviews and an informal literature review, and the Spearman's rank-order correlation is rs(37) = 0.195, p = 0.247. Conclusions The understanding of these factors can help both researchers and software development organizations in successfully planning and implementing SPI initiatives. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are a formally planned approach in finding, evaluating and summarising all available evidence on a specific research question. The objective of this paper is to compare formal SLRs and informal literature reviews in software engineering. For this purpose, a SLR has been conducted to compare the results with a previously conducted informal literature review of software process improvement success factors. Previous research using an informal literature review approach found 47 articles via the snow balling technique. For formal literature reviews, the SLR was conducted by applying customised search strings covering the time to 30 June 2004 (this is the deadline of the informal literature review). In total, 38 relevant articles were identified via the formal literature review. The results show that the data extraction process in the formal literature review enabled more success factors to be extracted (i.e. 34) than the informal literature review (i.e. 18). In the formal literature review, the publication inclusion and exclusion criteria and selecting primary studies helped in identifying the right list of publications. A real challenge in the formal literature review was to define a search string. In general it was observed that the SLR methodology is better than the informal literature review with respect to the planning for literature review, the design of search string, sources to be searched, publication inclusion and exclusion criteria, publication quality assessment and the data extraction process. However, the informal literature review has identified more articles than the formal literature review. Snow balling technique should be used with the formal literature review in order to identify all the relevant articles.

Presently, the majority of the software development organizations are adopting the phenomena of Global Software Development (GSD), mainly because of the significant return on investment it produces. However, GSD is a complex phenomenon and there are many challenges associated with it, especially that related to Software Process Improvement (SPI). The aim of this work is to identify humans' related factors that can positively impact the SPI process in GSD organizations and proposed a hypothetical framework of the identified success factors in relation to SPI implementation. We have adopted the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method in order to identify the success factors. Using the SLR approach, total ten success factors were identified. The paper also reported the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for SPI implementation following the criteria of the factors having a frequency ≥ 50% as critical. Our results reveal that five out of ten factors are critical for SPI program. Based on the analysis of the identified success factors, we have presented a hypothetical framework that has highlighted an association between the identified success factors and the implementation of the SPI program in GSD environment.

The focus of Service Oriented Software Development (SOSD) is to develop software by integrating reusable services to lower the required cost, time and effort of development and increase reusability, agility, quality and customer satisfaction. It has been recognised in the literature that SOSD faces various challenges especially in requirements engineering (RE). The objective of this study is to investigate these challenges of Service Oriented RE (SORE) from practitioners' perspectives in order to gain a deeper understanding of the related issues and to reveal potential gaps between research and practice in SORE. They present a qualitative study of the challenges and issues in SORE. The data were collected by conducting interviews with practitioners working in IT companies in Sydney, who have had substantial experience with service oriented software projects. The authors findings reveal that most of the challenges of SORE are similar to those that are faced during RE in traditional or component-based software development. According to the practitioners, the research and practice has made some advances in the technical direction but the human related issues in SORE have not been addressed adequately.

Context Software stability is an important object-oriented design characteristic that contributes to the maintainability quality attribute. Software stability quantifies a given systems sensitivity to change between different versions. Stable software tends to reduce the maintenance effort. Assessing software stability during the object-oriented design phase is one of the measures to obtain maintainable software. To determine software stability, there are several metrics at the architecture, system and class levels, but few studies have investigated stability at the package level. Objective In this paper, we propose a new package stability metrics (PSM) based on the notion of change between package contents, intra-package connections and inter-package connections. Method We validate the PSM theoretically and empirically. The theoretical validation is based on a study of the mathematical properties of the metrics. The empirical validation is carried out using five open source software programs and we also present a comparison with comparable existing stability metrics packages. For the empirical validation, we perform correlation analysis, principal component analysis and prediction analysis. Results Correlation analysis shows that our proposed metrics provides a better indication of package stability than the existing stability metrics and they are negatively correlated with the maintenance effort. Principal component analysis shows that the proposed metrics captures new dimensions of package stability and helps to increase the maintenance prediction accuracy. Conclusion We found there was a negative correlation between our metric and maintenance effort. We also found a positive correlation between the existing package stability metrics which are based on changes in lines of code and class names.

