Assignment 4: Software Developer Development and Improvement

Due Week 9 and worth 60 points This assignment consists of two (2) sections: an improvement plan and a PowerPoint presentation. You must submit the two (2) sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment. Label each file name according to the section of the assignment it is written for. Section 1: Improvement Plan Suppose you are working as a senior software development manager in a software house. The company develops custom software for clients. In one of the development projects, a postmortem analysis reveals that a particular developer out of a team of five (5) was responsible for the major failure of the developed software product. This has caused the project to run 20% behind schedule and exceed its monetary budget by 30%. Initial estimates point to an additional twelve (12) weeks from the original 36-week effort to correct the failures. You have been asked by your supervisor to create an improvement plan to address these issues using the People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM). Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

1. Evaluate the key practices and improvement activities from the people capability maturity model and recommend the practices you would use to address the software failure.
2. Describe an appropriate strategy for implementing the recommended improvement activities that you have identified.
3. Explain how to measure the return on the company investment after applying the key practices and improvement activities.
4. Use at least two (2) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Section 1 of this assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Section 2: PowerPoint Presentation You have also been asked to develop a presentation to be shown to your CEO to explain why you have chosen to implement the specific strategy outlined in your improvement plan. Prepare a seven to ten (7-10) slide PowerPoint presentation in which you:

1. Summarize the main points in the improvement plan.
2. Create bulleted speaking notes for the presentation to the executive board in the Notes section of the PowerPoint. Note: You may create or assume any fictitious names, data, or scenarios that have not been established in this assignment for a realistic flow of communication.
3. Use a professional technically written style to graphically convey the information.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Develop practices to evaluate products, processes, and system resources.
• Develop a software engineering plan to address and solve a proposed business problem.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in software engineering.
• Write clearly and concisely about advanced software engineering topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.