Showing papers on "Software as a service published in 1996"

Automatic updating of diverse software products on multiple client computer systems by downloading scanning application to client computer and generating software list on client computer

Abstract: A system and method update client computers of various end users with software updates for software products installed on the client computers, the software products manufacturered by diverse, unrelated software vendors. The system includes a service provider computer system, a number of client computers and software vendor computer systems communicating on a common network. The service provider computer system stores in an update database information about the software updates of the diverse software vendors, identifying the software products for which software updates are available, their location on the network at the various software vendor computer systems, information for identifying in the client computers the software products stored thereon, and information for determining for such products, which have software updates available. Users of the client computers connect to the service provider computer and obtain a current version of portions of the database. The client computer determines that software products stored thereon, and using this information, determines from the database, which products have updates available, based on product name and release information for the installed products. The user selects updates for installation. The selected updates are downloaded from the software vendor computer systems and installed on the client computer. Payment for the software update and the service is mediated by the service provider computer. Authentication of the user ensures only registered users obtain software updates. Authentication of the software updates ensures that the software updates are virus free and uncorrupted. Changes to the client computer during installation are monitored and archived, allowing the updates to be subsequently removed by the user.

Method for identifying and obtaining computer software from a network computer

Abstract: Creators of computer software provide the most up-to-date versions of their computer software on an update service. A user who has purchased or downloaded free computer software calls an update service or a network service provider (e.g., an Internet provider) on a periodic basis. The update or network service automatically inventories the user computer to determine what computer software (e.g., a network browser) may be out-of-date, and/or need maintenance updates. If so desired by the user, the update service computer automatically downloads with a secure software transfer process and installs computer software to the user computer. By making periodic calls to an update or network service, the user always has the most up-to-date computer software immediately available. The update or network service may also alert the user to new products (i.e. including new help files, etc.), and new and enhanced versions of existing products which can be purchased electronically by a user and transferred immediately from the update or network service.

Software and hardware for publishing and viewing products and services for sale

Abstract: A computer system that utilizes client/server software to allow users of the client software to log into a server and publish information about a product or service. Once the information is published, other users of the client software may log into the server to browse or search for the information. This system is designed to help extractors and manufacturers of products, as well as service providers, to advertise their product or service to other extractors, manufacturers, service providers, distributors, retailers or other consumers to help aid in the distribution of those products or services. The system is also designed to help reach these establishments over a wide area, limited only by communication networks, and the system is kept current through the use of the established users of the client allowing rapid change.

EMERALD: software metrics and models on the desktop

Abstract: As software becomes more and more sophisticated, industry has begun to place a premium on software reliability. The telecommunications industry is no exception. Consequently software reliability is a strategic business weapon in an increasingly competitive marketplace. In response to these concerns, BNR, Nortel, and Bell Canada developed the Enhanced Measurement for Early Risk Assessment of Latent Defects (Emerald), a decision support system designed to improve telecommunications software reliability. Emerald efficiently integrates software measurements, quality models, and delivery of results to the desktop of software developers. We have found that Emerald not only improves software reliability, but also facilitates the accurate correction of field problems. Our experiences developing Emerald have also taught us some valuable lessons about the implementation and adoption of this type of software tool.

Managing object oriented framework reuse

Abstract: Reusing frameworks instead of libraries can cause subtle architectural changes in an application, calling for innovative management solutions. We relate our experience in managing the Knowledge-Based Software Assistant project and offer tips for buying, building and using frameworks. One of the promises of object-oriented software development is that organizations can get a significant return on development investment because the code is easier to reuse. Software project managers are often eager to take the OO plunge for that reason, but are uncertain about the management issues they will face. There is also the problem of choosing the best form of reuse. Library-based reuse, the traditional reuse form, is more popular than framework-based reuse, but we have found that framework-based reuse offers many more benefits with the right management approach. We describe the lessons we learned when building the Knowledge-Based Software Assistant/Advanced Development Model.

Software redevelopment system

Abstract: A predetermined change to a software system having a large number of highly connected and interrelated executables and data files is accomplished using a redevelopment database which is generated from a software library. The redevelopment database maintain resource and relational information on the executables and data files. This information is used by a partitioner which creates groups of executables and data files which have minimal connections to executables and data files outside a given group. The groups are assigned to a resource, with the resource performing the software changes in a given group with the aid of software change mechanisms. After the changes in a group are completed, a configuration management system of the software system receives the newly modified software, updating the software system. The configuration management system also notifies the redevelopment database so that the relational and resource information of the redevelopment database remains up to date, and continues to support the day-to-day modifications other than the predetermined software change.

