ROI of software process improvement at BL informática: SPIdex is really worth it

In today's global competitive environment, organizations are always trying to improve their practices aiming to achieve higher levels of productivity, quality and competitiveness. Software process improvement (SPIdex) is one of the most used approaches to achieve these goals. However, this kind of initiative is not easy, and usually great investments are necessary. Therefore, determining the return on these investments is very important to justify them and keep high-level management and project teams motivated for continuous improvement. In this article, we present quantitative results of return on investment (ROI) at BL Informatica, a Brazilian small-sized organization which is improving its processes since 2003 and is experiencing great success. We present the benefits regarding schedule, costs, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction and also financial benefits. Results show that investments in SPIdex really can pay off, as happened at BL Informatica. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.