Risk Management Techniques for The Transfer of Reuse Technology

Wing Lam

Interactive Systems Development Initiative
Department of Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire
College Lane, Hatfield
Herts AL10 9AB, UK
Tel: +44 01707 284337
Fax: +44 01707 284303
Email: W.Lam@herts.ac.uk

Abstract

Technology transfer is an issue of major significance for organisations wishing to exploit reuse technology. This paper describes how a reuse project manager can encourage the successful institutionalisation of reuse technology by a process of risk analysis and management. In short, the risk analysis and management process involves four main tasks: 1) the anticipation of potential problems, 2) the development of strategies for averting problems or minimising their effects, and 3) the active application of strategies and 4) the monitoring of problems during the course of technology transfer. However, it should be noted that the scope of risk analysis and management covers not just technical processes, but social and organisational ones too.

Keywords: technology transfer, reuse institutionalisation, reuse management.

Workshop Goals: To exchange ideas on how to and how not to transfer reuse technology.

Working Groups:

1. Component certification tools, frameworks and processes.

2. Reuse of the earliest life-cycle artefacts.

3. Reuse and product lines.

1. Background

I began my contribution to reuse research in 1990, with a doctoral thesis on requirements reuse using the theme of case-based reasoning first developed by those working in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Between May 1995-October 1996, I was involved in a research programme at RoSEC (Rolls-Smiths Engine Controls Ltd) aimed at developing reusable computer-based aero-engine management systems. My experience leads me to believe that the biggest barrier to reuse is not the technology per se, but the transfer and uptake of the technology within the organisation.

2 Position


2.1 Managing the risks

My position is that we (the reuse community) need to critically examine our past failures and successes in reuse technology. We can start by asking, and giving honest responses to, a number of questions:

* Success factors: Why was a project which involved reuse technology successful?

* Failure factors: Why was a project which involved reuse technology unsuccessful?

* Warning signs: How can unsuccessful projects be identified? What are the early warning signs?

* Risk management: Can failures in reuse technology be prevented, minimised or rectified before they get worse?

* Risk planning: What can we do on the next reuse technology project to ensure a greater chance of success?

A number of papers have made contributions towards this. Fafchamps (1994) and Joos (1994), for example, both highlight the importance of organisational factors in successful reuse. However, more documented case-studies like these are needed before a more detailed success-failure model can be developed.

2.2 Risk analysis and management

Realistically, answers to the above questions will not be found in the research laboratory. More likely, they are to be found with the intelligent project manager who "knows the risks, their degree, their causes, and the action necessary to counter them, and shares this knowledge with colleagues and clients" (Gilb 1988). Indeed, a fundamental appreciation of the risks involved in the institutionalisation of reuse technology, their analysis and management, can go a long way to ensuring successful reuse-based projects. As such, a good reference point is to familiarise ourselves with the basic risk analysis and management process, shown in Figure 1 (adapted from (Charette 1989)).

Figure 1 Model of the risk analysis and management process

Risk analysis involves three tasks:

* Risk identification: Identifying potential problems before they occur.

* Risk estimation: Quantifying these problems, often in terms of some measure of severity.

* Action planning: Generating alternative choices of actions that would help prevent a problem occurring in the first place or reduce the adverse effects of the problem if it did occur.

Risk management involves making decisions about risks after they have been analysed. It involves choosing the most appropriate choices of actions from the action planning task, building them into the project plan, carrying them out when necessary and monitoring their effect on problems. Maximum benefit from risk analysis and management is gained when it is used to provide managerial foresight, allowing for less reactive, and more pro-active management.

2.3 Risks in the transfer of reuse technology

There will be risks in the development of software which uses reuse technology. These are distinguished from the risks of transferring reuse technology into the organisation, which is the main subject in this paper. Figure 2 shows a categorisation of risks associated with the transfer of reuse technology, developed during the research programme at RoSEC aimed at developing reusable computer-based aero-engine management systems mentioned earlier.

Figure 2: A categorisation of risks relating to the transfer of reuse technology

The grey boxes represent general risk areas, in which more specific risks, represented by the white boxes, can be identified. Often, specific risks have a close affinity with risks in another risk area, indicated by a connecting line. For example, `no technology transfer plans' is closely related to `insufficient (reuse) technology investment'. The categorisation is not exhaustive, but the author believes that it does cover many of the risks an organisation is likely to encounter during the institutionalisation of reuse technology.