Context There is extensive interest in global software development (GSD) which has led to a large number of papers reporting on GSD. A number of systematic literature reviews (SLRs) have attempted to aggregate information from individual studies. Objective: We wish to investigate GSD SLR research with a focus on discovering what research has been conducted in the area and to determine if the SLRs furnish appropriate risk and risk mitigation advice to provide guidance to organizations involved with GSD. Method: We performed a broad automated search to identify GSD SLRs. Data extracted from each study included: (1) authors, their affiliation and publishing venue, (2) SLR quality, (3) research focus, (4) GSD risks, (5) risk mitigation strategies and, (6) for each SLR the number of primary studies reporting each risk and risk mitigation strategy. Results: We found a total of 37 papers reporting 24 unique GSD SLR studies. Major GSD topics covered include: (1) organizational environment, (2) project execution, (3) project planning and control and (4) project scope and requirements. We extracted 85 risks and 77 risk mitigation advice items and categorized them under four major headings: outsourcing rationale, software development, human resources, and project management. The largest group of risks was related to project management. GSD outsourcing rationale risks ranked highest in terms of primary study support but in many cases these risks were only identified by a single SLR. Conclusions: The focus of the GSD SLRs we identified is mapping the research rather than providing evidence-based guidance to industry. Empirical support for the majority of risks identified is moderate to low, both in terms of the number of SLRs identifying the risk, and in the number of primary studies providing empirical support. Risk mitigation advice is also limited, and empirical support for these items is low.

Offshore software outsourcing is a widely used business strategy for producing high-quality software at low cost. Trust plays a vital role in establishing the offshore software outsourcing relationships between client and vendor organisations. The objective of this research study is to identify factors via systematic literature review (SLR) that are important for establishing trust in offshore software outsourcing relationships. The authors have performed an SLR by applying the customised search strings, which were derived from the research questions. The authors have identified factors such as face-to-face meeting, better communication, contract management between client and vendor, defining processes, tools, procedures and policies, reliable management, knowledge sharing, mutual expectations, better client-vendor relationship and training programmes that are generally considered critical for establishing trust in offshore software outsourcing relationships. The results also reveal the similarities and differences in the factors identified through different study strategies and in different continents. Offshore software outsourcing companies should focus on the frequently cited factors in order to compete in the offshore software outsourcing business.

Context: Software development outsourcing is a contract-based relationship between client and vendor organisations in which a client contracts out all or part of its software development activities to a vendor, who provides agreed services for remuneration. Objective: The objective is to identify various barriers that have a negative impact on software outsourcing clients in the selection process of offshore software development outsourcing vendors. Method: We have performed a systematic literature review (SLR) process for the identification of barriers. We have performed all the SLR steps such as the protocol development, initial selection, final selection, quality assessment, data extraction and data synthesis. Results: We have identified barriers such as 'language and cultural barriers', 'country instability', 'lack of project management', 'lack of protection for intellectual property rights' and 'lack of technical capability' that generally have a negative impact on outsourcing clients. We have identified only one common frequently cited barrier in three types of organisations (i.e. small, medium and large) which is 'language and cultural barriers'. We did not identify any common frequently cited barrier in three continents (Asia, North America and Europe) and in two decades (1990-1999 and 2000-mid 2008). The results also reveal the similarities and differences in the barriers identified through different study strategies. Conclusions: Vendors should address frequently cited barriers such as 'language and cultural barriers', 'country instability', 'lack of project management', 'lack of protection for intellectual property rights' and 'lack of technical capability' in order to compete in the offshore outsourcing business.

