Slicing the V-Model -- Reduced Effort, Higher Flexibility

Abstract

Companies requiring a formal software process model tend to choose the V-model. Having its advantages in a strong focus on verification and validation, the main drawbacks of the V-model are the need to create a large amount of documentation, to keep this documentation continuously updated and to manage trace ability of requirements implementation and testing. As it is based on the waterfall process model the timing behavior of the V-model is considered to be stiff. Additional complexity arises whenever teams work together in globally distributed environments. All these aspects reduce the software productivity of the teams when using the V-model. It is known that agile processes solve some of the mentioned problems. However, agile processes are not always accepted in formal environments, e.g., if certification bodies need to approve safety critical developments. This article proposes a new approach, called "sliced V-model", where documents are split into work items and these work items are linked between the documents, forming small and independent "V" shapes. Working with such so-called "V" slices downsizes the efforts for keeping documents updated, simplifies the management of trace ability and increases flexibility. Since the sliced V-model requires the utilization of a web-based repository, it is easy to apply in globally distributed teams. An example of successful implementation in a globally operating industry company is shown.