2.4 Risk management techniques

Transferring any new technology which has a socio-technical impact rather than just a technical impact needs careful planning. By explicitly acknowledging risks, the intelligent project manager is in a better position to manage and control the overall technology transfer process. Figure 3 identifies a number of risk management techniques (shown as the grey boxes under the dotted line) for some of the risk areas identified in Figure 2.

Figure 3: Some risk management techniques

Again, the list is not exhaustive; the identification, collection and documentation of a full set of risk management techniques is part of the author's ongoing research. Note that when a risk management technique is applied, its effect on a problem also needs to be monitored - this is an integral part of the risk management process.

3 Comparison

This paper has highlighted the need to develop systematic ways of introducing reuse technology into the organisation. A risk-based view of reuse technology transfer has been taken, which attempts to combine the work in the areas of reuse technology transfer and risk analysis and management, as summarised in Table 1.

Table 1 Summary of related work

Research area
Works of influence
Reuse technology transfer
  • The reuse technology transfer experience of the author and his colleagues in the domain of aero-engine control systems at RoSEC (Rolls Smiths Engine Controls Ltd) (Kelly et al. 1996; Lam and Whittle 1996; Lam et al. 1996; Lam 1997)
  • The growing number of empirical and case-based studies on success and failure factors for reuse technology (Lim 1995; Fafchamps 1994; Frakes and Isoda 1994; Griss et al. 1994; Joos 1994)
  • The informative reuse failure modes model of Frakes and Fox (1996).
    Risk analysis and management
  • Categorisation of typical software project risks and means for dealing with them (Boehm 1991).
  • General model of risk analysis and management (though not strictly related to software projects) (Charette 1989).
  • Observations and practical guidance for dealing with software project risks (Gilb 1988).
  • The DoD RAMP (Software Risk Assessment & Mitigation Procedure) view of software reuse (Green and Cisneros 1996).


    • References

    [1] Boehm, B. (1991), Software Risk Management and Principles, IEEE Software, 8(1), 1991.

    [2] Charette, R.N. (1989), Software Engineering Risk Analysis and Management, McGraw-Hill, New York.

    [3] Fafchamps, D. (1994), Organisational factors and reuse, IEEE Software, 11(5):31-41.

    [4] Frakes, W.B. and Isoda, S. (1994), Success Factors for systematic reuse, IEEE Software, 11(5):15-19, 1994.

    [5] Frakes, W. and Fox, C. (1996), Quality Improvement Using A Software Reuse Failure Modes Model, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 22(4):274-279, 1996.

    [6] Gilb, T. (1988), Principles of Software Engineering Management, Addison-Wesley, England.

    [7] Green, C. and Cisneros, G. (1996), Software Risk Assessment and Mitigation Procedure, Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Software Reuse Education and Training, Morgantown, West Virginia, 14-18th August, 1995.

    [8] Griss, M.L., Favaro, J. and Walton, P. (1994), Managerial and Organisational Issues - Starting and Running a Software Reuse Program, In Software Reusability, eds. W. Schaefer, R. Prieto-Diaz and M. Matsumoto, Ellis Horwood, Chichester, GB, 1994 pp.51-78, 1994.

    [9] Joos, R. (1994), Software reuse at Motorola, IEEE Software, 11(5):42-47, 1994.

    [10] Kelly, T.P., Lam, W. and Whittle, B.R. (1996), Diary of a domain analyst: a domain analysis case-study from avionics, In Proceedings of IFIP Working Groups 8.1/13.2 Conference, Domain Knowledge for Interactive System Design, (Eds. Sutcliffe, A.G., Benyon, D. and Assche, F.V.), Geneva, May 8-10, 1996.

    [11] Lam, W., Whittle, B.R., McDermid, J. and Wilson, S. (1996), An Integrated Approach to Domain Analysis and Reuse for Engineering Complex Systems, In Proceedings of International IEEE Symposium and Workshop on Engineering of Computer-Based Systems (ECBS `96), Friedrichshafen, Germany, March 11-15, 1996.

    [12] Lam, W. and Whittle, B.R. (1996), A Taxonomy of Domain-Specific Reuse Problems and their Resolutions - Version 1.0, Software Engineering Notes

    [13] Lam, W. (1997), Achieving Requirements Reuse: a Domain-Specific Approach from Avionics, Journal of Systems and Software. (To appear 4th quarter 1997)

    [14] Lim, W.C. (1994), Effects of Reuse on Quality, Productivity, and Economics, IEEE Software, 11(5):23-30, 1994.

    Biography

    Wing Lam is a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He received his PhD from Kings College, University of London, in 1994. His research interests include technology transfer and reuse-based development tools.