A Business Case for Software Process Improvement

There is substantial evidence that a successful software process improvement (SPI) project will result in improvements in productivity, quality, schedule, and business value. There is also evidence that most SPI projects fail. This paper will present evidence gathered from published studies of successful projects that sheds light on the impact of SPI projects in terms of productivity, quality, cost and return. It will also discuss the risks associated with SPI projects and how they can be mitigated. We will argue that high returns are possible for SPI projects if known risks are mitigated