Technical controlling and software process improvement

Successful process improvement depends heavily on a close tracking of actua l results Versus the improvement plan. For concerting different reengineeri ng activities, process managers must implement a proactive, forward-looking oversight mechanism designed to ensure that the various ongoing projects w ithin the company operate in a performance zone that provides the expected business value. Technical controlling of software projects is introduced as a comprehensive controlling activity consisting of analyzing and interpret ing project information for strategy formulation, planning and tracking act ivities, decision-making, and cost accounting. For practical guidelines thi s article focuses on introducing and maintaining a corporate program for te chnical controlling in a highly distributed large organization. Experiences are shared that show how technical controlling closely relates and thus su pports an ongoing software process improvement initiative. (C) 1999 Elsevie r Science Inc. All rights reserved.