A Study on the Application of Six Sigma Tools to PSP/TSP for Process Improvement

Abstract

The advent of software process models such as CMM/CMMI has helped software engineers understand principles and approaches of software process improvement. There, however, has been difficulty increasing productivity from applying these models since "how" is not within the scope of the CMM/CMMI. For this reason, SEI introduced PSP/TSP, but those still lack analysis tools and systematic process control techniques for analyzing metrics collected in PSP/TSP. Six sigma, on the other hand, provides the quantitative analysis tools necessary to control process performance. Deploying PSP/TSP in conjunction with six sigma, therefore, can enable software engineers to analyze PSP data, and to systematically improve process performance. Continuing with this rationale, we map six sigma tools to each PSP process in order to show what six sigma techniques can be applied to PSP data and suggest six sigma practical use guideline to support process improvement activity at the individual and team level.