A conformity model of software processes R. Breu a , W. Huber b , W. Schwerin a, * a Institut fu Èr Informatik, Technische Universita Èt Mu Ènchen, Postfach 20 24 20, D-80290 Munich, Germany b Softlab GmbH, Zamdorfer Straûe 120, 81677 Munich, Germany Received 7 August 2000; revised 7 December 2000; accepted 7 December 2000 Abstract In this paper we present a new idea to compare different software process models. We propose a ®ve-level model measuring the conformity of two process models. The approach is of practical importance for a number of applications, e.g. when a company's process model has to be checked against a generic process model required in some project, or when two companies, each working with its own process model, intend to cooperate. We illustrate our approach with a conformance study of Catalysis and the V-Model. q 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Conform software process models; Standard process models; Object-oriented develpment methods; UML; V-Model; Catalysis 1. Introduction In the context of software (SW) project management, we often have to answer questions like the following: ² How can different process models be combined to form a coherent model? ² Does a concrete process model conform to a generic process model? For example, does the component- based Catalysis development process [5] conform to a generic standard process model, such as the German V- Model [7]? ² Which maturity level does a concrete process model have? Finding answers to questions of the above-mentioned kind can be important for several reasons. The question of how to combine different process models may have to be answered when several companies have their custom processes and participate in a joint venture, for example the Euro Fighter project, where several companies from different nations cooperate. Different proprietary processes have to be integrated to a certain degree in order to enable successful cooperation. Another reason that is becoming more and more impor- tant is the fusion of IT business companies. The integration of one company with another is one of the most dif®cult problems of company fusion. Leading companies have developed their own process model or adapted widely used ones. So, combining or integrating a certain model into another is one of the great challenges of fusing different IT companies today. The question of whether a process model conforms to a generic process model arises in the context of certain projects. For instance, the conformance of a company's process model with the V-Model is a prerequisite when developing SW for governmental and military institutions in Germany. Another example is the conformity of a company's process model with a standard like ISO 15504. A question similar to the one of standard conformity is the question of the maturity level of an organisation's develop- ment process, which is important for process improvement and may also be valuable for marketing reasons. The question of a process's maturity level usually arises in the context of the assessment and evaluation of a whole SW organisation because the development process constitutes a key part of the organisation. A central activity within the SW process evaluation is to check the conformity of the company's process model with the models required by the different maturity levels. For example, the second level of the CMM for SW [9] requires a process model that consists of activities involving requirements management (cf. key practice Requirements Management [10]) in order to produce a requirements speci®cation. The common problem in the above three scenarios is the conformity of two given process models. In our paper we treat this issue in a general way and suggest a conformity Information and Software Technology 43 (2001) 339±349 0950-5849/01/$ - see front matter q 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0950-5849(00)00173-7 www.elsevier.nl/locate/infsof * Corresponding author. Tel.: 149-89-289-25360; fax: 149-89-289- 25310. E-mail addresses: ruth.breu@in.tum.de (R. Breu), walter.huber@softlab.de (W. Huber), schwerin@in.tum.de (W. Schwerin).