Software Engineering Institute

This special report surveys the process improvement efforts undertaken by programs and projects that incorporate software-intensive systems. It describes the specific process improvement efforts undertaken and reports on the benefits achieved. In so doing, the report demonstrates the potential of process improvement activities to help contractors and acquirers meet their performance, budget, and delivery time requirements. Additionally, the report identifies several recurring themes:

1. All improvement efforts are based on the concept and the goal of eliminating errors in process upstream.
2. While improvement efforts are typically driven by cost and measured by return on investment, quality attributes such as security and stability are often of more value to the success of the overall project.
3. Most improvement efforts will yield benefits as long as those efforts follow general rules and use appropriate methods.

Finally, the report makes the case for applying process improvement methods and tools throughout the acquisition effort.