This document discusses the Avaya Resource Center for Software Technology (ARC) and its goals of improving Avaya's software development practices and measuring software trends. ARC aims to assess Avaya's current software processes, introduce new technologies, and help build software competence. Key metrics ARC tracks include product innovation, customer understanding, testing automation, and predictability. ARC provides regular reports and dashboards to Avaya executives on software metrics and recommendations for improvement at both the project and organizational levels. The goals are to enhance Avaya's time to market, quality, and reduce costs through continuous software process innovation.

1.
INSIDE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
David Weiss*, Audris Mockus, John Palframan, Randy
Hackbarth, Zhou Minghui, et al
{audris,palframan,randyh@avaya.com},
weiss@iastate.edu, zhmh@sei.pku.edu.cn
* Lanh & Oanh Nguyen Professor of Software Engineering
Iowa State University
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2. Motivation: Applications
Edison Pasteur
Bohr
Motivation: Science
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3. Avaya Resource Center for Software Technology (ARC)
Business Value Vision: Make Software a Strategic Weapon for
Improve State of the Practice in Avaya Software Avaya.
Development and Know It
Software is critical to
Improved time to market, and software quality and Avaya’s products and to
decreased software cost keeping its customers happy
and expanding its market
Approach place.
Assess the current state of software in Avaya, identifying The Avaya code base
common problems, create action plans, create dashboards tripled between 2000 and
and report on status to Avaya executives. 2006 (see graph)
Investigate and Introduce new software technology and
adapt industry proven techniques to improve Avaya’s
software production processes
Help build a community of software competence in Avaya Selected Deliverables and Milestones (2008)
Continually improve our approaches of partnering with Tailored software improvement programs
Avaya organizations Iterative Development Effectiveness in Avaya
Key Avaya Software Trends Predictability Report Update
Cross-division arch reviews (define/participate)
Legend
Automated Build
Management
No change
in 2007
Test Forum
High Improving in
2007
Report on 2008 State of Avaya Software
Product Innovation Worsening in
Contact
Effectiveness
2007
Product
Understanding of
Customers by R&D
Management and
R&D Teaming
ARC: David Weiss, weiss@avaya.com
Opportunities for R&D Staff Program and
to Enhance Skills
Component Integration
and Reuse
Architects’ role
Measurement and
Project
Management
Web site: http://inside.research.avayalabs.com/arc/index.html
Dashboard
and process
Tracking
Iterative
Development Multi-site
Development Quality Focused
Testing(*) Sample –
Process Innovation
Test
Cross Product House
Cooperation
Software
Development Avaya R&D
is Driving
Customer-Focused Automation (*)
Deployment of CTO R&D Cost Predictability
Development Process Standards Tracking
Low
Down
Front End Planning
Customer
Affecting
(*) There are separate arrows for Test
Automation and Testing Problems
Low High
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4. One Year Trends
All Critical Areas
Legend
Automated Build No change
Management in 2007
High Improving in
2007
Product Innovation Worsening in
Effectiveness
2007
Product
Understanding of
Management and
Customers by R&D
R&D Teaming
Opportunities for R&D Staff Program and
Component Integration Architects’ role Project
to Enhance Skills and Reuse Measurement and
and process Management
Tracking
Iterative
Development Multi-site Testing(*)
Process Innovation Development Quality Focused
Cross Product House Software
Test Cooperation Development
Customer-Focused Automation (*)
Deployment of CTO R&D Cost Predictability
Development Process Standards Tracking
Low
Front End Planning
(*) There are separate arrows for Test
Automation and Testing
Low High
Usage
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5. Summary
Find problems of fundamental interest and of importance to the country
– Estimate parameters and their measures important to business
• Customer satisfaction, predictability, time and resources needed to create
products
Estimate capabilities and needs to understand areas for improvement
• What problems do we need to solve to improve?
• What is the impact of introducing new technology, methods?
Personal, Business, Country, World
Evaluate progress on a regular basis in a consistent way
– For particular projects
• When will it be ready? How many architects, developers, testers will we
need?
– For the entire organization
• Are we improving? In what areas do we need to improve? What are recommendations
for improvement?
Characteristics of industrial measurement
• Change data as a key information source
• Automatibility, nonintrusiveness
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