A requirements-based software process maturity model
Abstract
The requirements phase of software development is an on-going problem for the
software engineering community. The many disparate recommendations and best
practices found in the literature make it difficult for software organisations to
recognise which practices apply to their individual needs. The aim of this thesis is to
pull together key solutions into a framework that allows practitioners to assess where
their requirements process needs strengthening and to provide a means in which
improvements can be achieved.
In this thesis I show how I design, develop and validate a model of requirements
engineering processes. This requirements capability maturity model (R-CMM)
adheres to the characteristics of the Software Engineering Institute's Software
Capability Maturity Model (SW-CMM) and is designed to take practitioners from an
immature process capability through to an advanced capability.
I contribute to the body of knowledge in both software process improvement and
requirements engineering (RE) by providing rigorous detail of how a process
maturity framework is developed to support RE practices. The model is generic and
should apply to many software development organisations. The R-CMM guides users
towards a view of RE that is based on goals and is problem driven. The SW-CMM
framework is transformed into a simplified model that relates goals and problems to
individual RE practises.
Publication date
2003Published version
https://doi.org/10.18745/th.14164https://doi.org/10.18745/th.14164