SUMMARY Software process improvement (SPI) initiatives have been around for many years, yet many companies are still facing SPI implementation problems. The objective of this exploratory research is to gain an in-depth understanding of risks that can undermine SPI implementation from the perspective of software development practitioners. Interviews were conducted as the main approach of data collection from 34 SPI practitioners. Interviews were recorded and subsequently transcribed. The interview transcripts were systematically scrutinised to identify the major themes for SPI implementation. The identified themes were noted down and compared with the notes made during the interviews to ascertain that the former are indeed a true reflection of the discussion in the interviews. This two-step process also verified that the transcription process had not changed the original data generated in the interviews. Five SPI risks were identified from the interview data: organisational politics, lack of support, lack of defined SPI implementation methodology, lack of awareness and lack of resources that are generally considered critical by Australian practitioners. The results also reveal the similarities and the differences in the risks identified by different group of practitioners (i.e. developers, managers and senior managers), different type of organisations (i.e. small–medium and large) and organisations with mature and immature software development processes. Practitioners identify SPI risks based on previous SPI implementation experience. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Context: Offshore software development outsourcing is a modern business strategy for developing high quality software at low cost. Objective: The objective of this research paper is to identify and analyse factors that are important in terms of the competitiveness of vendor organisations in attracting outsourcing projects. Method: We performed a systematic literature review (SLR) by applying our customised search strings which were derived from our research questions. We performed all the SLR steps, such as the protocol development, initial selection, final selection, quality assessment, data extraction and data synthesis. Results: We have identified factors such as cost-saving, skilled human resource, appropriate infrastructure, quality of product and services, efficient outsourcing relationships management, and an organisation's track record of successful projects which are generally considered important by the outsourcing clients. Our results indicate that appropriate infrastructure, cost-saving, and skilled human resource are common in three continents, namely Asia, North America and Europe. We identified appropriate infrastructure, cost-saving, and quality of products and services as being common in three types of organisations (small, medium and large). We have also identified four factors-appropriate infrastructure, cost-saving, quality of products and services, and skilled human resource as being common in the two decades (1990-1999 and 2000-mid 2008). Conclusions: Cost-saving should not be considered as the driving factor in the selection process of software development outsourcing vendors. Vendors should rather address other factors in order to compete in the OSDO business, such as skilled human resource, appropriate infrastructure and quality of products and services.

The need to ensure the quality of software is growing in importance on a daily basis due to the growing role of software in critical products and application areas, such as defense, aerosp...

Background: Twin pregnancy is not common case in the world. The pregnant has exposed to some complication and problem during pregnancy that influence on it as well the normal pregnancy. Aims: to assess the risk factors of pregnancy among women with twin pregnancy and to find any related among variables in Baghdad. Methodology: n observational cross-sectional study was conducted in Maternity hospitals and children in Baghdad for ten months starting from the January 2018 to October 2018. The sample size was 100 cases and none probability convenient sampling technique were used to collect the sampling. After finishing collection, the data was coded and entered to STATA version 13.0 for cleaning and analysis. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression was used to find the main features of the data. Results: Out of 100 participants, the mean of age was 30.4 and SD (.6986647) with 95% CI (29.0437-31.8163), 74% (74/100) were educated, 65% (65/100) were housewives and 49% (49/100) had a family history of twin pregnancy. As a complication of pregnancy 18% (18/100) hada preterm labor and cord entanglement. 65/100 (65%) had a pain during pregnancy, A multiple regression was run to predict any type of delivery was preferred by the women from the variable of age, education and it's a statistical significant predicted type of delivery, F (4, 95) = 11.37, p

