Using Process Tailoring to Manage Software Development Challenges

To ensure high-quality software processes and leverage best practices, project managers strive to tailor standard processes such as the rational unified process or those developed within their own organizations. Software process tailoring is the activity of tuning a process to meet the needs of a specific project. Despite the critical role that tailoring software processes plays in ensuring project success, few guidelines on it are available for practitioners. The authors conducted an empirical study in two organizations and developed a framework to guide process tailoring.