Premium
A software maintenance methodology for small organizations: Agile_MANTEMA
Author(s) -
Pino Francisco J.,
Ruiz Francisco,
García Félix,
Piattini Mario
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of software: evolution and process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 2047-7481
pISSN - 2047-7473
DOI - 10.1002/smr.541
Subject(s) - agile software development , process management , process (computing) , software maintenance , software , engineering management , software development , computer science , engineering , software engineering , programming language , operating system
SUMMARY Software maintenance is an important, indeed vital, activity for software companies. For many organizations, including small firms, it is also a business opportunity. In the quest to help companies of this type, for whom strengthening their maintenance process is a chief concern, we present Agile_MANTEMA. This is a methodological proposal for software maintenance, one which focuses on small companies. The methodology defines an agile maintenance strategy, setting out in detail what is to be carried out, when, how and by whom; that is to say, it seeks to give a detailed guide for the implementation of the maintenance process in these kinds of companies. Agile_MANTEMA also establishes a set of elements, such as types of maintenance, service levels and capability levels, which aim to: (i) handle the complexity that is inherent to the maintenance process and (ii) allow a small company to define its own maintenance process, taking into account its particular characteristics and needs. In an effort to improve their maintenance process, two small firms conducted an improvement project in which Agile_MANTEMA was used. The experiences reported by these companies tell us that this methodology offers a strategy that can be useful, practical and suitable for small companies as they tackle software maintenance. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.