Using process tailoring to manage software development challenges

The use of process tailoring for managing and mitigating software development challenges, is discussed. Several software process standards or reference models, such as IEEE/EIA 12207 and the rational unified process (RUP), offer excellent foundations for process tailoring. They provide information regarding activities that should be performed, the order in which to perform them, who should perform them, and each activity's inputs and outputs. Project managers should follow process tailoring guidelines to improve software development processes to meet project-specific needs. Software process tailoring also involves choosing the process's level formalism, the types and contents of documentation produced, and the parameters for iterations and releases, defining the roles of stakeholders involved in the process, and adding, removing, or replacing process elements, such as tasks and artifacts.