Context: Software Process Improvement initiatives have been around for many years with the growing globalisation of software development is making them increasingly important. Objective: The objective of this exploratory research is to gain an in-depth understanding of barriers that can undermine SPI, in the context of Global Software Development, from the perspective of software development practitioners; this will enable SPI managers to better manage SPI initiatives. We intend to discover if the barriers to SPI initiatives in a developed country are different to those in a developing country. Method: In an empirical study, Vietnamese software practitioners' experiences of SPI barriers are compared with barriers identified by Australian practitioners. Face-to-face questionnaire-based survey sessions with 23 Vietnamese SPI practitioners were conducted. Our survey included barriers to SPI improvement initiatives identified in previous research. We asked the participants to rank each SPI barrier on a three-point scale (high, medium, low) to determine the importance of each barrier. We then compare our results, with results (identified in previous work), from 34 Australian software development practitioners. Results: We identify (1) lack of project management, (2) lack of resources, (3) lack of sponsorship, (4) inexperienced staff/lack of knowledge, and (5) lack of SPI awareness as 'high' value SPI barriers in Vietnam. The results also reveal similarities and differences between the experiences of Australian and Vietnamese practitioners regarding the importance of the SPI barriers identified. While the Australian practitioners were also concerned with (1) lack of SPI awareness, they were even more concerned with (2) organisational politics, and (3) lack of support. Conclusions: Practitioners identify SPI barriers based on previous SPI implementation experience. Their role(s) in their different organisations have helped them to understand the importance of that barrier. Vietnamese software practitioners cited more SPI barriers than their counterparts in Australia. The Vietnamese SPI barriers relate to project management, resources, and sponsorship while the Australian barriers are concerned with organisational politics and lack of support.

Context: In a previous study, we reported on a systematic literature review (SLR), based on a manual search of 13 journals and conferences undertaken in the period 1st January 2004 to 30th June 2007. Objective: The aim of this on-going research is to provide an annotated catalogue of SLRs available to software engineering researchers and practitioners. This study updates our previous study using a broad automated search. Method: We performed a broad automated search to find SLRs published in the time period 1st January 2004 to 30th June 2008. We contrast the number, quality and source of these SLRs with SLRs found in the original study. Results: Our broad search found an additional 35 SLRs corresponding to 33 unique studies. Of these papers, 17 appeared relevant to the undergraduate educational curriculum and 12 appeared of possible interest to practitioners. The number of SLRs being published is increasing. The quality of papers in conferences and workshops has improved as more researchers use SLR guidelines. Conclusion: SLRs appear to have gone past the stage of being used solely by innovators but cannot yet be considered a main stream software engineering research methodology. They are addressing a wide range of topics but still have limitations, such as often failing to assess primary study quality.

peer-reviewed Objective: In this paper, we present findings from an empirical study that was aimed at identifying the lative ??????perceived value??? of CMMI level 2 specific practices based on the perceptions and experiences of practitioners of small and medium size companies. The objective of this study is to identify the extent to which a particular CMMI practice is used in order to develop a finer-grained framework, which encompasses the notion of perceived value within specific practices. Method: We used face-to-face questionnaire based survey sessions as the main approach to collecting data from 46 software development practitioners from Malaysia and Vietnam. We asked practitioners to choose and rank CMMI level 2 practices against the five types of assessments (high, medium, low, zero or do not know). From this, we have proposed the notion of ???perceived value??? associated with each practice. Results: We have identified three ???requirements management??? practices as having a ???high perceived value???. The results also reveal the similarities and differences in the perceptions of Malaysian and Vietnamese practitioners with regard to the relative values of different practices of CMMI level 2 process areas. Conclusions: Small and medium size companies should not be seen as being ??????at fault??? for not adopting CMMI ??? instead the Software Process Improvement (SPI) implementation approaches and its transition mechanisms should be improved. We argue that research into ??????tailoring??? existing process capability maturity models may address some of the issues of small and medium size companies.

Background: Software Process Improvement (SPI) is intended to improve software engineering, but can only be effective if used. To improve SPI's uptake, we should understand why organizations adopt SPI. CMM-based SPI approaches are widely known and studied. Objective: We investigated why organizations adopt CMM-based SPI approaches, and how these motivations relate to organizations' size. Method: We performed a systematic review, examining reasons reported in more than forty primary studies. Results: Reasons usually related to product quality and project performance, and less commonly, to process. Organizations reported customer reasons infrequently and employee reasons very rarely. We could not show that reasons related to size. Conclusion: Despite its origins in helping to address customer-related issues for the USAF, CMM-based SPI has mostly been adopted to help organizations improve project performance and product quality issues. This reinforces a view that the goal of SPI is not to improve process per se, but instead to provide business benefits.

