2nd International Workshop on Measurement-Based Cockpits for Distributed Software and Systems Engineering Projects (SOFTPIT 2008)

Abstract

In order to successfully conduct global development projects, one crucial success factor is the existence of well-specified and coordinated distributed development processes. Therefore, it is necessary to have efficient management and controlling mechanisms in place. Many companies are currently establishing so-called software cockpits for systematic quality assurance and management support. A software cockpit is comparable to an aircraft cockpit, which centrally integrates all relevant information for monitoring, controlling, and management purposes. In practice, a variety of simple dashboards approaches for project control exists. However, approaches supporting advanced management techniques and allowing for organization-wide data collection, interpretation, and visualization are rarely implemented. The goal of this workshop is to discuss techniques, methods, and tools for the measurement-based management of globally distributed software development projects and to share experiences among researchers and practitioners. Efficiently managing distributed development projects (multi-sited and multi-organizational) implies many challenges that need to be addressed by software engineering research. Typical research questions address the problems of how to cope with different cultures or heterogeneous organizational structures, platforms, measurement systems, and process maturities. Other research areas include the establishment of data security, transparency, confidence in integrated data and interpretation models, and well-coordinated development processes and interfaces.