Life cycle of a work packet in a software factory

• US 8,464,205 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2007
• Issued: 06/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chaar, Jarir K., Finlayson, Ronald D., Jobson, Thomas A. Jr., Mitsumori, Naomi M., Reddington, Francis X.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kang, Insun
• Application Number:
  US11/735,168
• Publication Number:
  US 20080256507A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,251 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/101
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design

Abstract

A method, system, and computer-readable medium for managing a work packet'"'"'s life cycle, wherein the work packet is assembled in a software factory that creates custom software in a standardized manner, are presented. In a preferred embodiment, the computer-implemented method comprises the steps of: defining a work packet to perform a sub-function of a custom software, wherein the work packet is a pre-stored, reusable, self-contained, discrete unit of software code; assembling the work packet; archiving the work packet in an asset repository; retrieving the work packet from the asset repository; and sending the work packet to an assembly line for consolidation with other work packets to create a custom software.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing a work packet'"'"'s life cycle, wherein the work packet is assembled in a software factory that creates software in a standardized manner, the computer-implemented method comprising:

defining a work packet to specify a method for performing sub-function of a software, wherein the work packet is a pre-stored, reusable, self-contained, discrete unit of software code;

in response to defining the work packet;

calling a template; and

in response to calling the template, calling, based on the template, a needed one or more artifacts and a needed one or more metrics;

automatically assembling the work packet, wherein the one or more artifacts and the one or more metrics are assembled into the work packet based on the template;

archiving the work packet in an asset repository;

retrieving the work packet from the asset repository; and

sending the work packet to an assembly line for consolidation with other work packets to create a software;

wherein the software factory comprises;

a governance section that evaluates a project proposal for acceptance by the software factory; and

a design center composed of a requirements analysis team and an architecture team, wherein the design center sections the project proposal into one or more major functional areas that are to be handled by the requirements analysis team and the architecture team;

wherein the assembly line receives and executes the plurality of work packets to create the deliverable software, wherein the assembly line further comprises a published set of services and a published set of requirements for the assembly line that are published to the design center, wherein the published set of services describes which assembly services for assembling the plurality of work packets are offered by the assembly line, and wherein the published set of requirements describes which execution environment must be used by the plurality of work packets provided by the design center for assembly in the assembly line; and

wherein the plurality of work packets include governance procedures, standards, reused assets, work packet instructions, integration strategy, schedules, exit criteria and artifact checklist templates for Input/Output routines.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the assembly line includes software that automatically recognizes a project type for the project proposal, and wherein the assembly line assembles the plurality of work packets into the deliverable software in accordance with the project type that is recognized by the assembly line.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the assembly line conducts an integration test, a system test, a system integration test and a performance test of the deliverable software, wherein the integration test tests the deliverable software for compatibility with a client system associated with a client, the system test checks the client'"'"'s system to ensure that the client'"'"'s system is operating properly, the system integration test tests for bugs that may arise when the deliverable software is integrated into the client'"'"'s system, and the performance test tests the deliverable software for defects during execution on the client system.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more artifacts include one or more of;

one or more governance artifacts;

one or more business contextual artifacts;

one or more architectural artifacts;

one or more test artifacts; and

one or more project artifacts; and

the one or more metrics include one or more of;

governance metrics;

one or more factory metrics; and

one or more system metrics.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the archiving the work packet in the asset repository further comprising:

classifying the work packet;

categorizing the work packet; and

naming the work packet.

6. A system comprising:

a processor;

a data bus coupled to the processor;

a memory coupled to the data bus; and

a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for managing a work packet'"'"'s life cycle, the instructions comprising instructions that enable the system to;

define a work packet to perform a sub-function of a software, wherein the work packet is a pre-stored, reusable, self-contained, discrete unit of software code;

in response to defining the work packet;

call a template; and

in response to calling the template, call, based on the template, a needed one or more artifacts and a needed one or more metrics;

automatically assemble the work packet, wherein the one or more artifacts and the one or more metrics are assembled into the work packet based on the template;

archive the work packet in an asset repository;

retrieve the work packet from the asset repository; and

send the work packet to an assembly line for consolidation with other work packets to create a software;

support a software factory that comprises;

a governance section that evaluates a project proposal for acceptance by the software factory; and

