SOFTWARE PROCESS—Improvement and Practice, Vol. 3, 87–104 (1997) Studies in Process Simplification Ashok Dandekar 1 , Dewayne E. Perry 2 * and Lawrence G. Votta 3 1 Fujitsu Network, Communications, Inc., Richardson TX 75082, USA 2 Software Production Research, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill NJ 07974, USA Research Section 3 Software Production Research, Bell Laboratories, Naperville IL 60566, USA One of the major problems with software development processes is their complexity. Hence, one of the primary motivations in process improvement is the simplification of these complex processes. We report a set of studies to explore various simplification approaches and techniques. We used the available process documentation, questionnaires and interviews, and a set of process visualization tool fragments (pfv) to gain an understanding of the process under examination. We then used three basic analysis techniques to locate candidates for simplification and improvement: value added analysis; time usage analysis, and alternatives analysis. All three approaches proved effective in isolating problem areas for improvement. The proposed simplifications resulted in a saving of 20% in cost, 20% in human effort, 40% in elapse time, and a 30% reduction in the number of activities.  1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Softw. Process Improve. Pract., 3, 87–104 (1997) No. of Figures: 6 No. of Tables: 0 No. of References: 14 system architecture. This unmanageability was then 1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW exacerbated by the merger of two process systems for similar products. The process system that is the context of our study came into being as a result of a management edict In Carr et al. (1995), Dandekar and Perry (1996) and Perry (1994) we reported our experience in (they had heard that processes were a good thing and that they ought to be defined). This ‘good trying to understand the current state of this process system and its architecture. One of the thing’ began with various people and groups defining the process they were responsible for underlying root causes of the current state of both more or less in isolation from all the other processes the system and its architecture is the complexity being defined. These processes then grew and of the processes (both their inherent complexity evolved in an unmanaged fashion, due primarily and the complexity of their visualizations). There to the lack of effective management of the process are two factors that contribute to system com- plexity: the exceedingly large number of inter- actions among the processes and the exceedingly large number and wide variety of artifacts *Correspondence to: Dewayne E. Perry, Software Production Research, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill NJ 07974, USA exchanged among these processes. Factors anal- e-mail: depresearch.bell-labs.com ogous to these contribute to the complexity of CCC 1077-4866/97/020087-18$17.50  1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. individual processes: the number of interactions