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A Case Study in Software Maintenance


Title: A Case Study in Software Maintenance

Author(s): Alan W. Brown, Alan M. Christie, Susan A. Dart

Number: CMU/SEI-93-TR-8 ESC-TR-93-185

Abstract: In an effort to find out more about the tools, procedures, and techniques project personnel use in their work, the Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Environments Project interviewed personnel in eight software maintenance projects within an agency of the U.S. government. These interviews highlighted problems that we believe are typical of many software maintenance organizations (i.e., the need for more effective software maintenance tools, lack of communication between individuals working on similar projects, low status of maintenance personnel, and lack of a design-for- maintenance philosophy during the software development phase). This report highlights the findings of these interviews, provides our analysis of the findings, and makes recommendations directed at the agency for improvement in the areas of tools, people, and process. We believe that what we observed is very typical of the state of the practice in these areas and as such that this report and its recommendations are applicable to other large or small software maintenance projects.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • The Interviews
  • Summary and Analysis of Findings and Recommendations
    • Summary of Findings
    • Summary of Recommendations
    • Successes
  • How to Use Our Findings and Recommendations
    • Developing an Improvement Plan
    • Outline of an Improvement Plan
  • Summary and Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments

  • Appendix A: Detailed Findings and Recommendations
    • Reverse Engineering and Re-Engineering Tools
    • Testing
    • Configuration Management
    • Documentation
    • CASE Tools
    • CASE Tool Integration
    • Tooling for Maintenance and for New Software Development
    • Sharing Knowledge of Tools
    • Training of Technical Personnel
    • Maintenance Teams
    • Contractor Management
    • Corporate Culture
    • Corporate Communications
    • Quality Assurance and Standards
    • Hardware

  • Appendix B: Recommended Reading
    • Addressing Quality
    • Addressing Risk
    • Addressing Technology Transition
    • Addressing Process Improvement
    • CASE Tools
    • Configuration Management Issues
    • CASE Tool Integration
Postscript Acrobat scm home
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University.

Copyright 2007 by Carnegie Mellon University
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URL: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/legacy/scm/abstracts/abssw_maint_case_study_TR08_93.html
Last Modified: 11 January 2007