| 1. |
- Borg, Markus, et al.
(författare)
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Selecting Software Component Sourcing Options : Detailed Survey Description and Analysis
- 2018
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Component-based software engineering (CBSE) is a common approach to develop and evolve contemporary software systems. When evolving a system based on components, make-or-buy decisions are frequent, i.e., whether to develop components internally or to acquire them fromexternal sources. In CBSE, several different sourcing options are available: 1) developing software in-house, 2) outsourcing development, 3) buying commercial-off-the-shelf software, and 4) integrating open source software components. Unfortunately, there is little available research on howorganizations select component sourcing options (CSO) in industry practice. In this work, we seek to contribute empirical evidence to CSO selection. Method: We conduct a cross-domain survey on CSO selection in industry, implemented as an online questionnaire. Based on 188 responses, we find that most organizations consider multiple CSOs during software evolution, and that the CSO decisions in industry are dominated by expert judgment. When choosing between candidate components, functional suitability acts as an initial filter, then reliability is the most important quality. We stress that future solution-oriented work on decision support has to account for the dominance of expert judgment in industry. Moreover, we identify considerable variation in CSO decision processes in industry. Finally, we encourage software development organizations to reflect on their decision processes when choosing whether to make or buy components, and we recommend using our survey for a first benchmarking.
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| 2. |
- Yu, Liang, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Automated NFR testing in Continuous Integration Environments : a multi-case study of Nordic companies
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Context: Non-functional requirements (NFRs) (also referred to as system qualities) are essential for developing high-quality software.Notwithstanding its importance, NFR testing remains challenging, especially in terms of automation.Compared to manual verification, automated testing shows the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of quality assurance, especially in the context of Continuous Integration (CI).However, studies on how companies manage automated NFR testing through CI are limited.Objective: This study examines how automated NFR testing can be enabledand supported using CI environments in software development companies.Method: We performed a multi-case study at four companies by conducting 22 semi-structured interviews with industrial practitioners.Results: Maintainability, reliability, performance, security and scalability, were found to be evaluated with automated tests in CI environments.Testing practices, quality metrics, and challenges for measuring NFRs were reported.Conclusions: This study presents an empirically derived model that shows how data produced by CI environments can be used for evaluation and monitoring of implemented NFR quality. Additionally, the manuscript presents explicit metrics, CI components, tools, and challenges that shall be considered while performing NFR testing in practice.
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| 3. |
- Yu, Liang, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Automated NFR testing in continuous integration environments : a multi-case study of Nordic companies
- 2023
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Ingår i: Empirical Software Engineering. - : Springer. - 1382-3256 .- 1573-7616. ; 28:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Non-functional requirements (NFRs) (also referred to as system qualities) are essential for developing high-quality software. Notwithstanding its importance, NFR testing remains challenging, especially in terms of automation. Compared to manual verification, automated testing shows the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of quality assurance, especially in the context of Continuous Integration (CI). However, studies on how companies manage automated NFR testing through CI are limited. Objective: This study examines how automated NFR testing can be enabled and supported using CI environments in software development companies. Method: We performed a multi-case study at four companies by conducting 22 semi-structured interviews with industrial practitioners. Results: Maintainability, reliability, performance, security and scalability, were found to be evaluated with automated tests in CI environments. Testing practices, quality metrics, and challenges for measuring NFRs were reported. Conclusions: This study presents an empirically derived model that shows how data produced by CI environments can be used for evaluation and monitoring of implemented NFR quality. Additionally, the manuscript presents explicit metrics, CI components, tools, and challenges that shall be considered while performing NFR testing in practice. © 2023, The Author(s).
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| 4. |
- Angelis, Lefteris, et al.