a design center composed of a requirements analysis team and an architectural team, wherein the design center sections the project proposal into one or more major functional areas that are to be handled by the requirements analysis team and the architectural team, wherein the requirements analysis team is responsible for determining system requirements for executing the deliverable software on the customer'"'"'s system, and wherein the architectural team models the project proposal in accordance with customer constraints, and wherein the architectural team bundles the customer constraints together with the work packets for execution in the assembly line;

wherein the assembly line receives and executes the plurality of work packets to create the deliverable software; and

wherein the plurality of work packets include governance procedures, standards, reused assets, work packet instructions, integration strategy, schedules, exit criteria and artifact checklist templates for Input/Output routines.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the assembly line includes software that automatically recognizes a project type for the project proposal, and wherein the assembly line assembles the plurality of work packets into the deliverable software in accordance with the project type that is recognized by the assembly line.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the assembly line conducts an integration test, a system test, a system integration test and a performance test of the deliverable software, wherein the integration test tests the deliverable software for compatibility with the client'"'"'s system, the system test checks a client system associated with a client to ensure that the client'"'"'s system is operating properly, the system integration test tests for bugs that may arise when the deliverable software is integrated into the client'"'"'s system, and the performance test tests the deliverable software for defects during execution on the client system.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein:

the one or more artifacts include one or more of;

one or more governance artifacts;

one or more business contextual artifacts;

one or more architectural artifacts;

one or more test artifacts; and

one or more project artifacts; and

the one or more metrics include one or more of;

governance metrics;

one or more factory metrics; and

one or more system metrics.

10. The system of claim 6, the instructions for archiving the work packet in the asset repository further comprising instructions that enable the system to:

classify the work packet;

categorize the work packet; and

name the work packet.

11. A memory storage device encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising computer executable instructions configured for:

defining a work packet to perform a sub-function of a software, wherein the work packet is a pre-stored, reusable, self-contained, discrete unit of software code;

in response to defining the work packet;

calling a template; and

in response to calling the template, calling, based on the template, a needed one or more artifacts and a needed one or more metrics;

automatically assembling the work packet, wherein the one or more artifacts and the one or more metrics are assembled into the work packet based on the template;

archiving the work packet in an asset repository;

retrieving the work packet from the asset repository; and

sending the work packet to an assembly line for consolidation with other work packets to create a software;

supporting a software factory that comprises;

a governance section that evaluates a project proposal for acceptance by the software factory; and

a design center composed of a requirements analysis team and an architectural team, wherein the design center sections the project proposal into one or more major functional areas that are to be handled by the requirements analysis team and the architectural team, wherein the requirements analysis team is responsible for determining system requirements for executing the deliverable software on the customer'"'"'s system, and wherein the architectural team models the project proposal in accordance with customer constraints, and wherein the architectural team bundles the customer constraints together with the work packets for execution in the assembly line;

wherein the assembly line receives and executes the plurality of work packets to create the deliverable software; and

wherein the plurality of work packets include governance procedures, standards, reused assets, work packet instructions, integration strategy, schedules, exit criteria and artifact checklist templates for Input/Output routines.

12. The memory storage device of claim 11, wherein the assembly line includes software that automatically recognizes a project type for the project proposal, and wherein the assembly line assembles the plurality of work packets into the deliverable software in accordance with the project type that is recognized by the assembly line.

13. The memory storage device of claim 11, wherein the assembly line conducts an integration test, a system test, a system integration test and a performance test of the deliverable software, wherein the integration test tests the deliverable software for compatibility with a client system associated with a client, the system test checks the client'"'"'s system to ensure that the client'"'"'s system is operating properly, the system integration test tests for bugs that may arise when the deliverable software is integrated into the client'"'"'s system, and the performance test tests the deliverable software for defects during execution on the client system.

14. The memory storage device of claim 11, wherein the computer-usable medium is a component of a remote server, and wherein the computer executable instructions are deployable to a supervisory computer from the remote server.

15. The memory storage device of claim 11, wherein the computer executable instructions are capable of being provided by a service provider to a customer on an on-demand basis.

16. The memory storage device of claim 11, wherein:

the one or more artifacts include one or more of;

one or more governance artifacts;

one or more business contextual artifacts;

one or more architectural artifacts;

one or more test artifacts; and

one or more project artifacts; and

the one or more metrics include one or more of;

governance metrics;

one or more factory metrics; and

one or more system metrics.

17. The memory storage device of claim 11, the computer executable instructions for archiving the work packet in the asset repository further comprising instructions for:

classifying the work packet;

categorizing the work packet; and

naming the work packet.