Value-Based Software Engineering for Small Business

该项目由“研究中心-小型企业协同研发”计划支持。该研究涉及软件工程研究中心（SERC）和Timberline软件公司（位于俄勒冈州比弗顿的一家小公司）之间的联合研究。软件工程研究中心是一个总部位于普渡大学的IUCRC，包括俄勒冈大学和波特兰州立大学作为附属机构。这项工作包括一个研究部分，随后是一个验证和技术转让部分，并基于SERC正在开发的基于价值的软件工程（VBSE）方法。VBSE系统地寻求将关键的软件架构设计决策与受这些决策影响的业务目标联系起来；它汇集了最近在客户价值分析（CVA）、软件架构以及过程建模和改进方面的工作。这项工作的目标是开发并验证一组轻量级的分析和软件开发过程，这些过程允许小型企业软件开发人员系统地从对战略业务目标的理解转移到长期支持这些目标的软件体系结构。VBSE试图提供一个系统的过程来分析客户价值，根据体系结构质量需求来分析结果，然后开发满足这些需求的体系结构。新的体系结构分析技术将支持验证结果设计与业务目标之间的匹配。在当前的研究中，合作者将为小型企业软件开发开发一个过程模型和方法，该模型和方法集成了来自软件工程的先进产品线和体系结构技术，以及客户价值工程的业务管理规程。Timberline将提供现实问题，在现实环境中验证方法，并就方法的有效性向项目提供反馈。这项工作的产品将包括模型过程、产品，以及适用于小型商业软件开发人员以及SERC的工业附属机构的标准。为了支持俄勒冈州在软件工程教育方面的主动性，例如俄勒冈大学的软件工程硕士课程，该项目还将开发描述过程和结果的教育材料。这个项目有潜力成为全国优秀研究中心-小型公司合作研发的典范。

MathurEEC-9905789This project is supported under the initiative on "Research Centers - Small Firms Collaborative R&D." The study concerns joint research between the Software Engineering Research Center (SERC), an IUCRC headquartered at Purdue University that includes the University of Oregon and Portland State University as affiliates, and Timberline Software Corp., a small firm located in Beaverton, OR. The work involves a research component followed by a validation and technology transfer component, and is based on the Value-Based Software Engineering (VBSE) approach being developed by SERC. VBSE systematically seeks to link critical software architecture design decisions to the business goals affected by those decisions; it brings together recent work in Customer Value Analysis (CVA), software architecture, and process modeling and improvement. The goal of the work is to develop and validate a set of lightweight analysis and software development processes that allow small-business software developers to move systematically from an understanding of strategic business goals to a software architecture that supports those goals over the long term. VBSE seeks to provide a systematic process for analyzing customer value, casting the results in terms of architectural quality requirements, and then developing architectural structures that satisfy those requirements. New architectural analysis techniques will support verification of the match between the resulting design and business goals. In th ecurrent study, the collaborators will develop a process model and methodology for small business software development that integrates advanced product-line and architecture technologies from software engineering, with the business administration discipline of customer value engineering. Timberline will provide realistic problems, validate the methods in a realistic setting, and provide feedback to the project on the effectiveness of the approach. Products of this effort will include model processes, products, and metrics applicable to a broad class of small-business software developers as well as SERC's industrial affiliates. To support Oregon's state initiatives in software engineering education, such as the University of Oregon's Master of Software Engineering program, the project will also develop educational materials describing the process and results. This project has the potential to serve as a national model of excellence in research centers - small firms collaborative R&D.