Measuring software quality: a case study

Abstract: The National Security Agency's (NSA) mission is to provide support for the security of the United States. Over the years, the Agency has become extremely dependent on the software that makes up its information technology infrastructure. NSA has come to view software as a critical resource upon which much of the world's security, prosperity, and economic competitiveness increasingly rests. To ensure cost effective delivery of high quality software, NSA has analyzed effective quality measures applied to a sample code base of 25 million lines. This case study dramatically illustrates the benefits of code level measurement activities.

Software project management and measurement on the World-Wide-Web (WWW)

Abstract: We briefly describe a system for forms-based workflow management that helps members of a software development team overcome geographical barriers to collaboration. Our system, called the Web Integrated Software Environment (WISE), is implemented as a World-Wide-Web service that allows for management and measurement of software development projects based on dynamic analysis of change activity in the workflow. WISE tracks issues in a software development process, provides informal communication between the users with different roles, supports to-do lists, and helps in software process improvement. WISE minimizes the time devoted to metrics collection and analysis by providing implicit delivery of messages between users based on the content of project documents. The use of a database in WISE is hidden from the users who view WISE as maintaining a personal "to-do list" of tasks related to the many projects on which they may play different roles.

MpPVM: a software system for non-dedicated heterogeneous computing

Abstract: This paper presents the design and preliminary implementation of MpPVM, a software system that supports process migration for PVM application programs in a non-dedicated heterogeneous computing environment. New concepts of migration point as well as migration point analysis and necessary data analysis are introduced. A preliminary implementation of MpPVM and its experimental results are also presented, showing the correctness and promising performance of our process migration mechanism in the scalable non-dedicated heterogeneous computing environment.

The next 10,000/sub 2/ years. II

Abstract: Forecasts technological breakdowns and breakthroughs for the next 16 (10,000 to the base 2) years. Change has always been a part of recent history. Indeed, Earth-shaking change occurs about every 150-200 years. It takes about 50 years to make the transition from the old to the new, and we are nearing the end of just such a 50-year period. Change is caused by both technological breakthroughs and technological breakdowns. In the current 50-year transition, the breakthrough is in networking and software development, and the breakdown is in processor (VLSI) technology. Both forces will propel the high-tech world into a new model of computing by the year 2012. The new model will be based on a networked, global megacomputer that obeys the Gustafson-Barsis speedup law instead of the Amdahl law of parallelism. The next century's information superhighway will actually be a network of cable TV operators, not telephone companies. A new era of programming that eliminates traditional programming languages (and scolds the software engineering community for failure) will arise and lead to a software economy-an electronic commerce dominated by software artisans.

Advances in software engineering

Abstract: Software is the key technology in applications as diverse as accounting, hospital management, aviation, and nuclear power. Application advances in different domains such as these-each with different requirements-have propelled software development from small batch programs to large, real-time programs with multimedia capabilities. To cope, software's enabling technologies have undergone tremendous improvement in hardware, communications, operating systems, compilers, databases, programming languages, and user interfaces, among others. In turn, those improvements have fueled even more advanced applications. Improvements in VLSI technology and multimedia, for example, have resulted in faster, more compact computers that significantly widened the range of software applications. Database and user interface enhancements, on the other hand, have spawned more interactive and collaborative development environments. Such changes have a ripple effect on software development processes as well as on software techniques and tools. In this article, we highlight software development's crucial methods and techniques of the past 30 years.

Managing Object-Oriented Software Development

Abstract: roject managers should not use the novelty of the object-oriented ’ approach as an excuse to let software developers manage themselves. Even though project managers may be unfamiliar with the latest technical advances, they must stay involved in planning and controlling software development. Nonetheless, in many organizations developers have usurped management planning and control by convincing managers that 00 is so different from other technologies that they can’t understand or control it. The long-term results of this “hyperempowerment” are almost always unfortunate, ultimately threatening the business value of the 00 appr0ach.l The solution is not authoritarian control. Managers must control the project in a way that doesn’t destroy the qualities theywant to deve1op.l For example, if they want an application to be flexible in a certain way, they must allocate resources to engineer that flexibility. However, developers must not be given a blank check to add flexibility wherever they want. It should be added onlywhere it wil bring the most business value. Marketing and management issues determine this, not technical ones. The fundamental aspects of the traditional software development approach are woven into the fabric of the organization’s culture. Yet the analogous fundamentals for the 00 software development approach are new to many, and this novelty often cuts across the grain of the established cultural norms. Changing the cultural aspects is often much more difficult than helping software developers understand 00 technology. Because of the need to adapt the culture to the approach, a wise manager participates in some form of 00 training or education. This issue provides part of that 00 education for both managers and developers. We have distilled management practices and techniques from our experiences in more than 100 00 projects and explored new practices. We cover the manyways that 00 complicates the project manager’s role in such areas as planning, staffing, training, scheduling, cost estimation, documentation, development, legacy systems, and metrics, as shown in Figure 1.

