Implementation specification for software process improvement supportive knowledge management tool

Software process improvement (SPI) is a long-term journey, which is made comfortable by many means. The most dominant and preferred plan is a knowledge driven methodology with which software development organisations are experimenting. To have a look and feel of knowledge and its management, it has become essential to have a standardised knowledge management tool (KMT) that comprises specifications like-acquisition, representation, sharing and deploying. Although several tools and techniques are available for managing knowledge to solve domain problems, it is felt in the knowledge society that no standard KM tools exist that would facilitate SPI. In this piece of implementation work, the authors outline the features that are deemed significant to implement a KMT that drives the journey of SPI. Four process areas are chosen and four subsystems are identified in covering these process areas. A series of studies conducted among organisations requiring the support of a KMT in making a decisive SPI initiative are also discussed with elaborate and significant results. Implications of this work demands the cooperation of software development companies with the research community in finding a better approach to their improvement program.