Human Competency Assessment for Software Configuration Management

Abstract

Late product delivery is a common problem in software projects. Late delivery can be attributed to software change especially in the development and maintenance phases, leading to more work than originally planned, thus increasing project completion time. One approach for managing software change is Software Configuration Management (SCM). SCM was first introduced in the 1970s to ensure the timely delivery of software products. To date, SCM implementation is supported by recognized standards, best practice, and countless commercial and proprietary tools. However, after more than 50 years, the issue of late software product delivery still prevails, questioning the practice of SCM in software organizations. One aspect of SCM that has received little focus in mainstream research is the human aspects. This study aims to identify how the competency of SCM practitioners can be assessed through the identification of SCM competency criteria and the development of a competency assessment framework. The framework was validated through expert reviews and case studies involving practitioners from the public sector, industry, institutes of higher learning and international organizations. Results confirmed the reliability of the SCM competency criteria and the plausibility of the competency assessment framework.

Software Development, Configuration, Monitoring, and Management of Artificial Neural Networks

“…One method proposed by Fahmy to manage software changes is software configuration management (SCM). His research aims to explore how to assess the competencies of supply chain management practitioners by defining competency standards and developing competency assessment frameworks [7]. eir research has a good inspiration for software development, but they all ignore the process of software configuration, fail to fully consider the collaborative ability of the software development team and the development methods of different types of software, fail to fully consider the factors affecting software development, and lack the support of theory and data.…”