One of the more important steps in starting a process improvement initiative is to determine the appropriate tasking and the scope of the process improvement program. There is great temptation for an organization to attempt to take on too much too fast, especially if it feels that it must catch up to its competition. For example, an organization will assess its capability against all of the Key...

Abstract – At the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), software process improvement (SPI) is taught in lecture format and with a 10-week implementation project in an organization by teams of students of the graduate software engineering curriculum. The SPI course is taught using a ‘problemgoal-solution’ approach where students learn that any process improvement initiative must be based on iss...

This paper describes the development of an experience factory in an Australian organization involved in the field of telecommunications. Faced with improvement needs, in 1998 the organization placed special attention on approaches to support improvement activities. Towards the end of 1998 a project was started between the company and the Centre for Advanced Empirical Software Research (CAESAR) ...

Point-of-care testing is a rapidly evolving yet complex field. As your POCT program grows, take the time to understand the regulations, as they are important to ensuring patient safety. The regualtions established CLIA are designed to ensure consistent and reliable laboratory results that can accurately impact patient care. When beginning your look into POCY, first identify what labs can direct...

During a software process improvement program, the current state of software development processes is being assessed and improvement actions are being determined. However, these improvement actions are based on process models obtained during interviews and document studies, e.g. quality manuals. Such improvements are scarcely based on the practical way of working in an organization; they do not...