SUPPORT DISCIPLINES FOR SYSTEMS

DEVELOPMENT IN SMEs

A Conceptual Map

Luis E. Mendoza, María Pérez, Edumilis Méndez

Processes and Systems Department, Simón Bolívar University,Caracas, Venezuela

Wilfredo Báez

Systems Development Department, Quimbiotec C.A., IVIC, Caracas, Venezuela

Keywords: Project management, Software configuration Management, Methodology, Conceptual model.

Abstract: Both software configuration management (SCM) and project management (PM) involve applying knowl-

edge, skills, tools and techniques which support the development of software systems (SS). Developing an

effective project management plan, which minimizes risks and restrictions inherent to the project, becomes

more difficult as time goes on. Achieving an effective balance between the scope, timeframe, and costs as-

sociated with the project is also a complex task. This task is equally challenge for the small and medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs). SCM is a powerful tool for the administration and control of the life cycle of the

SS, and it is linked to the process of quality assurance. This article presents the first results of an ongoing

research whose purpose is to develop a framework which incorporates the methodological aspects of PM

and SCM for SMEs. The first step for the design of this framework was to build a conceptual model that

would be used as a systemic vision of the semantic basis to unify and support the relationships between

these concepts.

1 INTRODUCTION

In Venezuela, small and medium-sized enterprises

(SMEs) represent more than 13% of the gross na-

tional product (GNP) and employ 55% of the active

population. Taking as a reference the private sector

alone, SMEs generate 77% of the jobs in that sector.

There are around 1.3 million micro-companies and

about 68,000 SMEs in Venezuela. It is a fact that the

micro and SMEs represent an essential contributor to

our society (Erard, 1999). An important number of

these businesses deal with the software systems (SS)

development. However, currently there is not a

framework which incorporates methodological as-

pects in SCM and PM and that can be used in the

context of the SMEs. This research-in-progress pre-

sents a conceptual model that illustrates and inter-

relates the main concepts of project management

(PM) and software configuration management

(SCM), the SS methodologies and the SMEs. The

model will function as the basis for the conception

and development of a framework would help SMEs

to generate high-quality products that give these

industries a competitive edge over the broad corpo-

rative SS developers. The methodology used to build

the conceptual model entailed using ontology format

proposed by (Noy and McGuinness, 2001) for creat-

ing ontologies. Due to space limitations, this article

only presents the results of step defining the classes

and hierarchies.

2 CONCEPTUAL MODEL

2.1 SMEs

According to (Bolaños, 2006), the SMEs have the

following characteristics: (1) they are a family com-

ponent, (2) they lack formality, (3) their cash flow is

insufficient and, (4) they exhibit solvency problems.

In general, SMEs have limited access to the credit,

to providers, to the government, to technology and

to other resources. The human resource is a funda-

mental element when undertaking on a project; hav-

199

E. Mendoza L., Pérez M., Méndez E. and Báez W. (2008).

SUPPORT DISCIPLINES FOR SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT IN SMEs - A Conceptual Map.

In Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - ISAS, pages 199-202

DOI: 10.5220/0001678301990202

 SciTePress

ing skilled personnel may make the difference be-

tween the success and failure of the PM. All of these

factors may affect SMEs if they do not possess the

necessary tools to realize a project in an adequate

fashion. Finally, SMEs limited access to the market

means that they lack elements that allow would al-

low them to compete for the acquisition of contract

for project elaboration. Those SMEs which special-

ize in the SS development must focus on elements

that set them apart from other companies in the mar-

ket (Datanalisis, 2003). In Venezuela there are more

than 500 SS companies; 90% of them are Venezue-

lan-owned. SMEs mainly focus on the development

of tailored projects and /or commercial applications.

In 2003 the SS industry in Venezuela generated

profits of more than $200,000 million (Datanalisis,

2003). In order to be competitive SMEs may apply

a set of strategies including a methodology of SS

development that falls within the scope of the

aforementioned limitations, and which allows them

to generate quality products that can be recognized

on the market, helping them to captivate a niche in

such a competitive market.

2.2 Development Methodologies

System development methodologies standardize the

process of development defining a set of activities,

methods, better practices and automated tools, which

system developers and project managers must use to

continually develop and improve SS (Whitten,

2004). This definition is similar to the one proposed

by (Laudon and Laudon, 2004) which establishes

that a development methodology is a collection of

one or more methods for each activity during each

one of the phases of development of a project. We

can establish a relation between PM and SCM and

the principles of the development methodologies, so

that one can visualize the importance of both Man-

agement concepts when it comes to optimizing com-

petitiveness for the SMEs. Table 1 shows the catego-

ries of the principles indicated by (Whitten, 2004) in

relation to PM or SCM respectively, and their im-

portance within the development methodologies

context. The SS development methodologies widely

known like RUP, UP, and, agile methodologies as

SCRUM and XP, among others, normally require a

great amount of resources to be implemented. This is

the reason for which is not so simple to implant

them in the SMEs. Taking into account this reality,

in the future work section will settle down a draft of

the steps to follow to propose methodological as-

pects to the PM and SCM disciplines, to facilitate

their adoption by SMEs.

