Strategic Software Engineering

The pervasiveness of software in business makes it crucial that software engineers and developers understand how software development impacts an entire organization. Strategic Software Engineering: An Interdisciplinary Approach presents software engineering as a strategic, business-oriented, interdisciplinary endeavor, rather than simply a technica

An immensely practical resource for professionals in the software industry, this text offers a simple but effective decision-making approach to planning and managing all types of software engineering projects. The book establishes a constructive framework for selecting a development strategy, development methods, and support tools with the ultimate goal of minimizing technical risk and increasing product quality. Specific topics include the range of quality attributes (fitness for purpose, fitness for use, and timely delivery), standards for quality management systems, the work breakdown structure, and the use of metrics and indicators. The book closes with a discussion of the 14 dilemmas of software engineering--and how to break them.

"Just the understanding and insights you will pick up about how people encounter and cope with combinations of technical, social, political, and economic opportunities and challenges make the book a joy to read and worth much more than the price of it alone." --Barry Boehm, from the Foreword This practical handbook shows you how to build an effective business case when you need to justify--and persuade management to accept--software change or improvement. Based on real-world scenarios, the book covers the most common situations in which business case analyses are required and explains specific techniques that have proved successful in practice. Drawing on years of experience in winning the "battle of the budget," the author shows you how to use commonly accepted engineering economic arguments to make your numbers "sing" to management. The book provides examples of successful business cases; along the way, tables, tools, facts, figures, and metrics guide you through the entire analytic process. Writing in a concise and witty style, the author makes this valuable guidance accessible to every software engineer, manager, and IT professional. Highlights include: How and where business case analyses fit into the software and IT life cycle process Explanations of the most common tools for business case analysis, such as present-value, return-on-investment, break-even, and cost/benefit calculation Tying the business process to the software development life cycle Packaging the business case for management consumption Frameworks and guidelines for justifying IT productivity, quality, and delivery cycle improvement strategies Case studies for applying appropriate decision situations to software process improvement Strategic guidelines for various business case analyses With this book in hand, you will find the facts, examples, hard data, and case studies needed for preparing your own winning business cases in today's complex software environment.

Explains the principles & practice of Business Engineering - a new approach to optimizing the organization of businesses & their computer systems by analyzing & repartitioning them by "business events" - the critical events in the environment to which they were set up to respond. Business event partitioning (the core of Business Engineering) re-orients a business for optimal response to critical business events. Business event partitioning also dramatically improves the cost-effectiveness of data processing by increasing the useful life-span of computer systems that support the business & by reducing development & modification costs. The methodology is presented graphically, using the rigor of Structured Analysis data flow diagrams (DFD's), supported by a comprehensive data dictionary & step-by-step activity descriptions. The diagrams are also included free on a personal computer diskette with a CASE tool created by the author's company for project planning & tracking. Also includes insightful chapters on "systems archealogy," how to build quality into computer systems, strategic planning, managing computer projects & people, risk analysis, project estimating & how to install new methodology, plus a full case study illustrating the Strategic Business Enginering principles. Essential reading for data processing managers, practitioners, students & their teachers.

The purpose of this book is to develop capacity building in strategic and non-strategic machine tool technology. The book contains chapters on how to functionally reverse engineer strategic and non-strategic computer numerical control machinery. Numerous engineering areas, such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, control engineering, and computer hardware and software engineering, are covered. The book offers guidelines and covers design for machine tools, prototyping, augmented reality for machine tools, modern communication strategies, and enterprises of functional reverse engineering, along with case studies. Features Presents capacity building in machine tool development Discusses engineering design for machine tools Covers prototyping of strategic and non-strategic machine tools Illustrates augmented reality for machine tools Includes Internet of Things (IoT) for machine tools

"Every senior executive needs to read this book." --Robert Musson Vice President, Business Strategy Cenus Technologies "An informative book for any business person (not just technologists) who has ever been associated or involved with a software development effort and thought 'there must be a better way!' Watts has provided that better way-- the PSP/TSP, and a great book." --Roy Kinkaid, Head of Continuous Improvement and Software Quality Assurance, EBS Dealing Resources Watts Humphrey is the well-known author of methods and models widely used by organizations, teams, and individuals to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of software development. In Winning with Software, he shows corporate executives and senior managers why software is both a business problem and a business opportunity. "This book is extremely well written and targets the right audience. I plan to buy a copy for each of my executives." --Kevin J. Berk, Director, Process Improvement, Total Quality Systems Humphrey, drawing on his own extensive executive and management experience, first demonstrates the critical importance of software to nearly every business, large and small. He then outlines seven steps needed to gain control of a software operation and transform it into a professional, businesslike engineering function. Failure to recognize the importance of software, and to take charge of its development process, runs the risk of damaging the entire business. By contrast, Humphrey relates the substantial benefits real organizations have obtained from such awareness and control, and he concludes with an analysis of the impressive financial returns the recommended transformations typically yield. "This is a great book that will play a valuable role. It has excellent anecdotes that illustrate the points being made, as well as good examples depicting the problems faced by teams and managers. I look forward to sharing it with my colleagues." --Steven Sliwa, President & CEO, Insitu Group Inc. and former President of Embry-Riddle University "The logical approach, the high level explanations, and the application of real-life experiences make the book not only credible but easily understood. If a large number of CEOs don't at least try out the book's concepts, I will be greatly surprised." --David Webb Software Engineering Project Manager, Hill Air Force Base