Because requirements engineering (RE) problems are widely acknowledged as having a major impact on the effectiveness of the software development process, Sommerville et al. have developed a requirements maturity model. However, research has shown that the measurement process within Sommerville's model is ambiguous, and implementation of his requirements maturity model leads to confusion. Hence, the objective of our research is to propose a new RE maturity measurement framework (REMMF) based on Sommerville's model and to provide initial validation of REMMF. The main purpose of proposing REMMF is to allow us to more effectively measure the maturity of the RE processes being used within organisations and to assist practitioners in measuring the maturity of their RE processes. In order to evaluate REMMF, two organisations implemented the measurement framework within their IT divisions, provided us with an assessment of their requirements process and gave feedback on the REMMF measurement process. The results show that our measurement framework is clear, easy to use and provides an entry point through which the practitioners can effectively judge the strengths and weakness of their RE processes. When an organisation knows where it is, it can more effectively plan for improvement.

This paper explores why organizations do not adopt CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), by analysing two months of sales data collected by an Australian company selling CMMI appraisal and improvement services. The most frequent reasons given by organizations were: the organization was small; the services were too costly, the organization had no time, and the organization was using another SPI approach. Overall, we found small organizations not adopting CMMI tend to say that adopting it would be infeasible, but do not say it would be unbeneficial. We comment on the significance of our findings and research method for SPI research.

Over the last decade, an increasing number of organizations have started software development in a globally distributed environment and at the same time organizations are adopting component-based software development methodologies. Globally distributed component-based software has introduced potential benefits as well as new challenges in the management of software projects. One of the major challenges is that many organizations endorse the process of global software development and adoption of component-based software methodologies prior to testing their management readiness for the globally distributed development activity. The objective of this research paper is to identify challenges associated with managing component-based software development in globally distributed development environment. We used customized search terms, derived from our research question, to systematically identify literature on managing CBS development in a global context. We have identified challenges such as lack of clear component/project ownership, inter-dependency between components, inadequate processes to manage requirements changes, gap in understanding components and processes, organizational cultural differences, lack of efficient task allocation and tracking of bugs among teams as key project management challenges in globally distributed component-based software projects. Based on the systematic literature review results, we suggest that there is a need to develop globally distributed component-based software development strategies and standards to help software development organizations in achieving the true potential of software reuse at lower development costs and shorter time-to-market.

Over the last decade, an increasing number of organizations have started software development in a globally distributed environment. One of the major challenges is that many organizations endorse the process of global software development without testing their management readiness for the globally distributed development activity. This includes work distribution through task allocation in the globally distributed development environment. The objective of this research paper is to identify factors that influence task allocation in global software development through carrying out a systematic literature review. We used customized search terms, derived from our research question, to identify literature on work distribution and task allocation in a global context. We identified criteria such as site technical expertise, time zone difference, resource cost, task dependency, vendor reliability, task size and vendor maturity level as key task allocation factors in globally distributed software projects. Based on the systematic literature review results, we suggest that there is a need to develop work distribution strategies and standards through global task allocation to help software development organizations in achieving the true potential of global software development at lower development costs and shorter time-to-market.