Table 1: Classification of methodology principles accord-

ing to their relationship to PM and SCM.

PM SCM

•

Involve owners and users

• Use problem resolution focus

• Establish phases and activities

• Document during the whole devel-

opment process

• Establish standards

• Manage processes and projects

• Justify systems as capital invest-

ment

• Monitor Project scope

• Apply divide and conquer philoso-

phy

• Document the

whole develop-

ment

• Establish stan-

dards

• Manage processes

and projects

• Apply the divide

and conquer phi-

losophy

• Design System

that grow and

change

2.3 PM

Project managers must not only attempt to find the

adequate scope, timeframe, cost and quality; they

must also meet the needs and expectations of the

people involved or affected by the project’s devel-

opment. In order to do this, project managers must

develop a set of skills and competencies that are

outlined in the (PMBOK, 2004) as the areas of

knowledge of project management. There are a total

of 9, and are listed next: (1) project integration

management (2) project scope management, (3)

project time management, (4) project cost man-

agement, (5) project quality management, (6) of

project human resource management, (7) project

communications management, (8) project risks

management and, (9) project supplies management.

The most relevant areas for the SMEs are high-

lighted in bold font above. SMEs must be especially

careful with those disciplines that relate with re-

sources of any kind, be it, human, time, or financial.

This is due to the SMEs limitations regarding access

to these resources. In the case of SMEs specialized

in the SS development (our interest), one may say

that they are able to undertake any of the diverse

kinds of SS development. However, some cases they

may not have access to the necessary resources in

order to finalize big and complex projects. SCM also

plays in important role in SS development as tools to

manage and control the life cycle of the systems’

development. It is closely linked to the process of SS

quality assurance. SCM is essential in the develop-

ment of IT projects. These kinds of projects often

deviate from their original planning, mainly by the

increasing complexity of the SS, the increasing de-

mand of them, and the changing nature of SS devel-

opment projects. These deviations may occur for

different reasons, including variations in the original

requirements. Users may need the product sooner

ICEIS 2008 - International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems

200

than originally scheduled, which means that the pro-

ject must be completed in a rush. These factors have

an impact on the final results of the project. SCM

helps manage the changes that may arise during the

development process.

2.4 SCM

The SWEBOK (IEEE, 2004) defines SCM as the

discipline which identifies the configuration of SS at

different points in time, with the purpose of system-

atically controlling the changes of configuration,

while maintaining integrity and traceability through

the life cycle of the system. This area of knowledge

consists of six sub-areas (1) SCM planning of the,

(2) identifying the SS’s configuration, (3) control

of the SS’s configuration, (4) version control, (5)

status of the SS configuration and, (6) SS configura-

tion audit. The areas that are most relevant have

been previously highlighted. It is important that

SMEs be able to perform the activities related to

SCM because the SCM process is closely linked to

assurance of quality, and this is crucial when it

comes to certifying that the product functions prop-

erly and in accordance to the established specifica-

tions. About standards we must emphasize the ITIL

(Infrastructure Library) to build a frame-work for IT

management services (OGC, 2006). In the case of

SS development SMEs, it is recommen-ded to per-

form a processes group implementation that con-

templates: Change/Configuration/Version.

3 SHARED CONCEPTS MODEL

Fig. 1 shows the proposed global conceptual model,

build upon the basis of the information previously

presented. The model in Fig. 1 underlines the fact

we incorporated the ontology proposal for SCM pre-

sented by (Barraza, 2005). The elements of this pro-

posal are represented in medium-grey.

4 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE

WORK

In this document we have studied the characteristics

of SMEs, PM, SCM, the influence of SCM on the

development process and, finally, the concept and

characteristics of development methodologies. This

study is documented in conceptual map, using the

UML 2.0 notation. Once we have clearly understood

these concepts, we possess the basis to determine

which particular characteristics are important to the

process of SS development for SMEs. After we have

developed the conceptual model, it is convenient to

consider the following question: Which characteris-

tics must the methodology for the SS development

posses to help SMEs optimize their development

processes? In order to answer this question, (a) we

estimate to study the most important existing devel-

opment methodologies, (b) we shall verify their

characteristics in order to determine whether it is

plausible to implement them on SMEs, and (c) we

shall make especial emphasis on determining how

these methodologies implement SCM and PM, i.e.

which roles, activities and tools are used to imple-

ment those concepts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was supported by National Fund of

Science, Technology and Innovation, Venezuela,

under contract S1-2005000165.

