Data warehouses are databases devoted to analytical processing. They are used to support decision-making activities in most modern business settings, when complex data sets have to be studied and analyzed. The technology for analytical processing assumes that data are presented in the form of simple data marts, consisting of a well-identified collection of facts and data analysis dimensions (star schema). Despite the wide diffusion of data warehouse technology and concepts, we still miss methods that help and guide the designer in identifying and extracting such data marts out of an enterprisewide information system, covering the upstream, requirement-driven stages of the design process. Many existing methods and tools support the activities related to the efficient implementation of data marts on top of specialized technology (such as the ROLAP or MOLAP data servers). This paper presents a method to support the identification and design of data marts. The method is based on three basic steps. A first top-down step makes it possible to elicit and consolidate user requirements and expectations. This is accomplished by exploiting a goal-oriented process based on the Goal/Question/Metric paradigm developed at the University of Maryland. Ideal data marts are derived from user requirements. The second bottom-up step extracts candidate data marts

The improvement of software development processes is certainly one of the top priorities of the IT industry. Software has become the most critical component in any modern product and service. All sectors of our society have been affected and influenced by the introduction of software and software‐based features. To support the improvement of software development processes, a number of process assessment and improvement techniques have been proposed and applied in a significant number of cases. However, the evaluation of the effects produced by the introduction of assessment and improvement methods and models is raising much controversy among researchers and practitioners. In particular, it is extremely difficult to evaluate if, under what circumstances, and to what extent an assessment approach (and the consequent improvement plan) has had a direct, significant and positive impact on the company performance. This paper reports our experiences in conducting process assessment/improvement initiatives in three companies. The assessments have been based on SEI's Capability Maturity Model for software (Software CMM). The main finding of this study is that effective process assessment (and consequently improvement) models/methods must necessarily pursue the coherent improvement of all the aspects of a company and not just of the engineering factors. In the paper we provide a detailed discussion of the case studies and of the motivations that justify our position. Also, as a synthesis of our experiences, we outline a strategy to software process assessment and improvement that takes into account the concerns and requirements we have identified in our work. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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This paper presents an experience in software process assessment that has been conducted in a mid-size Italian company. The assessment has been carried out using the CMM(Capability Maturity Model) and taking into account also the indications offered by QIP (Quality Improvement Paradigm).The paper discusses the resr.dt so ftheassessmen tandthe lessons we have learned from running it. It particular, it argues that it is necessa~to broaden the scope of assessment methods, and to evaluate the applicability to software processes of the experiences, methods, and techniques developed in other business domains.