Abstract. Industry recognizes that very small enterprises (VSE), that develop parts having software components, are very important to the economy. These parts are often integrated in products of larger enterprises. Failure to deliver on time, within budget a quality product threatens the competitiveness of both organizations. One way to mitigate these risks is by having all suppliers of a product chain to put in place recognized engineering practices. Many international standards and models like ISO/IEC12207 or CMMI have been developed to capture proven engineering practices. However, these standards were not designed for very small development organizations, those with less than 25 employees, and are consequently difficult to apply in such settings. An ISO/IEC JTC1/SC7 1 Working Group has been established to address these difficulties by producing a tailored software engineering standard to VSE.
When many people think of software companies, they think of the large organizations that have become so well known in the marketplace. However, a flow of offerings are also coming from smaller organizations, including very small entities (VSEs), which have 25 or fewer employees. Moreover, most products and services from big software vendors depend on third-party components and other forms of collaboration involving VSEs or small units within large organizations. Thus, small and very small organizations-which include most software startups-are the global software industry's dominant force and are crucial to its competitiveness and innovation.Software process is a leading research area for software-engineering academics. And managing software process is a big challenge for practitioners. Large organizations typically have used traditional softwareprocess-improvement (SPI) models such as CMMI and ISO/IEC 15504 (also called Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination [SPICE]). Smaller organizations generally haven't done so for many reasons, such as the perception that these efforts were developed by and for larger organizations, are costly, require much documentation and bureaucracy, and don't clearly establish software processes.For many small and very small software companies, implementing software-development management controls and structures is a major challenge. At a time when software quality is a key to competitive advantage, organizations are using only a few of the most popular ISO/IEC systems and softwareengineering standards. Research shows that small and very small companies often have difficulty relating ISO/IEC standards to their business needs and justifying their application to their business practices. Most don't see their net benefit; lack expertise; or can't afford the necessary employees, cost, and time.In 2011, driven by VSEs' increasing importance and growing need for systems and software life cycle profiles and guidelines, the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission jointly published a set of ISO/IEC 29110 standards and guides. Other initiatives are devoted to small entities-some from Latin America, such as Competisoft, and others from Europe, such as ITmark. But ISO/IEC 29110 is becoming the widely adopted standard.
Software engineering standards must address the needs of small organizations, especially those with a low capability level.Industry recognizes that very small enterprises (VSEs) contribute valuable products and services. In Europe, for example, 85 percent of the information technology (IT) sector's companies have only one to 10 employees. According to a recent survey, 78 percent of software development enterprises in the Montreal area have fewer than 25 employees, while 50 percent have fewer than 10. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that enterprises with fewer than 10 employees represent 93 percent of all companies in Europe and 56 percent in the US-66 percent of total employment.Studies and surveys confirm that current software engineering standards do not address the needs of these organizations, especially those with a low capability level. Compliance with standards such as those from ISO and the IEEE is difficult if not impossible for them to achieve. Subsequently, VSEs have no or very limited ways to be recognized as enterprises that produce quality software systems in their domain. Therefore, they are often cut off from some economic activities.Research shows that VSEs find it difficult to relate ISO standards to their business needs and to justify the application of the standards to their business practices. Most of these VSEs can't afford the resources-in number of employees, cost, and time-or see a net benefit in establishing software life cycle processes.
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