The Adoption of Software Process Improvement Programs in the English-Speaking Caribbean

Managing and improving the processes used to develop software products is widely accepted as one of the remedies to overcome the problem of poor quality systems being delivered. As a result, the IS community has adopted several software process improvement (SPI) programs. The tenets of these programs are grounded in the belief that a mature development process can increase the likelihood of producing high quality software products with the requisite requirements which should add business value. However, small firms in developing countries like the English-speaking Caribbean (ESC) are not aware nor adopting these SPI programs because they are seen as costly, time consuming and disruptive; hence, not realizing the potential benefits. This study examined the awareness, adoption and benefits of SPI programs in ESC software development firms. The result found that a slight majority (54.5%) of firms in the region are aware of SPI programs, with only 20% of those who are aware using any form of SPI programs in the development of software. These findings reinforces the need for SPI training in the ESC to articulate the compelling need for a change towards the adoption and use of SPI programs in software development.