Software Management is the art and science of planning and leading software projects. It’s the Program Manager (PM) and Software Engineers’ job to manage the development of software and should use standard project management techniques to managing a software project. In the DoD, software management is called Software Acquisition Management. It includes the management and execution of software activities throughout the lifecycle of a program.
Software Management Activities
These software main activities include:
- Managing the Software Development Process
- Developing the Software Development Plan (SDP)
- Developing the Software Resource Data Report (SDRP)
- Choosing a Software Development Approach
- Avoiding Standard Software Risks
- Using Open Source Software
Other tasks in Software Management include:
- Developing Software Metrics
- Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
- Software Planning in Systems Engineering Plan (SEP)
- Developing Software RFP Content
- Software Risk Estimation
- Software Size Estimate
- Software Estimation Process Consideration
- Estimating Reuse Feasibility
- Software System Best Practices
- Using Government Furnished Software
Software Management Main References
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Checklist: Software Activity Map
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Handbook: USAF Weapon Systems Software Management Guidebook – 15 Aug 2008
Software System Safety
It is essential to perform System Safety Engineering tasks on safety-critical systems to reduce safety risk in all aspects of a program. These tasks include software system safety activities involving the management, design, code, test, independent verification and validation (IV&V), operation and maintenance, and change control functions within the software engineering development and deployment processes.
Software maturity strategy should be discussed in the Acquisition Strategy.
AcqLinks and References:
- USAF Weapon Systems Software Management Guidebook – 15 Aug 2008
- Open Technology Development (OTD): Lessons Learned & Best Practices for Military Software – 16 May 2011
- Mil-STD-498 “Software Development and Documentation” – 5 Dec 1994
- MIL-STD-498 “Application and Reference Guidebook” – 3 Jan 1996
- Defense Acquisition Guidebook (DAG)
- Software Development Plan Information Outline
- Joint Software Systems Safety Engineering Handbook (JSSSEH) – 27 Aug 2010
- DoD ESI Requirements Questionnaire and Checklist- 6 June 2016
- Template: Software Development Plan – SPAWAR
- Journal: Journal of Software Technology
- Website: DoD Enterprise Software Integration
Updated: 7/30/2021
Rank: G33