This paper outlines the details of nine case studies involving the pilot usage of the new ISO/IEC 29110 Lifecycle Profiles for Very Small Entities standards and guides, which were specifically designed to address the standardization needs of Very Small Entities. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate the early success stories from pilot trials of this new and emerging standard. The lessons learnt from these case studies should assist the adoption of this new standard in an industrial setting.

Around the world, the importance of Very Small Entities (VSEs), organisations having up to 25 people, has been constantly increasing. Worldwide, VSEs represent over 92% of the software industry. Therefore, two main needs can be highlighted: a) providing VSEs with resources to produce high‐quality software, and b) training software engineering undergraduates in proven practices to produce high‐quality software within the given schedule and budget. A logical way to meet these needs is transfering proven practices provided by software engineering standards. However, transferring the knowledge of software engineering standards is not always an easy task. The ISO/IEC 29110 is a series of international standards and guides that provide codified knowledge related to the software development process. The series was specifically developed to be used by VSEs. This study presents an exploratory analysis, conducted in 12 Mexican VSEs, which implemented the software Basic profile of the ISO/IEC 29110, to identify the pace at which they can adopt this standard to their environment. Besides, the benefits and difficulties encountered are provided. The results can be relevant for other VSEs interested in implementing this standard. Even if the exploratory analysis was performed in the VSEs of Mexico, this analysis can be of interest in other countries. The results obtained can help other VSEs that are interested in the adoption of this international standard to reduce the barriers to a successful implementation.

Reports on the ISO/IEC 29110-series standards and guides that are designed to help very small entities develop software or systems to improve their competitiveness. A recent survey showed that they provide many benefits to developers and their customers.

Hoy en día las empresas muy pequeñas de desarrollo de software tienen una gran presencia en la industria del software en cualquier país, donde alrededor del 94% está formado por este tipo de empresas. Esta situación resalta la creciente necesidad de mejorar sus procesos de desarrollo de software que les permitan desarrollar productos y servicios de calidad. Para lograrlo se deben cumplir dos requisitos: (1) integrar una cultura de procesos y mejora continua en las organizaciones, y (2) dotar de personal altamente cualificado que tenga el conocimiento y habilidades para trabajar exitosamente con modelos y/o estándares utilizados en las organizaciones. Este artículo presenta la experiencia de la implementación del estándar ISO/IEC 29110 para reforzar el proceso de desarrollo de software de cuatro centros de desarrollo de software de universidades mexicanas como una solución para abordar con los dos requisitos previamente mencionados.

A 400-employee Canadian division of a large American engineering company has developed and implemented project management processes for their small-scale and medium-scale projects. The company was already using a robust project management process for their large-scale projects. The objectives of this project were to reduce cost overruns and project delays, standardize practices to facilitate the integration of new managers, increase the level of customer satisfaction and to reduce risk-related planning deviations. For this project, the engineering organization used the ISO/IEC 29110 standards developed specifically for very small entities, i.e. organizations, having up to 25 people. An analysis of the cost and the benefits of the implementation of small and medium scale project management processes was performed using the ISO economic benefits of standard methodology. The engineering enterprise estimated that, over a three-year timeframe, savings of about 780,000$ would be realized due to the implementation of project management processes using the ISO/IEC 29110 standard.