What are Software Process Improvement resources?

A supportive and effective infrastructure is required for facilitating the coordination of various activities that place during the course of the whole program. In addition to these qualities the infrastructure should be quite flexible so as to be able to support the changing demands of the software process improvement with time. 

Resources for this program include:

1. Infrastructure and building support
2. Sponsorship
3. Commitment
4. Baseline activities
5. Technologies
6. Coordinate training resources
7. Planning expertise
8. Baseline action plan and so on.

- When this program is initiated, a primitive infrastructure is put in to place for the management of the activities that would be carried out by the organization under SPI. 

- The resources mentioned above are also the initial accomplishments that tell how well the infrastructure has been performing. 

- It is the purpose of the infrastructure to establish a link between the program’s vision and mission, to monitor it and guide it and obtaining resources and allocating them.

- Once the SPI program, a number of improvement activities will be taking place across the different units of the organization. 

- These improvement activities cannot be performed serially rather they take place in parallel. 

- The configuration management, project planning, requirements management and reviews etc. are addressed by the TWGs (technical working groups). 

- But all these activities are tracked by the infrastructure.

- Support for the following issues must be provided by the infrastructure:

1. For a technology that is to be introduced.
2. Providing sponsorship
3. Assessment of the organization impact

- As the program progresses, the functions to be performed by the infrastructure increase. 

- There are 3 major components of the SPI program:

1. SEPG or software engineering process group
2. MSG or management steering group
3. TWG or technical work group

- It is third component from which most of the resources are obtained including:

1. Human resources
2. Finance
3. Manufacturing
4. Development

- However, the most important is the first one and is often called the process group. 

- It provides sustaining support for the SPI and reinforcing the sponsorship. 

- The second component i.e., the MSG charters the SEPG.

- This is actually a contract between the SEPG and the management of the organization. 

- Its purpose is to outline the roles and the responsibilities and not to forget the authority of the SEPG. 

- The third component is also known as the process improvement team or process action team. 

- Different work groups created focus on different issues of the SPI program. 

- A software engineering domain is addressed by the technical work group. 

- It is not necessary for the TWGs to address the technical domains; they can address issues such as software standardization, purchasing, travel reimbursement and so on. 

- The team usually consists of the people who have both knowledge and experiencing regarding the area under improvement. 

- The life of TWGs is however finite and is defined in the charter. 

- Once they complete their duties, they return back to their normal work. 

- In the early stages of SPI program, the TWGs might tend to underestimate the time that would be required for the completion of the objectives assigned to them. 

- So the TWGs have to request to the MSG for allotting them more time. 

- Another important component could be the SPIAC or software process improvement advisory committee. 

- This is created in organizations where there are multiple functioning SEPGs.