EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES THAT SUPPORT A SOFTWARE PROCESS LIFE-CYCLE

The goal of developing quality software can be achieved by focusing on the improvement of both product quality and process quality. While the traditional focus has been on product quality, there is an increased awareness of the benefits of improving the quality of the processes used to develop and support those products. These processes are key elements in understanding and improving the practice of software engineering. In this paper, existing objectives for the development and application of models of software processes are restated, and current research sponsored by the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) is discussed as it applies to furthering each of the objectives. A framework is also presented that relates the research work to the various sectors of a software process life cycle. The on-going research involves four universities, CAS, and collaboration with IBM Toronto Laboratory developers.