When the pursuit of quality destroys value [software development]

Abstract: Our software efforts are embedded in the larger, more complex business world. The author presents some new views of mature ideas on software and quality productivity, showing how quality must be considered in the context of business goals and needs.

Infrastructure for Wide-Area Software Development

Abstract: The Global Research And Development envIronmENT (GRADIENT) is a research project, addressing globalization of software R&D. The first effort is to design and implement an infrastructure for wide-area software development. With such an infrastructure, programmers, located on geographically dispersed sites, are able to share source files as if they were in the same location. The system extends the scope of versioning control, found in Configuration Management, from a single site to multiple sites. It allows individual programmers to construct private working areas. Finally, the infrastructure preserves the file system API and requires no modification of commands or the kernel. A prototype running between New Jersey and Taiwan is currently used as a framework for research in configuration management of wide-area software development. This paper reports our experience in designing and implementing the infrastructure.

Software management system

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize software resources and to prevent software from being illegally used by easily and surely executing management including the installation of the software resources. SOLUTION: A license management data base 13 stores the information of a software supervisor, the information of a software management place, the information of software installing state, the information of an electronic rack, and so on. A file distribution server 3 supplies software from a CD-ROM or the like to an electronic rack corresponding to a client terminal. 4. An electronic rack processing part 44 manages the distribution of the software by the electronic rack. Electronic racks of which contents can be referred to are restricted only to a series of electronic racks belonging to a user and the incense management data base 13 and an event data base 31 execute license management for software distribution so that the illegal use of software except a license such as the overlapped use of a license being used is not executed.

The big software chill

Abstract: If a technology (or idea) does not achieve mainstream status quickly enough, it dies. Video on demand (interactive TV), the information superhighway (ISDN), and massively parallel supercomputing may be examples. These ideas are okay, but they could die for lack of legs. At present, consumers are simply shunning them, illustrating the power of Information Age mainstreaming. A corollary to this law is that a technology (or idea) thrives, even if it is a bad technology or idea, as long as it quickly achieves mainstream status. Microsoft Windows, Java, C++ and others illustrate the overwhelming power of mainstreaming. It's positive feedback. Simply put, the rich get richer, especially when they hold a monopoly. In the Information Age, the definition of wealth includes domination of standards as well as having cash in the bank. The problem with software is that software companies don't get paid unless they reap a profit within the time limit set by the mainstreaming law. Commercial software companies have to hit the big time, or else.

Selecting software subcontractors

Abstract: Large-scale software projects place special demands on the developing organization and can require much greater participation by outside companies. The authors describe their methods for selecting subcontractors for a large project in which outside companies are supplying 90 percent of the code.

An OO project management strategy

Abstract: Large object oriented projects pose coordination, logistical, and communication problems for managers. We have developed a strategy designed to help solve these problems. Our strategy calls for an iterative development process. In addition, we call for specialized work teams and the division of projects into strategic and tactical areas. Strategic processes address issues that have system-wide ramifications, such as system architecture. The strategic work is divided into setup, architecture definition, and development phases. Tactical processes address day-to-day activities, such as software design and testing. Dividing a project this way for organization and management purposes allows strategic and tactical issues to be addressed in a more focused and effective manner.

Emerging technologies for network software development: past, present and future

Abstract: The article addresses the emerging technologies for developing network software. As networking technology has made great progress in its speed and connectivity in the past twenty years (1976-96), network software has also evolved and many technologies have been tried and applied to network software development. Formal methods provide model verification, and some sorts of automatic program generation and artificial intelligence open the new arena of intelligent network software. Object oriented technology is coming into practice and enhances the maintainability and reuse of software. Recently, emerging technologies such as distributed objects, mobile agents, Java and network programming will redefine the concept of network software and its development methodology. Commemorating the twentieth COMPSAC, the article summarizes these twenty years' experience and discusses future directions of network software development.

Software development environment for the object-oriented nonstop service enhanceable software (NOSES) platform

Abstract: This paper presents key technologies for a software development environment that supports software reuse and efficient file making. An efficient software development framework is proposed to develop the nonstop service enhanceable software (NOSES) platform. To enhance software reusability, this platform is constructed so that it can be applied to many kinds of communication switching systems, such as telephony, ISDN, ATM and IN. Software components within this platform can easily be reused, because they are based on the C++ object-oriented paradigm. Several methods are proposed for reducing file making turn-around time. These methods, which are particular types of partial program replacement techniques, are evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. These analyses show the effectiveness of this platform and software development environment.

