ABSTRACT
While software measurement is becoming an integral part of software development, software process assessment is becoming an integral part of the measurement activities. The approach to software process-assessment measurement requires documented software engineering procedures and processes, along with a defined software metrics process. This is followed by the establishment of goals to improve the software engineering processes over a specified period of time. Relative to those goals, measures are then defined, collected, and used to gauge periodically the progress toward achieving the specified improvement goals. When the process-related data that have been collected indicate that software engineering process problems exist, the organization formulates actions to correct the situation. The results are compared over time to determine the best improvement solution. Figure 13-1 shows the fundamental software process-assessment and measurement approach used for incremental improvements to the software process. The cumulative, net result of these improvements is to attain higher quality products and increase the competitiveness of the organization and its software.
