What is a software process? A software process is a set of project phases, stages, methods, techniques, and practices that people employ to develop and maintain software and its associated artifacts (plans, documents, models, code, test cases, manuals, etc.). Not only do you need a software process, you need one that is proven to work in practice a software process tailored to meet your exact needs.

Why do you need a software process? An effective software process will enable your organization to increase its productivity when developing software. First, by understanding the fundamentals of how software is developed, you can make intelligent decisions, such as knowing to stay away from SnakeOil v2.0 the wonder tool that claims to automate fundamental portions of the software process. Yes, tools are important, but they must support and accommodate the chosen process, and they should not introduce too much overhead. Second, it enables you to standardize your efforts, promoting reuse, repeatability, and consistency between project teams. Third, it provides an opportunity for you to introduce industry best practices such as code inspections, configuration management, change control, and architectural modeling to your software organization. Fourth, a defined software process establishes a baseline approach for greater consistency and future enhancements.

An effective software process will also improve your organization's maintenance and support efforts also referred to as production efforts in several ways. First, it should define how to manage change and appropriately allocate maintenance changes to future releases of your software, streamlining...