Modelling an industrial software process using a commercially available tool

Although there has been much interest in process modelling and automation within the software industry, there have been few independent reports of experience gained an the application of this technology to industrial software processes. The paper describes the experience gained modelling an extract from a large industrial software process using a commercially available tool. The purpose of the project was to assess the maturity of process modelling technology and specifically the functionality provided by the tool used. Feedback is given on programming a software process using the underlying notation of the tool, on the issues surrounding the translation from an organisation's process notation to that of a particular tool, and on process modelling and automation issues in general. The conclusions are that while benefits can be gained from an automation effort, modelling and translation between notations can be difficult.