Application of an Information Technology Model to Software Engineering Environments
Abstract The Information Technology Engineering and Measurement (ITEM) Model has been developed to describe the information processing activities of an enterprise, both the automated tasks performed by computer and the manual processes performed by the information technology staff of an organization. In this article, the ITEM model is applied to the description of software engineering environments as extensions to two previously developed reference models, the NIST/ ECMA framework (i.e., “toaster”) model and the Project Support Environment reference model. The ability to measure the degree of automation within a process, the ability to define the complexity of a process, and the ability to measure technology transition via a concept called technological drift are all metrics that can evolve from this model.