REFERENCES

Barraza, M., 2005. Gerencia de Configuración de Softwa-

re en el Modelo Sistémico de Calidad, System Engi-

neering MSc. Thesis. Simón Bolívar University.

Bolaños, R., 2006. La PYME, motor de desarrollo [On-

line]. Available in: http://www.pyme.com.mx/articulos

-de-pyme/muestra-articulo-datos.php?registro=64

[Consulted: 2007, May 10]

Datanalisis, 2003. Estudio de la Ind. del Software en Ve-

nezuela. [On-line]. Available in:

http://www.datanalisis.com.ve/detalle.asp?id=155&pla

ntilla=14 [Consulted: 2007, July 25]

Erard, P., 1999. Fundes Venezuela Un apoyo para las

pequeñas y medianas empresas los obstáculos a su de-

sarrollo. [On-line]. Available in:

http://www.pyme.com.mx/articulos-de-pyme/muestra-

articulo-datos.php?registro=50 [Consulted: 2007,

May 10]

IEEE, 2004.Guide to the Software Engineering Body of

Knowledge. SWEBOK.

Laudon, J.P., Laudon, K.C., 2004. Essentials of manage-

ment information systems, 6th edition, Englewood

Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Noy, N., McGuinness, D., 2001. Ontology Development

101: A Guide to Creating Your First Ontology. Pro-

tege Documentation. Stanford University.

OGC Office of Government Commerce, 2006. Service

Management - ITIL® (IT Infrastructure Library).

PMBOK, 2004. A Guide to the Project Management Body

of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). 3rd edition.

Whitten, J., 2004. Systems analysis and design methods,

Sixth Edition. Mc Graw Hill.

SUPPORT DISCIPLINES FOR SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT IN SMEs - A Conceptual Map

201

Standars and certifications

IT Projec ts

Meta Database

Standars

Artefacts

USCMVSS

PV CSCV S

Me tr ic s

Quality of the s of tw are

Simple

Complex

Controlled

Dynamic

Static

Duplic ate d

concept of

Barraza (2005)

Taken ok the

ontology of SCM

Barraza (2005)

Duplic ate d

concept

Unique

Purpose

Cus to mer

Cos tScopeTime

Human s

Financial

Patterns

Documents

Lines of code

Rec eiv ed

committee of change

Completed

Approved

Solicitude of chance

manages

Serv ice/Help

Des k

In c id en t

Management

Problem

Ma na ge me nt

Network

Pa tt e rns

Assigned

State

Planning

Design systems for

grow th and chance

Skills

Tools

Procurement

SSCM Plan

Of the product

Configuration elements

Mensuration

Use

Baseline

apply

Auditing

Volume of

sales

Number of

Workers

Lack Cash

Flow

Lack

Formality

Temporary

D.B.

Work spaces

they are applied

Apply changes

Identif ication

Storage

Justify information systems as

capital investments

Factors of

Ris k

Standars PM

Integration Quality

Techniques

are possessed in the

Commnunications

Applic ations

Management

IEEE82 8 -9 8

Infrastructure

Management

DOD-STD-2167A

Role

Procedures

and political

Of the process

configuration elements

identify

locate

Rele as es

Database

They are classified in

Status

SCM

Standars

Actividades

realize

apply

Quality assurance

Metadata

Determinate

Tools

use

produce information

Security

Ma na ge me nt

Planning to Implement

Service Management

The Business

Perspective

Service

Deliv ery

Change

Management

Project

it contemplates

Changing

Infrastructure

Control of versions

they are generated

Subareas SCM of smaller

emphasis for the SME

Cont rol

apply

SCM

facilitate

and guide

it contributes to

Use a problem-solving

approach

Project Management

manages

Planifica Actividades para cumplir

facilitate the

Ris k

Know ledge

Areas

Smaller emphasis for

the SME

IEEE1 042-87

Service

Support

Res ou rc es

Certifications of softw are

development

Development

Subareas SCM of

more emphasis

Systems development methodology

they propiatiate, allow

incorporate

Standarize the

Bigger emphasis for

the SME

ITIL

SME

Possesses Limited

Offer

competitive

advantages

apply to

Help to generate

products of quality

It is implemented

Solvency

Problems

Family

Component

Es t ab li s h

standars

Document throughout

development

Get the system

users involved

Establish phases and

activities

Manage the process and

projects

Divide and

conquer

Rev ise

scope

Figure 1: Conceptual Model Proposed for SCM and PM in the context of SMEs.

ICEIS 2008 - International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems

202