Service interactions prevention in telecommunication systems

Abstract: In telecommunications system there is an increasing risk of adverse interactions between features embedded in the system and external features. Such interactions can be prevented by a telecommunication system comprising first and second software sub-systems, a hardware sub-system and an interaction manager, the first software sub-system running a copy of the system software, the "live" copy, and providing the commands to the hardware sub-system, the second software system running a duplicate copy of the system software and providing commands to the interaction manager, both software sub-systems receiving events from the interaction manager, the software being able to provide a plurality of features for use by subscribers to the system, wherein arbitration between an external feature and the software features is provided by the interaction manager, the duplicate software providing commands to the interaction manager in response to events generated by the external feature.

Experience Report on the Maturity of Configuration Management for Embedded Software

Abstract: The growth of software applications and the need to maintain application-specific software packages have forced industrial organisations to develop their configuration management processes. Configuration Management (CM) is often developed as part of the whole software process, but CM may also be developed, e.g. from the viewpoint of product management. Our experiences indicate that CM is indeed not usually integrated in product management and does not support multi-product, application-specific software production. In Small and Medium size Enterprises (SME) CM is often limited to occasional ad hoc practices. This situation suggests that systematic procedures for evolving industrial software configuration management schemes are needed.

Database Management Software

Abstract: One of the most important factors influencing the success or otherwise of historical database projects is the choice of software. The research team must ensure at an early stage that a DBMS is selected which has the functionality to cope efficiently with the nature, form and volume of the data to be stored and accessed. Many types of software package are advertised as DBMSs, though they vary widely in their general characteristics, and some at least do not really qualify as such. It is worthwhile to differentiate between the major types of data management programs on the market. To begin, we can differentiate between software packages in terms of the type of platform required and the range of facilities available.

Interoperability for Enterprise Information Systems

Abstract: Describes business issues involved with standardizing elements of information systems to allow them to share resources. Covers efforts to date by organizations such as the Open Software Foundation, management, hardware platforms and portability, software development and maintenance, connectivity and

Configuration Management Support for Software Process Models

Abstract: The urgent need for configuration management was recognized in applying process management in an industrial context. We considered it an marginal problem as long as we were working with a process management prototype which focused very much on the basic process management support, i.e. modeling, analysis, enaction. Based on this experience, we strongly believe that support for further marginal activities, e.g. application data import and export, evolution of application data, migration of legacy system data to process management solutions, easily can turn out to be key success factors (or, if not available, major roadblocks). Configuration management is one area where tool support is urgently needed. Only if appropriate support is provided, the promised benefits of process management will be exploitable in industrial software development.

Software patents: beating a dead horse and other important concerns

Abstract: To state the obvious, software is big business. In just two decades, software companies appeared from small start-ups and relatively insignificant divisions of computer hardware companies, and have evolved into the major businesses reported daily in the news and moving millions of dollars in the economy. The software landscape includes not just the giants of Microsoft and Computer Associates, but also dozens of medium size software firms providing applications for CD-ROM, video, entertainment, personal business software, etc. Also, hundreds of small software firms abound, and many companies which are not primarily developing and selling software have software departments for developing programs internally, or for developing software to complement a company's hardware line. Software is not just a business itself-it is very important to many businesses, especially in engineering. Software patents are well established, valuable, and of great interest to business. It is argued that the recognition of valuable software and the pursuit of available patent protection for software are thus important considerations for both engineers and companies.

Document-Centered Presentation of Computing Software: Compound Documents Are Better Workspaces

Abstract: Using compound documents as workspaces has two advantages: separating data management from computation software is a prerequisite for decomposing mathematical software into components, and the direct manipulation of workspaces is an improvement over name bindings. Further, document parts can act as placeholders for upcoming results. Viewing document parts within a textual context allows scripting within documents.

Platform techniques of TMN for large-scale communication systems development with distributed node systems

Abstract: We describe software platform techniques of a distributed communication node system for establishing telecommunication management networks. This distributed communication node system can be used for various kinds of communications systems by choosing hardware and application software. Our techniques were realized as a software platform and reusable software environment for the distributed communication node system. This environment include tools which provide a way to achieve management networks. These tools produce methods implemented in operations systems (OSs) and network elements (NEs) to achieve totally automatic software creation for operational functions. These tools also produce specifications of reference points in OSs and NEs. These techniques satisfy the requirements for achieving efficient management of a large scale development project, such as quick operational function software development, concurrent development of a variety of systems, management of several software versions, and importing managed objects definitions.

Object-oriented representation of GDMO-based management information models (MIMs): towards a systematic development of network management software

Abstract: This paper introduces a systematic, object-oriented (OO) process of network management software development, based on the object modelling technique (OMT). Diverse sources of requirements and design constraints as well as general steps of the development process have been defined with a corresponding sets of deliverables. The first step of the development process, the translation of GDMO MIMs into OO models (denoted as the G-O mapping) is discussed in depth. The rules of the G-O mapping are illustrated with examples. Further research topics are also identified.