Constructing an Organizational Memory for Software Development

Software development organizations are currently under tremendous pressure to refine and streamline the process of developing software. Process maturity models have been created to define a organization-wide process for all software development efforts [Paulk et al. 93]. But these methods advocate a one-size-fits-all approach that can have detrimental effects on organizations that develop diverse products with equally diverse development needs. In conjunction with a large information technology organization, we have undertaken an effort to help software development organizations make informed decisions on development strategies based on knowledge of techniques previously used in the organization. We have designed a framework that facilitates finding projects with similar characteristics. This provides information on previous projects experiences that can serve as the basis for streaming the development process by tailoring methods to the specific needs of a project.