A programming Site Study group was convened to look at the work of eight la
rge-system programming development locations within IBM and to evaluate the
m according to a set of process stages. Eleven attributes were applied to e
ach process stage. The process of the Site Studies is directly transferable
to software evaluations on any project in the software industry, and it is
believed that the studies are the first step necessary in the evolution of
a consistently repeatable and dynamically controllable process of improvem
ent within the industry. The phases of these studies and implementation of
the studies are described.