Objective
Software Process Improvement (SPI) has mostly been adopted by companies with large software teams. A potential audience that has not been reached adequately is the software group of less than 100 people, as an SME or as the IT department of a larger organisation.
The main objective of Small Companies Action Training and Enabling (SCATE) is to make SPI accessible to small software teams and to ensure that they have the necessary support from senior managers to succeed in their initiatives. SCATE addresses this in English, French, and Greek speaking countries through active and participative training of selected personnel from small software groups who will then go on to train others in their groups. A second objective of this multi-lingual project is to determine what key kernel is transferable from one country to another and what components work best in a specific culture. The business motivation of the partners is to raise the general level of awareness of the importance of good software processes. This will result in their own customer base expanding for their businesses as consultants and tool developers in SPI. In addition, their skills at helping others will be enhanced through the experience of the training process, use of the tools developed for the training, and the knowledge gained from interaction with the students and their organisations.
ACTIONS
The objectives will be accomplished through:
raising the level of awareness among SME business managers through a series of initial meetings where a chaotic software environment is portrayed, the organised environment is presented, and basic education is provided in how to go from chaos to organisation.
training of students from each client organisation in: software processes of the CMM, level 2 and how to implement them in a pilot project which will be begun in their own organisations during the training process; how to overcome resistance to change, present new ideas in acceptable ways, and help people work together to define and achieve goals
developing the training course in two steps: a kernel which is common to all, and language- or culture-unique components
EXPECTED IMPACT
The expected impact will be at several levels:
Increased awareness of the need for improved software processes will reach a broad spectrum of business managers in many countries through the initial meetings
Detailed knowledge of what an improved process looks like and how to achieve it will be instilled in the organisations who choose to benefit from the training programme
Students from all client organisations will meet and share their experiences at a final workshop where they can learn from each other
Linkages will be established for the ESSI training action organisations through participation in five workshops where techniques are shared and common problem solving can take place.
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
ACM - Preparatory, accompanying and support measuresCoordinator
94742 Arcueil
France