Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Development of Customized Software Solutions: A Case Study in a Service-Oriented Company

Abstract

This paper presents the approach and results of an improvement project carried on by a company that provides business process outsourcing services based on customised software solutions. The critical objectives considered were to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes involved in developing customised solutions. Thus, the focus of this research was to identify problems in current processes and practices and develop possible solutions to improve. The processes were mapped, the inefficiencies were identified, and suggestions for improvements were presented and analysed. It was concluded that the main problems with the project management and software development processes are related to the lack of visibility of the team load, lack of standardisation and inefficient management processes. These causes result in problems such as IT being unable to plan work and problems associated with quality that negatively influence the lead time of projects. Therefore, suggestions for improvement were formulated and prioritised to address each of these aspects. A more agile approach to software development and redesigning the processes for creating customised solutions were the solutions developed. There was also a need to develop the existing project management software changes to adapt it to these changes.