Improvement of task management with process models in small and medium software companies

Abstract

Small and medium software companies exhibit many special features that give reason for a dedicated approach to process improvement. They often cannot afford implementing maturity models or quality standards both in terms of time and money. Instead, they expect simpler solutions that can allow to run projects in more systematic and repeatable way, increase quality and knowledge management. In this paper, we present a method focused on improvement of task management using the process models. The method proposes the integration of modeling and task management tools, where models become templates of enacted projects. We applied the method in two case studies with SMEs, where sample process models were built and enacted in adapted task management tools, followed by a survey. The survey resulted in 82.5% of positive answers. The case studies show considerable potential of our method in solving some improvement problems of SMEs. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.