An empirical analysis of the impact of software development problem
factors on software maintainability
There are two major phases in the software life cycle: the software development phase
and the software maintenance phase. A previous study conducted by Yip and Lam (1994)
showed that about 66% of the total software life cycle costs were spent on software
maintenance. A study conducted by Sousa (1998) showed that only 2.7% of information
technology specialists considered the software maintenance process as being very
efficient; whereas 70.2% considered it as being of a very low level of efficiency. These
studies reveal the fact that software maintenance has been recognized as the most costly
and difficult phase in the software life cycle.
Previous studies have shown that one of the causes of software maintenance problems is
that software maintainability is not often a major consideration during software design
and implementation (Bendifallah and Scacchi, 1987; Schneidewind, 1987). Lee (1998)
and Balci (2003) suggested that a reduction in software maintenance costs could be
achieved by a more controlled design and implementation process early in the life cycle.
Therefore, understanding software development problem factors will help in ensuring the
maintainability of delivered software systems. However, there is a dearth of research
which explores patterns between software development problem factors and software
maintainability. Furthermore, software process improvement (SPI) is well-known today.
The concept of SPI is that well-defined and clearly documented processes are able to
effectively solve the project problems and eventually result in high quality products
(Humphrey, 1992; McGarry et al., 1994; Haley, 1996; Diaz and Sligo, 1997; Kuilboer
and Ashrafi, 2000; Ashrafi, 2003). Hence, understanding the problems which can be
solved by SPI and the nature of various software development problem factors and their
relationship with software maintainability have become both important and necessary in
order to improve the maintainability of the delivered software systems.
This research is proposed to explore the relationship between SPI, software development
problem factors and the maintainability of the delivered software. This study will be
based on data collected via an e-mail survey. It is estimated a total of 400 project
managers and software engineers will be invited to participate in the e-mail
questionnaire. Statistical analysis including regression analysis and one-way ANOVA
analyses will be conducted. The purposes of this study are: (1) to explore patterns in
software development problem dimensions across low, medium, and high maintainability
projects; (2) to determine how SPI affects software development problem dimensions and
the associated software maintainability; (3) to explore the top 10 higher-severity software
development problem factors affecting software maintainability.