Quantitative method to determine software maintenance life cycle

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

The planning of software maintenance is a major problem that information systems managers are facing in many organizations. The problem stems from two basic root causes: the competing demands (services, repairs, improvements, etc.) for the same limited maintenance resources and the uncertainty associated with these demands. Managers lack reliable tools that could enable them to handle the uncertainty and thereby proactively plan the maintenance to better respond to user requests. This study provides a quantitative method to estimate the uncertainty and to help managers forecast the demands of maintenance. Since the accuracy of maintenance request forecast depends on predictable regimes of demands, the method first hypothesizes a non-stationary, life-cycle model for the basic regimes of different types of maintenance requests. Each regime features a probabilistic dominance of certain types of requests in the overall distribution of demands. The method then includes ways to characterize the distributions of different types of requests, monitor their evolution, and determine the shifting of regimes on which the managers base their planning decisions. This study performs a laboratory experiment to validate the quantitative method that determines the software maintenance life cycle. The findings confirm the hypothesis and substantiate the appropriateness of the quantitative method proposed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages232-241
Number of pages10
StatePublished - 2004
EventProceedings - 20th IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance, ICSM 2004 - Chicago, IL, United States
Duration: Sep 11 2004Sep 14 2004

Conference

ConferenceProceedings - 20th IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance, ICSM 2004
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago, IL
Period09/11/0409/14/04

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Software

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Quantitative method to determine software maintenance life cycle'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this