A number of advances have been made in the development of software process improvement (SPI) standards and models, e.g. Capability Maturity Model (CMM), more recently CMMI, and ISO's SPICE. However, these advances have not been matched by equal advances in the adoption of these standards and models in software development which hasresulted in limited success for many SPI efforts. The current problem with SPI is not a lack of standards or models, but rather a lack of an effective strategy to successfully implement these standards or models. In this paper we have focused on SPI implementation issues and designed three individual components in order to assist SPI practitioners in the design of effective SPI implementation initiatives. We have pulled together individual components under one SPI implementation framework (SPI-IF) using a bottom-up approach already familiar to many practitioners and researchers. The framework is based on the results drawn from SPI literature and an empirical study we have carried out. In the design of SPI-IF, the concept of critical success factors (CSFs) was used and extended. Thirty-four CSF interviews were conducted with Australian practitioners. In addition, 50 research articles (published experience reports and case studies) were also selected and analysed in order to identify factors that play positive or negative roles in SPI implementation. The SPI-IF provides a very practical structure with which to assess and implement SPI implementation initiatives. In order to evaluate SPI-IF, a practical evaluation scheme was undertaken. The evaluation results show that SPI-IF has potential to assist SPI practitioners in the design of effective SPI implementation initiatives. Thus, we recommend organizations to use SPI-IF in order to effectively design SPI implementation initiatives. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Different advances have been made in the development of software process improvement (SPI) standards and models, e.g. capability maturity model (CMM), more recently CMMI, and ISO's SPICE. However, these advances have not been matched by equal advances in the adoption of these standards and models in software development which has resulted in limited success for many SPI efforts. The current problem with SPI is not a lack of standard or model, but rather a lack of an effective strategy to successfully implement these standards or models. The importance of SPI implementation demands that it be recognised as a complex process in its own right and that organizations should determine their SPI implementation maturity through an organized set of activities. In the literature, much attention has been paid to "what activities to implement" instead of "how to implement" these activities. We believe that identification of only "what" activities to implement is not sufficient and that knowledge of "how" to implement is also required for successful implementation of SPI programmes. We have adopted a CMMI approach and developed a maturity model for SPI implementation in order to guide organizations in assessing and improving their SPI implementation processes. The basis of this model is what we have studied in the SPI literature and an empirical study we have carried out. In the design of this maturity model we have extended the concept of critical success factors (CSFs). We have conducted CSF interviews with 23 Australian practitioners. We have also analysed CSFs and critical barriers using 50 research articles (published experience reports and case studies). This maturity model has three dimensions - maturity stage dimension, CSF dimension and assessment dimension. It provides a very practical structure with which to assess and improve SPI implementation processes. © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Information visualization has been a burning topic among the researchers in the recent decade. Getting targeted information, which is everyone’s desire, is becoming difficult with the abundance of data. In this research, we have made an evaluation of our proposed framework PEVNET by conducting an experiment. Thirty two participants evaluated the system. The experiment was performed in two phases. In the first phase, a usability evaluation and qualitative feedback was carried out to check whether the PEVNET framework provided adequate results to the users. The qualitative feedback was performed by considering two aspects: the ease of use and the functionality. In the second phase, the comparison of the PEVNET had been performed against another state-of-the-art tool. Locating the central person, detecting the hidden interaction patterns between the sub-clusters, and detecting temporal activity were among the main tasks that were to be achieved by the participants. These tasks were to be performed in the groups of participants. The case study of Chicago Narcotics datasets was used. We found that the participants, of the PEVNET group, performed the tasks faster as compared to the other techniques used in the experiment. Among the participants, there were a few domain experts who appreciated our novel visualization features. Anecdotally, we believe that by evaluating the PEVNET in this research paper, we will be able to get the confidence of the crime analysts. We have found that the network visualization of the PEVNET framework, based on the experimental results, has gotten satisfactory feedback from the majority of the participants.

Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Managing communication in collaborative global software development (GSD) projects is both critical and challenging. While social computing has received much attention from practitioners, social computing adoption is still an emerging research area in GSD. This research paper provides a review of the academic research in social computing and identifies motivators for adopting social computing in the GSD context. We applied the systematic literature review (SLR) and questionnaire survey with 35 software industry experts to address the research objective. Firstly, we implemented a formal SLR approach and identified an initial set of social computing adoption motivators. Secondly, a questionnaire survey was developed based on the SLR and was tested by means of a pilot study. The findings of this combined SLR and questionnaire survey indicate that real-time communication and coordination, knowledge acquisition, expert feedback, and information sharing are the key factors that motivate social computing adoption in GSD projects. The results of t test (ie, t =.558, P =.589) show that there is no significant difference between the findings of SLR and questionnaire. The results of this study suggest the need for developing social computing strategies and policies to guide the strategic adoption of social computing tools in GSD projects.