Critical success factors for software process improvement implementation: an empirical study

In this article, we present findings from our recent empirical study of the critical success factors (CSFs) for software process improvement (SPI) implementation with 34 SPI practitioners. The objective of this study is to provide SPI practitioners with sufficient knowledge about the nature of issues that play a positive role in the implementation of SPI programmes in order to assist them in effectively planning SPI implementation strategies. Through our empirical study we identified seven factors (higher management support, training, awareness, allocation of resources, staff involvement, experienced staff and defined SPI implementation methodology) that are generally considered critical for successfully implementing SPI. We also report on a literature survey of CSFs that impact SPI and identify six factors (senior management commitment, staff involvement, staff time and resources, training and mentoring, creating process action teams and reviews). We compared our empirical study results with the literature and confirmed the factors identified in the literature, and also identified two new CSFs (SPI awareness and defined SPI implementation methodology) that were not identified in the literature. Finally, we analyzed the CSFs identified by different groups of practitioners and found that they are aware of what is imperative for the successful implementation of SPI programmes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.