Abstract: ISO 14143-1 specifies that a functional size measurement (FSM) method must provide measurement procedures to quantify the functional user requirements (FURs) of software. Such quantitative information, functional size, is typically used, for instance, in software estimation. One of the international standards for FSM is the COSMIC FSM method — ISO 19761 — which was designed to be applied both to the business application (BA) software domain and to the real-time software domain. A recurrent problem in FSM is the availability and quality of the inputs required for measurement purposes; that is, well documented FURs. Business process (BP) models, as they are commonly used to gather requirements from the early stages of a project, could be a valuable source of information for FSM. In a previous article, the feasibility of such an approach for the BA domain was analyzed using the Qualigram BP modeling notation. This paper complements that work by: (1) analyzing the use of BPMN for FSM in the BA domain; (2) presenting notation-independent guidelines for the BA domain; and (3) analyzing the possibility of using BP models to perform FSM in the real-time domain. The measurement results obtained from BP models are compared with those of previous FSM case studies.
Abstract: Business process models have proved to be useful for requirements elicitation. Since software development depends on the quality of the requirements specifications, generating high-quality business process models is therefore critical. A key factor for achieving this is the expressiveness in terms of completeness and clarity of the modeling notation for the domain being modeled. The Bunge-Wand-Weber (BWW) representation model is frequently used for assessing the expressiveness of business process modeling notations. This article presents some propositions to adapt the BWW representation model to allow its application to the software requirements elicitation domain. These propositions are based on the analysis of the Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) and the Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK). The propositions are validated next by experts in business process modeling and software requirements elicitation. The results show that the BWW representation model requires to be specialized by including concepts specific to software requirements elicitation.
Abstract: Business process (BP) models can be useful for requirements elicitation, among other uses. Software development is dependent on the quality of the requirements elicitation activities; therefore, it is critical to adequately model the BPs. One key factor for achieving this is the active participation of all the stakeholders and the development of a shared vision of the BPs. Unfortunately; organizations often end up with inconsistent BPs not covering all stakeholders’ needs and constraints. The use of multiple levels of abstraction (MLA) may facilitate the consolidation of various stakeholders’ requirements. This article contributes to the research of using MLA in business process modeling (BPM) for software requirements by reviewing the theoretical foundations of MLA and their use in various BP-oriented approaches.
Abstract: Business process models (BPM) can be useful for requirements elicitation, among other uses. Since the active participation of all stakeholders is a key factor for successful requirements engineering, it is important that BPM be shared by all stakeholders. Unfortunately, organizations may end up with inconsistent BPM not covering all stakeholders’ needs and constraints. The use of multiple levels of abstraction (MLA), such as at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, is often used in various process-oriented initiatives to facilitate the consolidation of various stakeholders’ needs and constraints. This article surveys the use of MLA in recent BPM research publications and reports on a BPM action-research case study conducted in a Canadian organization, with the aim of exploring the usefulness of the strategic level.
Abstract: Functional size measurement (FSM) is an important component of a software project, as it provides information for estimating the effort required to develop the measured software. For planning purposes, FSM should be performed during the early stages of the project. Considering that a common use of business process models is to gather requirements from the early stages of the project, this raises the opportunity that a business process model could be a valuable source of informa-tion for FSM.
This paper analyzes the feasibility of such an approach for the business application domain, including the derivation of the modeling rules for measurement purposes and the rules to map the modeling constructs of a business process modeling lan-guage into the COSMIC FSM method concepts. The results are compared with those of a previous FSM case study.
Abstract: Abstract—Evidence shows that proposals for new modeling notations emerge and evolution of current ones are becoming more complex, often in an attempt to satisfy the many different modeling perspectives required by each stakeholder. This paper presents a method to identify the specific notation construct requirements, at multiple levels of abstraction, which satisfy the needs of a stakeholder when performing a specific task. Initially the focus is on two different stakeholders: software engineers (SE) and business analysts (BA), and one specific software engineering activity: requirements eliciting and analysis. The specific body of knowledge of the two stakeholders (Software Engineering Book of Knowledge (SWEBOK) for the SE, and Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) for the BA) are used to identify each stakeholder specific notation construct requirements, at multiple levels of abstraction, in order to propose a simplification of their notation and constructs set. This paper presents solution avenues to simplify business
process modeling notations by identifying the specific constructs preferred by different stakeholders.
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