Using a Reference Domain Ontology for Developing a Software Measurement Strategy for High Maturity Organizations

Software measurement is a key process for software process improvement (SPI). Measurement provides useful information for organizations making decisions that impact their business performance. At high maturity levels, such as CMMI levels 4 and 5, SPI involves carrying out statistical process control (SPC), which requires measures and data suitable for this context. However, measurement problems are pointed as one of the main obstacles for a successful implementation of SPC in SPI efforts. With this scenario in mind, we proposed a strategy to help software organizations prepare themselves regarding measurement aspects in order to implement SPC. The strategy is made of three components. One of them is a reference software measurement ontology. In this paper, we discuss how this ontology helped us to develop the other components and how the use of these components aided to evaluate the conceptualization defined by the ontology.