(författare)
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A Framework of Statistical and Visualization Techniques for Missing Data Analysis in Software Cost Estimation
- 2018
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Ingår i: Computer Systems and Software Engineering. - : IGI Global. - 9781522539230 - 9781522539247 ; , s. 433-460
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Software Cost Estimation (SCE) is a critical phase in software development projects. However, due to the growing complexity of the software itself, a common problem in building software cost models is that the available datasets contain lots of missing categorical data. The purpose of this chapter is to show how a framework of statistical, computational, and visualization techniques can be used to evaluate and compare the effect of missing data techniques on the accuracy of cost estimation models. Hence, the authors use five missing data techniques: Multinomial Logistic Regression, Listwise Deletion, Mean Imputation, Expectation Maximization, and Regression Imputation. The evaluation and the comparisons are conducted using Regression Error Characteristic curves, which provide visual comparison of different prediction models, and Regression Error Operating Curves, which examine predictive power of models with respect to under- or over-estimation.
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| 5. |
- Angelis, Lefteris, et al.
(författare)
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Methods for Statistical and Visual Comparison of Imputation Methods for Missing Data in Software Cost Estimation
- 2011
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Ingår i: Modern Software Engineering Concepts and Practices. - : IGI Global. - 9781609602154 - 9781609602178 ; , s. 221-241
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Software Cost Estimation is a critical phase in the development of a software project, and over the years has become an emerging research area. A common problem in building software cost models is that the available datasets contain projects with lots of missing categorical data. The purpose of this chapter is to show how a combination of modern statistical and computational techniques can be used to compare the effect of missing data techniques on the accuracy of cost estimation. Specifically, a recently proposed missing data technique, the multinomial logistic regression, is evaluated and compared with four older methods: listwise deletion, mean imputation, expectation maximization and regression imputation with respect to their effect on the prediction accuracy of a least squares regression cost model. The evaluation is based on various expressions of the prediction error and the comparisons are conducted using statistical tests, resampling techniques and a visualization tool, the regression error characteristic curves.
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| 6. |
- Barney, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Offshore insourcing : A case study on software quality alignment
- 2011
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Ingår i: 2011 IEEE Sixth International Conference on Global Software Engineering. - Helsinki : IEEE. - 9781457711404 - 9780769545035 ; , s. 146-155
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Software quality issues are commonly reported when off shoring software development. Value-based software engineering addresses this by ensuring key stakeholders have a common understanding of quality. Aim: This work seeks to understand the levels of alignment between key stakeholders on aspects of software quality for two products developed as part of an offshore in sourcing arrangement. The study further aims to explain the levels of alignment identified. Method: Representatives of key stakeholder groups for both products ranked aspects of software quality. The results were discussed with the groups to gain a deeper understanding. Results: Low levels of alignment were found between the groups studied. This is associated with insufficiently defined quality requirements, a culture that does not question management and conflicting temporal reflections on the product's quality. Conclusion: The work emphasizes the need for greater support to align success-critical stakeholder groups in their understanding of quality when off shoring software development
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| 7. |
- Barney, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Software quality across borders : Three case studies on company internal alignment
- 2014
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Ingår i: Information and Software Technology. - : Elsevier. - 0950-5849 .- 1873-6025. ; 56:1, s. 20-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Software quality issues are commonly reported when offshoring software development. Value-based software engineering addresses this by ensuring key stakeholders have a common understanding of quality.Objective: This work seeks to understand the levels of alignment between key stakeholder groups within a company on the priority given to aspects of software quality developed as part of an offshoring relationship. Furthermore, the study aims to identify factors impacting the levels of alignment identified.Method: Three case studies were conducted, with representatives of key stakeholder groups ranking aspects of software quality in a hierarchical cumulative exercise. The results are analysed using Spearman rank correlation coefficients and inertia. The results were discussed with the groups to gain a deeper understanding of the issues impacting alignment.Results: Various levels of alignment were found between the various groups. The reasons for misalignment were found to include cultural factors, control of quality in the development process, short-term versus long-term orientations, understanding of cost-benefits of quality improvements, communication and coordination.Conclusions: The factors that negatively affect alignment can vary greatly between different cases. The work emphasises the need for greater support to align company internal success-critical stakeholder groups in their understanding of quality when offshoring software development.
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| 8. |
- Borg, Markus, et al.
