A consolidated process for software process simulation: State of the Art and Industry Experience

Software process simulation is a complex task and in order to conduct a simulation project practitioners require support through a process for software process simulation modelling (SPSM), including what steps to take and what guidelines to follow in each step. This paper provides a literature based consolidated process for SPSM where the steps and guidelines for each step are identified through a review of literature and are complemented by experience from using these recommendations in an action research at a large Telecommunication vendor. We found five simulation processes in SPSM literature, resulting in a seven-step process. The consolidated process was successfully applied at the studied company, with the experiences of doing so being reported.