Software Engineering

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CHAPTER 5 
Software Integrated Product and Process Development
engineering practices discussed in this book are passed on an IPPD approach. 
Therefore, the following sections will address how IPPD tenants have been applied 
to the engineering of software products.
5.1.1 
Customer focus
This tenant of IPPD identifies four central themes for establishing a quality soft-
ware product:
1. 
Customer needs should determine the nature of the software product and 
processes.
2. 
Products should satisfy customer needs better (improved quality).
3. 
Products should satisfy customer needs faster (time-to-market).
4. 
Products should satisfy customer needs at lower cost (reduced product and life-
cycle costs).
These themes are admirable goals that are not easy to achieve. If methodolo-
gies or approaches to software development were sufficient to fulfill these man-
dates, then there would be no need for further research or rhetoric about improving 
software development. However, according to the CHAOS
2
 reports for a period of 
15 years, the success rate for software development projects hovers around 28%, 
an average of 37% of the projects were considered challenged,
3
 and the remaining 
35% were impaired.
4
 Therefore, one can surmise that the current methodologies, 
tools, and techniques for software development are not adequate to fulfill this tenet 
of IPPD. Throughout this material, these customer focus themes have been incorpo-
rated as the nucleus of the software engineering philosophy.
Throughout the software engineering process the emphasis of verification and 
validation is to ensure that the software product architecture definition will satisfy 
stakeholder needs and expectations. The term 
stakeholder
 is used to represent all 
customers of the technical effort, including project management, customers, end 
users, suppliers, and product sustainment organizations. The concept of achieving a 
balance among product requirements, product architecture, sustainment processes, 
and project objectives is supported by the conduct of trade-off analysis and risk 
assessments.