SPIRE (Software Process Improvement in Regions of Europe) Startvorteil für kleine Software-Unternehmen

             

What is SPIRE? SPIRE stands for Software Process Improvement in Regions of Europe. It is an ESSI dissemination project, financially supported by the European Commission within the ESPRIT programme, which started in March 1997 and ends in January 1999. Co-ordinated by the Centre for Software Engineering in Dublin, Ireland, SPIRE has partners in Austria (ARC Seibersdorf), Italy (Etnoteam), Sweden (IVF), and Northern Ireland ( Software Industry Federation).

Focus of SPIRE. SPIRE focuses on small software development units - dubbed SSDs - employing up to 50 software staff, both small software companies, and small software units in larger user organisations.

SSDs encounter special barriers to successful SPI:

• Firstly, they tend to be less aware than larger firms of the benefits of systematic SPI aligned to their business needs. They frequently hold the view that process improvement is too expensive and difficult to be cost-effective for all but big companies. They are unimpressed by evidence of cost-effective improvement in much bigger firms. They need to see concrete results achieved by their peers, with resources they themselves could find, before changing their view.
• Secondly, even if they recognise the business need, they often do not know how to improve. They lack the in-house skills and experience to determine and implement an appropriate plan. They cannot afford the management attention, staff time or money to be trained or find a suitable consultant to help them. As a result, at best SPI is delayed, and at worst no action is taken at all.
• Thirdly, because of their size, day-to-day operational crises, financial constraints and changing priorities are more likely to drive an SSD's improvement plan off course, or even cause it to be abandoned. This cannot be avoided in general, because it is in the nature of SSDs, particularly those with immature processes, but the risk can be reduced if improving SSDs join in a network to exchange experience, and support and inspire each other to maintain momentum.

Objective of SPIRE.
SPIRE aims to lower the barriers preventing SSDs from successfully applying SPI, by:

• raising awareness of SPI benefits among decision makers in and change agents in SSDs,
• educating participating SSD managers and staff in practical SPI skills,
• helping participant SSDs to maintain the momentum of their improvement projects.

How is SPIRE doing this?

• Experience Generation. SPIRE selected more than 70 SSDs (out of more than 200 applicants) in Austria, Ireland, Italy and Sweden, to carry out short, cost-effective SPI projects, funded up to a maximum of 15,000 ECU. Although some have dropped out for a variety of reasons, more than 60 projects have either finished, or will finish shortly. Their experience is being captured in a standard way, to provide a unique database of SPI experience in small firms.
• Experience Analysis. The experience gained in the most successful projects is being written up as concise Case Studies. Drawing on lessons learned in the project, and their own extensive experience. The partners are preparing a SPIRE Handbook, which will be a valuable tool to help other SSDs succeed with SPI. The experience will also be analysed statistically to provide insights into SPI in the smaller company, to be published as a European Analysis Report.
• Experience Dissemination. The SPIRE partners are widely disseminating the SPIRE results throughout Europe, focusing in particular on those SSD Managers who are not already committed to SPI. Mechanisms used include: advertisements and articles, workshops and presentations, and distribution of SPIRE materials, both on paper and over the Internet.

Case Studies. Between September and November 1998, SPIRE will publish 20 software process improvement Case Studies in each of English, German, Italian and Swedish, with a smaller number in French. They demonstrate the business benefit of process improvement to small software firms, and serve as models for others to emulate. They cover a wide range of software processes, including requirements management, object oriented design, testing, project management, and configuration management. SPIRE is also disseminating Case Studies of software process improvement in Irish companies generated by the earlier TRI-SPIN Project.

SPIRE Handbook. This is a practical step-by-step guide for smaller software organisations, about how to carry out successful SPI, meeting their own business needs. It is written clearly and simply, with the minimum of SPI jargon, in English. It is designed to be used by both business managers and change agents to kick-start SPI in their company, with or without additional assistance from external consultants and trainers.

European Analysis Report. This will be of great value to researchers, trainers and consultants, and public policy makers, who are interested in SPI in the smaller organisation. The analysis will cover four main subject areas: Technical, Educational, Commercial and Human Factors. A statistical analysis will detect and quantify chains of cause and effect.

How to benefit from SPIRE

• From November 1998 you can download the Case Studies, and the European Analysis Report from the SPIRE Web-site http://www.cse.dcu.ie/spire free of charge, in the language of your choice.
• You can also order your copy of the SPIRE Handbook through the Web-site. A limited number are available free of charge, but thereafter a small charge will be made to cover expenses, so order your copy as soon as possible!
• Local events are being planned in most regions of Europe to give you the opportunity to hear more about the improvement projects and how SPIRE can benefit you. Details of these events will be added to the SPIRE web site as they are arranged.
• In particular, if you are interested in how smaller software organisations can benefit from SPI, you should attend the SPIRE98 Workshop to be held in association with EuroSPI98 in Gothenburg, Sweden, 16. November 1998. This full day workshop mixes Case Studies presented by SPIRE participant SSDs, with experience reports from SPIRE, and from ESSI training and dissemination projects DonQ-SPI, TAPISTRY, SCATE and LSD. Look at http://eupro.arcs.ac.at/eupro/spire or http://www.cse.dcu.ie/spire for details.

Contact for Austria and Germany:
Dipl.-Ing. Erwin Schoitsch
Austrian Research Centers Seibersdorf
A-2444 Seibersdorf, AUSTRIA
tel. +43 2254 780 3117, fax +43 2254 72133
schoitsch@arcs.ac.at