Software Failure Analysis for High-Return Process Improvement Decisions

How do these steps differ from other popular methods for analyzing processes? One popular method is process assessments, for example, SEI (Software Engineering Institute) process assessments.1 Most assessments document peoples’ answers to subjective questions that are designed around somebody’s model of ideal software development practices. If such models are accurate and if peoples’ answers reflect reality, the models provide a good picture of an organization’s status. Thus, the results may or may not be timely, representative, or motivational.