Exploiting ALM and MDE for Supporting Questionnaire-Based Gap Analysis Processes

Gap Analysis is a common approach in industry to evaluate the gaps between the implemented software processes and the requirements suggested by both Process Quality Frameworks and Standards. Gap Analysis processes are usually executed by approaches based on questionnaires that need to be crafted ad-hoc according to specific appraisal goals and submitted to the industrial personnel. The approaches used for developing, compiling and evaluating the answers given to these questionnaires do not follow well-defined methodologies or processes, and lack of adequate tool support. In this paper we aim at understanding the main issues affecting Questionnaire-based Gap Analysis processes in industrial practices. Moreover, we evaluate the feasibility of adopting state-of-the-art software engineering technologies for executing such processes. We propose a novel approach based on Application Lifecycle Management for configuring and enacting Questionnaire-based Gap Analysis processes. The approach exploits Model Driven Engineering for configuring and implementing the Application Lifecycle Management system. This configuration activity is aided by a tool, named GADGET, we developed for modeling the process and automatically transforming it towards the Application Lifecycle Management technology.