Software Engineering and Advanced Applications 

About: Software Engineering and Advanced Applications is an academic conference. The conference publishes majorly in the area(s): Software development & Software. Over the lifetime, 1113 publications have been published by the conference receiving 13180 citations.

Climbing the "Stairway to Heaven" -- A Mulitiple-Case Study Exploring Barriers in the Transition from Agile Development towards Continuous Deployment of Software

Abstract: Agile software development is well-known for its focus on close customer collaboration and customer feedback. In emphasizing flexibility, efficiency and speed, agile practices have lead to a paradigm shift in how software is developed. However, while agile practices have succeeded in involving the customer in the development cycle, there is an urgent need to learn from customer usage of software also after delivering and deployment of the software product. The concept of continuous deployment, i.e. the ability to deliver software functionality frequently to customers and subsequently, the ability to continuously learn from real-time customer usage of software, has become attractive to companies realizing the potential in having even shorter feedback loops. However, the transition towards continuous deployment involves a number of barriers. This paper presents a multiple-case study in which we explore barriers associated with the transition towards continuous deployment. Based on interviews at four different software development companies we present key barriers in this transition as well as actions that need to be taken to address these.

QoSOnt: a QoS ontology for service-centric systems

Abstract: This paper reports on the development of QoSOnt: an ontology for quality of service (QoS). Particular focus is given to its application in the field of service-centric systems. QoSOnt is being developed to promote consensus on QoS concepts, by providing a model which is generic enough for reuse across multiple domains. As well as the structure of the ontology itself an example application currently in development - SQRM (service QoS requirements matcher) - is discussed. This application is used to highlight some of the advantages of the ontology including standardisation and the level of machine understanding of QoS specifications which can be achieved.

Kanban in Software Development: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract: Using of Kanban in software development is an emerging topic. This systematic literature review was conducted in order to analyze the current trend of Kanban usage in software development and to identify the obtained benefits and involved challenges. The search strategy resulted in 492 papers, of which 19 were identified as primary studies relevant to our research. The main reported benefits of using the Kanban method were improved lead time to deliver software, improved quality of software, improved communication and coordination, increased consistency of delivery, and decreased customer reported defects. The reported challenges included lack of knowledge and specialized training as well as various organizational issues. Additionally, suggested practices were extracted from the primary studies and summarized for guiding the practitioners interested in adopting Kanban. The findings of this literature review are intended for helping researchers and practitioners to gain a better understanding of the current state of Kanban usage in software development.

LiRCUP: Linear Regression Based CPU Usage Prediction Algorithm for Live Migration of Virtual Machines in Data Centers

Abstract: Virtualization is a vital technology of cloud computing which enables the partition of a physical host into several Virtual Machines (VMs). The number of active hosts can be reduced according to the resources requirements using live migration in order to minimize the power consumption in this technology. However, the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is essential for maintaining reliable quality of service between data centers and their users in the cloud environment. Therefore, reduction of the SLA violation level and power costs are considered as two objectives in this paper. We present a CPU usage prediction method based on the linear regression technique. The proposed approach approximates the short-time future CPU utilization based on the history of usage in each host. It is employed in the live migration process to predict over-loaded and under-loaded hosts. When a host becomes over-loaded, some VMs migrate to other hosts to avoid SLA violation. Moreover, first all VMs migrate from a host while it becomes under-loaded. Then, the host switches to the sleep mode for reducing power consumption. Experimental results on the real workload traces from more than a thousand Planet Lab VMs show that the proposed technique can significantly reduce the energy consumption and SLA violation rates.

A product management challenge: Creating software product value through requirements selection

Abstract: It is important for a software company to maximize value creation for a given investment. The purpose of requirements engineering activities is to add business value that is accounted for in terms of return on investment of a software product. This paper provides insight into the release planning processes used in the software industry to create software product value, by presenting three case studies. It examines how IT professionals perceive value creation through requirements engineering and how the release planning process is conducted to create software product value. It also presents to what degree the major stakeholders' perspectives are represented in the decision-making process. Our findings show that the client and market base of the software product represents the most influential group in the decision to implement specific requirements. This is reflected both in terms of deciding the processes followed and the decision-making criteria applied when selecting requirements for the product. Furthermore, the management of software product value is dependant on the context in which the product exists. Factors, such as the maturity of the product, the marketplace in which it exists, and the development tools and methods available, influence the criteria that decide whether a requirement is included in a specific project or release.