The PERFECT Handbook. Volume 2. Infrastructure Technologies

ESPRIT Project 9090 "PERFECT" has developed a measurement-based improvement approach that can be tailored to company-specific needs and characteristics. It integrates various operational methods for specific tasks of systematic process improvement as well as tool support for these tasks. The "PERFECT Improvement Approach" (PIA) is based on the Quality Improvement Paradigm (QIP) / Experience Factory (EF) and the principles of continuous improvement and organizational learning in the software domain. Important underlying infrastructure technologies are goal-oriented measurement, explicit modeling, and comprehensive reuse. This report is an edition of the main result from PERFECT, the PERFECT Handbook. The PERFECT Handbook consists of twelve parts, so-called "booklets". They are summarized in four volumes as a series of Fraunhofer IESE technical reports. The list of contents is presented in the table below. Part 1 Improvement Methodology: Handbook Introduction; PERFECT Improvement Approach; PIA Experience Factory - The PEF Model Part 2 Infrastructure Technologies: Goal-Oriented Measurement Using GQM; Process Modelling; Experience Base; Impact Analysis Part 3 Process Enactment: APEL - Abstract Process Engine Language; A platform for supporting the PERFECT methodology Part 4 Application of PERFECT: Launch of the Experience Factory; A PIA Scenario; Experiences with PIA This volume on "Infrastructure Technologies" contains the four Handbook parts that describe the methodological infrastructure needed when applying the PERFECT Improvement Approach. At different states of an improvement program, the individual infrastructure technologies are differently important. "Goal-oriented measurement using GQM" describes how an improvment programme can be built on and integrate measurement of empirical data on software products and processes. "Process modelling" describes an approach to elicitation and descriptive modeling of software development processes. "Experience base" addresses aspects of management and reuse of explicitly described software engineering experience. "Impact analysis" presents an approach to evaluate the impact of process changes to an established software development process.