Bootstrap: Four Years of Assessment Experience

The main characteristics of the Bootstrap method are described, i.e. the reference framework, the assessment procedure, the structure of the questionnaires and the rating and scoring mechanisms used. Experiences from over 40 sites and 180 projects are reported. Bootstrap proved to be a very efficient and effective means not only to assess the current status of software process quality but also to initiate appropriate improvement actions. The last part deals with future trends, i.e. the development of a common framework to perform software process assessments.