Software Process Definition and Management, 2012
The Fraunhofer IESE Series on Software and Systems Engineering Series

The concept of processes is at the heart of software and systems engineering. Software process models integrate software engineering methods and techniques and are the basis for managing large-scale software and IT projects. High product quality routinely results from high process quality.

Software process management deals with getting and maintaining control over processes and their evolution. Becoming acquainted with existing software process models is not enough, though. It is important to understand how to select, define, manage, deploy, evaluate, and systematically evolve software process models so that they suitably address the problems, applications, and environments to which they are applied. Providing basic knowledge for these important tasks is the main goal of this textbook.

Münch and his co-authors aim at providing knowledge that enables readers to develop useful process models that are suitable for their own purposes. They start with the basic concepts. Subsequently, existing representative process models are introduced, followed by a description of how to create individual models and the necessary means for doing so (i.e., notations and tools). Lastly, different possible usage scenarios for process management are highlighted (e.g. process improvement and software process simulation).

Their book is aimed at students and researchers working on software project management, software quality assurance, and software measurement; and at practitioners who are interested in process definition and management for developing, maintaining, and operating software-intensive systems and services.

Prescriptive Process Models.- Descriptive Process Models.- Process Modeling Notations and Tools.- Process Improvement.- Empirical Studies.- Software Process Simulation.

Jürgen Münch is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki. His research in software and systems engineering centers on the measurement and quantitative analysis of software processes and systems, on software process modeling and management, cloud-based software engineering, global software development, and empirical software engineering. Prior to his current position, Prof. Dr. Münch was a division head at the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where he was responsible for research and technology transfer in the area of software process and quality engineering. He was also an executive board member of the temporary research institute SFB 501 at the University of Kaiserslautern. Prof. Dr. Münch has been awarded the Distinguished Professor Award (FiDiPro), the IFIP TC2 Manfred Paul Award for Excellence in Software Theory and Practice, several best paper awards, and the technology innovation award from the Rhineland-Palatinate Lotto Foundation.

Ove Armbrust is Software Engineering Process Group Lead at Alpine Electronics Research of America. In this position, he is responsible for all software development processes of Alpine’s U.S. R&D operations, including product development, customer interaction, and standards compliance. Prior to his current position, Dr. Armbrust was a researcher and senior engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern, Germany. In its Processes and Measurement department, he focused his research activities on context-specific process adaptation, process compliance, and process scoping. In 2010, he received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. Besides his academic work, Dr. Armbrust has provided consultation services to a wide range of organizations from the automotive, aerospace, and finance domains regarding process improvementissues.

Martin