Uma proposta de guia de referência para provedores de software como um serviço

Web applications are developed using open models, like the ServiceOriented Architecture, which eases design, development and integration between systems. A business model within this context is SaaS (Software as a Service), which establishes a way for offering software, on demand, by Internet. The SaaS market has been continually growing and attracting providers from various segments of the global IT market, as well as a diverse set of clients. The adoption of the SaaS model introduces significant organizational, cultural, and technological challenges, requiring solutions that encompass the whole SaaS picture. One current problem is the lack of information concerning the quality of services offered by providers, which hampers the hiring process. One solution is to assess the provider’s software development process in order to gather information regarding the quality of its services, thus yielding more confidence in the hiring decisions. This solution, however, entails an underpinning model for such assessments. Companies could be required to employ specific software process reference models or other known standards. But they are general and geared towards traditional systems, and for that reason are deficient in the SaaS deployment environment. This work presents a proposal for the development of a reference guide for assessing service providers in the SaaS model. In order to accomplish this proposal, quality requirements that providers should meet were elicited. After having been summarized and analyzed, the requirements were mapped to existing standards and reference models. From this mapping, a reference guide proposal for the evaluation of the software development process practiced by SaaS providers was produced.