(författare)
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Selecting component sourcing options : A survey of software engineering's broader make-or-buy decisions
- 2019
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Ingår i: Information and Software Technology. - : Elsevier B.V.. - 0950-5849 .- 1873-6025. ; 112, s. 18-34
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Component-based software engineering (CBSE) is a common approach to develop and evolve contemporary software systems. When evolving a system based on components, make-or-buy decisions are frequent, i.e., whether to develop components internally or to acquire them from external sources. In CBSE, several different sourcing options are available: (1) developing software in-house, (2) outsourcing development, (3) buying commercial-off-the-shelf software, and (4) integrating open source software components. Objective: Unfortunately, there is little available research on how organizations select component sourcing options (CSO) in industry practice. In this work, we seek to contribute empirical evidence to CSO selection. Method: We conduct a cross-domain survey on CSO selection in industry, implemented as an online questionnaire. Results: Based on 188 responses, we find that most organizations consider multiple CSOs during software evolution, and that the CSO decisions in industry are dominated by expert judgment. When choosing between candidate components, functional suitability acts as an initial filter, then reliability is the most important quality. Conclusion: We stress that future solution-oriented work on decision support has to account for the dominance of expert judgment in industry. Moreover, we identify considerable variation in CSO decision processes in industry. Finally, we encourage software development organizations to reflect on their decision processes when choosing whether to make or buy components, and we recommend using our survey for a first benchmarking.
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| 9. |
- Chatzipetrou, Panagiota, Assistant Professor, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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A multivariate statistical framework for the analysis of software effort phase distribution
- 2015
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Ingår i: Information and Software Technology. - : Elsevier. - 0950-5849 .- 1873-6025. ; 59, s. 149-169
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: In software project management, the distribution of resources to various project activities is one of the most challenging problems since it affects team productivity, product quality and project constraints related to budget and scheduling.Objective: The study aims to (a) reveal the high complexity of modelling the effort usage proportion in different phases as well as the divergence from various rules-of-thumb in related literature, and (b) present a systematic data analysis framework, able to offer better interpretations and visualisation of the effort distributed in specific phases.Method: The basis for the proposed multivariate statistical framework is Compositional Data Analysis, a methodology appropriate for proportions, along with other methods like the deviation from rules-ofthumb, the cluster analysis and the analysis of variance. The effort allocations to phases, as reported in around 1500 software projects of the ISBSG R11 repository, were transformed to vectors of proportions of the total effort and were analysed with respect to prime project attributes.Results: The proposed statistical framework was able to detect high dispersion among data, distribution inequality and various interesting correlations and trends, groupings and outliers, especially with respect to other categorical and continuous project attributes. Only a very small number of projects were found close to the rules-of-thumb from the related literature. Significant differences in the proportion of effort spent in different phrases for different types of projects were found.Conclusion: There is no simple model for the effort allocated to phases of software projects. The data from previous projects can provide valuable information regarding the distribution of the effort for various types of projects, through analysis with multivariate statistical methodologies. The proposed statistical framework is generic and can be easily applied in a similar sense to any dataset containing effort allocation to phases.
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| 10. |
- Chatzipetrou, Panagiota, Assistant Professor, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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An experience-based framework for evaluating alignment of software quality goals
- 2015
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Ingår i: Software quality journal. - : Springer. - 0963-9314 .- 1573-1367. ; 23:4, s. 567-594
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efficient quality management of software projects requires knowledge of how various groups of stakeholders involved in software development prioritize the product and project goals. Agreements or disagreements among members of a team may originate from inherent groupings, depending on various professional or other characteristics. These agreements are not easily detected by conventional practices (discussions, meetings, etc.) since the natural language expressions are often obscuring, subjective, and prone to misunderstandings. It is therefore essential to have objective tools that can measure the alignment among the members of a team; especially critical for the software development is the degree of alignment with respect to the prioritization goals of the software product. The paper proposes an experience-based framework of statistical and graphical techniques for the systematic study of prioritization alignment, such as hierarchical cluster analysis, analysis of cluster composition, correlation analysis, and closest agreement-directed graph. This framework can provide a thorough and global picture of a team's prioritization perspective and can potentially aid managerial decisions regarding team composition and leadership. The framework is applied and illustrated in a study related to global software development where 65 individuals in different roles, geographic locations and professional relationships with a company, prioritize 24 goals from individual perception of the actual situation and for an ideal situation.
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