An open model for tailoring software processes

While supporting companies in defining or improving software processes we have observed that co-operation between companies is very valuable to quality managers and developers. Although software process improvement results in many benefits in the long term to a company, it also requires an investment in time and resources. With frequent migration of personnel between companies, there is both increased need for defining software processes but also more implicit sharing of knowledge between companies because technical people move knowledge with them from one company to another. In this paper we present an open model for tailoring software processes. It is inspired by the open source model and in the paper we compare our model for tailoring software processes to the open source model. Furthermore, we present ways in which the open model could be implemented and describe possible gains and pitfalls.