Delphi study of software maintenance problems

The delphi technique was used to compile a list of major problems in software maintenance, quantify them, and strengthen the consensus in iterations. We have also just installed delphi 2009 and it does seem to have improved the support for typelibraries. Using the delphi expert consensus method in mental health. This article provides rigorous guidelines for the process of selecting appropriate experts. We demonstrate it every day to our customers, employees, investors, suppliers and the places we call home. Intervention study to improve life and care for people.

Most problems that are associated with software maintenance can be traced to deficiencies of the software development process. It another way of saying that usually people come up with better solutions to problems if they have other people to. The software maintenance cost has risen to 70% of the data processing budget in some corporations. The method entails a group of experts who anonymously reply to questionnaires and subsequently receive feedback in the form of a statistical representation of the group response, after which the process repeats itself. The delphi method has proven a popular tool in information systems research for identifying and prioritizing issues for managerial decisionmaking. The systems are maintained by the persons who are not original authors. Maintaining and supporting the software of an organization is not an easy task, and software maintainers do. I would agree its pretty buggy and is all the way up to delphi 2006 our version prior to using 2009. Which factors affect software projects maintenance cost more. Ever heard the expression two heads are better than one. Development and maintenance of information systems.

Electronic health records ehrs have the potential to greatly improve quality, yet little is known about their costs and benefits in ambulatory care, especially in solo or small group practices. Software maintenance expert system smxpert measuring the use of the knowledge base. A study in software maintenance june 1993 technical report susan a. After over 30 years of combined software defect analysis performed by ourselves and colleagues, we have identified 20 common software problems. Software maintenance involves making such changes to existing software. Software maintenance decision support system proceedings. In another study, the relative costs of maintenance and software development management were estimated more than 90% of the total cost of the software life 9, 10. The trend is that the maintenance problem will continue to.

Energy efficiency and reduction of energy demand are key points for an initial approach to preserving the fragility of the planet. Delphi study of software maintenance problems, international conference on software maintenance csm 1992 1992 ieee. Lean methods is a worldclass global firm specializing in solving todays toughest business problems. Is there a good online tool for doing delphitype polling. This report presents the results of interviews between case environments project team members and personnel in eight software maintenance projects within an agency of the u. The primary objectives of the third delphi round were 1 to assess the risk posed by each of the top ten food safety problems by food sector and facility size and 2 to determine the types of. Maintenance software free download maintenance top 4. However i have worked with com and type libraries for quite some time and here are my general gotchas that i have found over the years. The specific needs of the smaller computer user for software maintenance are discussed. Outsource software maintenance and support services fws.

This paper documents and analyzes an existing, moderate size, software maintenance project. Delphi is an integrated development environment ide for rapid application development of desktop, mobile, web, and console software, currently developed and maintained by embarcadero technologies which uses an eventdriven programming language based on object pascal. I am sure this may sound a bit silly to some, but it is just the truth. Technical report, norwegian institute of technology, department of computer science and. Thus, a general population, or even a narrow subset of a general population, might not be sufficiently knowledgeable to answer the questions accurately. In this study, the factors affecting software maintenance cost were determined then were ranked based on their priority and after that effective ways to reduce the maintenance costs were presented. The delphi method is a forecasting process framework based on the results of multiple rounds of questionnaires sent to a panel of experts. Embracing security in all phases of the software development life. The update subscription provides maintenance updates and upgrades for that license at a fraction of the cost of a new license. Maintenance of a delphibased scanning and document. The following steps outline how to undertake a delphi study. In this context, the complex of ram factors constitute a strategic approach for integrating reliability, availability and maintainability, by using methods, tools and engineering techniques mean time to failure, equipment down time and system availability values to identify and quantify equipment and system failures that prevent the. Icsm international conference on software maintenance. These common software problems appear in a wide variety of applications and environments, but are especially prone to be seen in dirty systems.

The quality of questionnaire based software maintenance. The major areas of concern are seen to be preventative maintenance, system backup and recovery. Lindemans 1975 frequently cited and pioneering use of delphi to determine clinical nursing research priorities has been repli. Delphis use as a tool for solving problems in health care settings is well recognized fink et al. The value of electronic health records in solo or small. The questions that a delphi study investigates are those of high uncertainty and speculation. The 20 most common software problems general testing. Problems and solutions in software maintenance sciencedirect. Background of the study 2 statement of the problem 4 purpose of the study 4 rationale. The delphi technique is a method used to estimate the likelihood and outcome of future events. Some of the crucial factors contributing to the software maintenance problems are identified and discussed and some management and technical solutions to the pressing problems are proposed.

