Statistical Process Control for Software: a Systematic Approach

Software process monitoring is a complex activity. Recently many authors have been suggesting the use of Statistical Process Control (SPC) for software process monitoring while others have pointed out potential pitfalls in using this approach. SPC is often used "as is"' without the appropriate customizations or extensions to software, given the peculiarities and differences of software processes compared to manufacturing ones. As so the starting point to understand how and whether SPC can be used in software is to understand its contribution in monitoring processes. This work puts together experience collected by the authors in using SPC in industrial contexts, points out the main issues concerning software process monitoring and highlights how the technique addresses them. The main contribution of the paper is to formalize and put a set of guidelines together in a disciplined process for guiding practitioners in correctly using SPC during process monitoring.