Project Name: Win Win Spiral Modeller

Sponsor:
Steven Meyers (email: stevenme@usc.edu)
Alexander Lam (email: alexankl@usc.edu)

Partners:
None

Background:
As taught in CS 577, the WinWin Spiral model is a life-cycle model used to guide the development process of a software system. Another version of the WinWin Spiral is for systems acquisition that might contain multiple development spirals.

Problem:
Currently, the Center for Software Engineering has a tool built for engineers help them in following the WinWin Spiral model. The web-based tool keeps track of the information one would expect to gather if they are following the WinWin Spiral model. Examples of the type of information being collected includes, but is not limited to: all stakeholders’ win conditions and whether any win conditions conflict, risks to the system have been identified and resolved, and the appropriate resources have been assigned to ensure all goals of the cycle can be met. The information should be available in both summary, prose form, and via “links’ and/or references to sections of actual document.

You may access the current tool at: http://browns.usc.edu:8800/spiral_model to see how it works.

However, this tool is far from perfect and needs to be redeveloped. Some of the major problems that need to be addressed:

· Making the tool distributable to other companies. Currently, the tool is developed in an environment called Hyperwave, which is expensive to distribute to companies. The new Spiral Modeler will have to be developed in a new language (such as JSP, PHP,, etc) and would have to be easy/inexpensive to install on other computer systems. In doing this, all current functionalities of the tool must also be in the new tool being developed.

· Adding functionality to the system such as the ability to spawn spirals in the middle of a spiral. This feature is needed especially for Acquisition spiral models or for very large system development since it is possible that a new spiral will be needed to address an issue brought up in the original spiral. For example, the evaluation of a new tool, which requires that a process be applied to ensure the tool, is evaluated fully and correctly.

Advantages of doing this project:

Attain a better understanding of the WinWin Spiral Model as taught in CS 577.

Various formats of an authoritative definition of the Spiral Model is available through
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/february2000/BoehmSR.html
along with the abstract and two summary tables on "The Invariants of Spiral Development" and "Hazardous Spiral Look-Alikes". At the Spiral Development Workshop, February 2000, Barry Boehm presented a keynote address with the title "Spiral Development: Experience, Principles, and Refinements". He later annotated the slides to present more material and update them as a result of the conference. These were later edited into a Special report. This material is available in these forms:

• the Special Report (PDF, 931kB) http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/february2000/SR08.pdf
  Report in HTML http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/february2000/SR08html/SR08.html
• the slides in HTML (no annotations) http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/february2000/Boehm
  download slides with annotations (PowerPoint, 498kB) http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/february2000/Boehm/Boehm.PPT
• Available at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/february2000/index.html is
  "Spiral Development Workshop, February, 2000, Final Report" as well as links to all the presentations including Dr. Boehm's keynote.

For those interested in "Spiral Development and Evolutionary Acquisition", the final Workshop Report (http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/september/finalreport.html), all the presentations and recommended readings are available at
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cbs/spiral2000/september/index.html.

If you would like a quick introduction to "The Spiral Model as a Tool for Evolutionary Acquisition", check out our Crosstalk article of May 2001 at http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/2001/may/boehm.asp. If you would like to have some recommendations on "Using the Spiral Model and MBASE to Generate New Acquisition Process Models: SAIV, CAIV, and SCQAIV", check out Crosstalk of January 2002, pp 20-25; http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/2002/jan/boehm.asp.

Constraints:
None specified

Desired Deliverables:
None specified