Everything we do is grounded in proven, researchbased methodologies designed to ensure a highly collaborative experience that results in extraordinary, sustainable results. The software maintenance and support services we offer are affordable because we believe in. This paper reports findings from two studies, carried out at a large norwegian maintenance organisation, investigating the quality of questionnaire based software maintenance studies. Where focus groups purposely use group dynamics to generate debate on a topic, delphi methods maintain anonymity of the participants, even after the study. Implementation problems and third party support are considered. Delphi technique is usually conducted through questionnaires. Delphi trusted for over 23 years, our modern delphi is the preferred choice of object pascal developers worldwide for. Problems during maintenance difficult to have the persons, who were constructed the program the program is changed by person, who did not understand it clearly program listings are not structured to suppose reading for comprehension. A large number of factors potentially affecting software maintenance productivity were. These models include analog models such as the delphi method or. White paper defining optimal palliative care in older.

A study in software maintenance sei digital library. What is the easiestmost effective way to learn delphi. Software production and maintenance issues, costs estimation, project schedule. Intervention study to improve life and care for people with dementia and their caregivers in primary care delphi the safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Practice management software for the mental health care professional. In proceedings of conference on software maintenance, november 912, 1992, orlando florida, ieee. Activities to anticipate and discover potential problems. Experts confirmed that software development costs, inadequate human resources, data sharing gaps, a lack of political support, and poor data quality contribute significantly to challenges in their data implementation. Youll see it in the way we solve problems, using a realworld lens thats aimed at discovering unexpected, yet welcome, outcomes. This paper overviews software maintenance, its relevance, problems encountered while maintaining software, and the available solutions to these problems. The other method of using delphi is inthecloud where delphi can be accessed from any computer via the internet. There have been many cases when the method produced poor results. Delphi study of software maintenance problems ieee conference. Perfective maintenance is concerned with the change in the software that occurs while adding new functionalities in the software.

Survey on quality in software maintenance in italy. Identifying critical issues and problems in technology. Before you start developing more sophisticated applications by using the rad features of delphi, you should learn the basics of the delphi pascal language. In later more quantitative,rounds of a study, or on a purely quantitative style delphi study, you could use any survey software. Costs various research studies proposed that software maintenance consumes 60% to 80% of cost in whole. Preventive maintenance involves implementing changes to prevent the occurrence of errors.

The article gives an introductory overview of the use of the delphi expert consensus method in mental health research. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Today the delphi method is a widely accepted forecasting tool and has been used successfully for thousands of studies in areas varying from technology forecasting to drug abuse. What is the best way to implement the delphi method online. Challenges faced with the implementation of webbased data. A case study november 1992 technical report howard slomer, alan m. Identifying critical issues and problems in technology education using a modifieddelphi technique robert c. Maintenance software free download maintenance top 4 download offers free software downloads for windows, mac, ios and android computers and mobile devices. The online software would have to be readied for the specific application.

Program criteria software maintenance must be kept active on all active entitlements within a selected product line to receive the full benefits of software maintenance program. The distribution of types of maintenance by type and by. The findings from this pilot study inform us of items of public health significance that will help guide future research. There are several technical and managerial problems encountered while maintaining software 2. Impact of software comprehension in software maintenance and. Maintenance process software maintenance is one of the major concerns of software development. Several rounds of questionnaires are sent out to the group of experts, and the anonymous responses are aggregated and shared with the group after each round. Questionnaires sent to maintenance managers is a frequently used approach to collect data on software maintenance. Rand developed the delphi method in the 1950s, originally to forecast the impact of technology on warfare. This provides you with all ongoing upgrades to the software. In proceedings of the conference on software maintenance csm92, pp. Still the delphi method can be used most successfully in forecasting single scalar indicators. Top ten problems faced by business lean methods group. The influence of the information systems development approach on maintenance.

A delphi study into what would encourage software development. Excludes any product solely available with subscription advantage only, free edition and end of life products. Soft systems methodology and systems maintenance springerlink. Stability of response characteristics of a delphi panel. Overall the track record of the delphi method is mixed. The speedier outcome in software maintenance is possible because we use the latest tools and technology to overhaul inefficient modules. Floris and harald, in their study introduced incomplete documentation and low maintenance as the factor to increase the cost. In a rt delphi study of a manned mars landing date, experts would be identified as before from appropriate disciplines. It explains the rationale for using the method, examines the range of uses to which it has been put in mental health research, and describes the stages of carrying out a delphi study using examples from the literature. Wicklein the need to plan for the future is critical to the overall health of any organization. Software maintenance is one of the significant phases in the software development lifecycle. However, many past studies have not adopted a systematic approach to conducting a delphi study. Good maintenance process is very essential to maintain the quality of software. A delphi study is a virtual panel of experts gathered to arrive at an answer to a difficult question.