Concepts for evolving software processes

Software processes are complex entities that may last for long periods of time and are carried out through the interaction of humans and computerised tools. They need to continuously evolve in order to cope with di erent kinds of changes or customisations both in the organisation and in the technologies used to support software production activities. In recent years, many software process technologies have been developed, and have currently been further extended and used in trial projects. Moreover, some research prototypes have generated commercial products, that are marketed and currently used in industrial organisations. Despite these signi cant e orts and results, however, there is still little conceptual characterisation and assessment of the properties of software processes and related support environments. It is di cult to compare and assess existing approaches. Even a common characterisation of the problems to be addressed seems to be problematic and di cult to achieve. This is particularly true when we consider software process evolution, for which it seems that an agreed-upon and satisfactory solution has not been established yet. Dept. of Computer Systems and Telematics, NTH, N-7034 Trondheim, Norway. Tel.: +47-73-593444, Fax: +47-73-594466, E-Mail: conradi@idt.unit.no. CAP Gemini Innovation, 7 Chemin du Vieux Chene, F-38240 Meylan, France. Tel.: +33-76-764720, Fax: +33-76-764748, E-Mail: christer@capsogeti.fr. Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy. Tel.: +39-2-239.93623, Fax: +39-2-239.93411, E-Mail: Alfonso.Fuggetta@mailer.cefriel.it.