Using an Expert Panel to Validate the Malaysian SMEs-Software Process Improvement Model (MSME-SPI)

• Main Authors: Almomani, M.A., Basri, S., Almomani, O., Capretz, L.F., Balogun, A., Husni, M., Gilal, A.R.
• Format: Article
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH 2020
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85098198490&doi=10.1007%2f978-3-030-63322-6_72&partnerID=40&md5=bf8807b95746351ff19e33ac660eb665; http://eprints.utp.edu.my/24642/
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Petronas

This paper presents the components of a newly developed Malaysian SMEs - Software Process Improvement model (MSME-SPI) that can assess SMEs software development industry in managing and improving their software processes capability. The MSME-SPI is developed in response to practitioner needs that were highlighted in an empirical study with the Malaysian SME software development industry. After the model development, there is a need for independent feedback to show that the model meets its objectives. Consequently, the validation phase is performed by involving a group of software process improvement experts in examining the MSME-SPI model components. Besides, the effectiveness of the MSME-SPI model is validated using an expert panel. Three criteria were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the model namely: usefulness, verifiability, and structure. The results show the model effective to be used by SMEs with minor modifications. The validation phase contributes towards a better understanding and use of the MSME-SPI model by the practitioners in the field. © 2020, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.