Desired Quality in Cloud Application Development

Leah Riungu-Kalliosaari, Ossi Taipale and Kari Smolander have released an article on cloud applications and quality. This research publication is a part of ongoing STX project, which is partially funded by FiSMA. More information on this article, and other STX publications can be found from the address http://www2.it.lut.fi/project/STX/ or by contacting the project manager Ossi Taipale (D.Sc.) via email at ossi.taipale@ lut.fi

Abstract from the paper: ”This qualitative case study describes how software development organizations reach for their own context - dependent quality in cloud application development. The study collected the data from selected organizations through interviews and applied the grounded theory method in the analysis. The study concludes that the desired quality varies among the organizations. However, usability was found to be an important quality characteristic n all the organizations. The organizations involved a set of three similar activities to attain the desired quality characteristics. These activities are summarized as (1) Selecting a suitable life-cycle model, during which (2) the customer is engaged and (3) the most suitable tools are used. The organizations incorporated these activities so as to establish supportive working practices for acquiring the desired quality."

ALDES - Agile and Lean Development of Embedded Systems

FiSMA is one party in the international consortium for the ALDES project. For applying funding the project plan was submitted in mid-September for EU’s ECSEL program and for Tekes as well. The fundamental idea of ALDES is to tackle the challenges on ever increasing complexity and diversity of safety-critical cyber-physical systems (CPS) by developing Agile and Lean product development practices for European CPS industry. Agile and Lean methods are utilised on several domains and their positive impact on product development efficiency has been widely recognised. ALDES brings these methods into development of complex safety-critical CPSs. ALDES consortium consists of 45 organisations from 12 European countries enabling broad applicability and extensive collaboration on developing common practices related research, development and innovation (R&D&I).

The main objectives of ALDES are:

• Development of Agile and Lean methods for CPS industry
• Development of practices to handle safety-critical requirements in Agile and Lean processes
• Development of practices for smooth and efficient collaboration of remote stakeholders
• Dissemination and exploitation of the results extensively among the European CPS industry

Commercial advantages to be achieved include:

• Better products with decreased time-to-market
• More frequent deliveries and reduced failure demand
• New markets and
• Decreased development and certification costs.

FiSMA Research Forum kokous 16.12.

Tutkimusfoorumin kokous pidettiin 16.12. Innopoli 2:ssa. FiSMA blogia testataan parhaillaan. Leah Riungu-Kalliosaari esitteli väitöskirjansa: Empirical study on the adoption, use and effects of cloud-based testing.

Seuraava kokous on 3.3.2015 klo 10:15 Innopoli 2:ssa, Espoossa. Pääaihe on tulevan tutkimusyhteistyötä kehittävän työpajan valmistelu, käsiteltävien tutkimusaihoiden valinta ja viimeistely.

FiSMAn jäsenille aineisto on jakelussa: Research Forum: https://fismary.atlassian.net/wiki/x/C4AW

Towards better software process quality using LAPPI

SPI (Software Process Improvement) is undeniably important. Understanding the current state of software processes and their problem points is vital if we want any kind of improvement to happen in the way software is produced. Without understanding where we stand at the moment, the improvement resources, in most cases scarce to begin with, can easily be misplaced. So where to start from when aiming to initiate SPI?

‘LAPPI’ (Light-weight Technique to Practical Process Modeling and Improvement Target Identification) technique aims to solve this problem. The technique is suited to organizations of all sizes, and can be integrated with various SPI initiatives. LAPPI was developed incrementally in multiple academia-industry collaboration projects and by industry actors themselves. The LAPPI technique has been used in over 30 companies with excellent results. The technique enables modeling the current process (not the one that the quality manual tells the company is following - but the one that is actually followed in daily work) and can identify the points of improvement in the process. Based on LAPPI’s results, it is easy to start implementing improvements.

LAPPI focuses on people. It emphasizes the roles and responsibilities in the software process. Who is actually responsible in which process phase and what information is needed to enable the right people to do their job? In the end, process is always only as good as the people implementing it.

See below what software professionals think of the technique.

“Makes things [how processes really are executed] visible in a way that other methods tried do not”, “Opens discussion in a way that is not enabled by normal process assessments”, “Makes you feel like a part of the effort, good for motivation”, “Makes challenges visible and makes it easier to talk about them”, “Makes it easier to be honest [about how work is actually done in our company]”, “Easy to apply, doesn’t require any special skills, all you need to know is what you do in your day-to-day job”

So why not try LAPPI in your company? For more information, contact Anu Raninen, anu.raninen@spinet.fi

How applicable is ISO/IEC 29110 in Game Software Development?

Jussi Kasurinen, Risto Laine and Kari Smolander have released an article on the application of ISO/IEC 29110 in the game development context. This research publication was part of the Lappeenranta University of Technology’s Game Research Interest Group research project SOCES, in which the differences and process similarities between software developers and game developers were examined.

Abstract from the paper: Software development in a small development team is a challenge, as people have to fulfill several roles, which in larger groups would have separate, dedicated people for the work. To help small development teams to organize their activities, ISO/IEC standardization body has developed a draft for the standard ISO/IEC 29110, Lifecycle profiles for Very Small Entities. Our study focuses on the application of this model in the game industry, an industry that develops software. However, the game industry has its own set of unusual features in software development, such as the demand for artistic vision, need for novelty and demand for creative designs. In this study we analyze how the standard would work in seven different game industry companies and identify a set of additions that would help these organizations to apply the standard in practice. Based on our results, the ISO/IEC 29110 should incorporate more support for iterative development to allow easier adaptation to real-life organizations.