Decision making support in CMMI process areas using multiparadigm simulation modeling

Estimates of task duration or the amount of resources needed in software projects are often very inaccurate. To avoid this problem, project management must be effective and dynamic, that is, being proactive rather than reactive. Among the tasks needed in this approach, reassigning resources, hiring new personnel or adapting estimates to new situations can be found. In this paper we propose to apply multiparadigm simulation modeling in the scope of two process areas of one of the most used software process maturity frameworks such as CMMI, with the aim of supporting decision making and determining the optimal values of cost and schedule according to the management needs. The paper describes the model built and a case study with the simulation outputs.