Costs and benefits of software process improvement

In recent years a substantial number of organizations have gained experience in software process improvement (SPI). Furthermore, some researchers have studied such organizations by collecting and analyzing costs and benefits data on their SPI efforts. The objective of this report is to review and summarize the empirical evidence thus far on the costs and benefits of SPI. The intention is that this review would be utilized to support the business case for initiating and continuing SPI programs, to aid in the selection amongst the alternative improvement paradigms, to make more accurate estimates of the costs and benefits of such efforts, and to help set and manage the expectations of technical staff and management.