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."

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.