Data warehouses are databases devoted to analytical processing. They are used to support decision-making activities in most modern business settings, when complex data sets have to be studied and analyzed. The technology for analytical processing assumes that data are presented in the form of simple data marts, consisting of a well-identified collection of facts and data analysis dimensions (star schema). Despite the wide diffusion of data warehouse technology and concepts, we still miss methods that help and guide the designer in identifying and extracting such data marts out of an enterprisewide information system, covering the upstream, requirement-driven stages of the design process. Many existing methods and tools support the activities related to the efficient implementation of data marts on top of specialized technology (such as the ROLAP or MOLAP data servers). This paper presents a method to support the identification and design of data marts. The method is based on three basic steps. A first top-down step makes it possible to elicit and consolidate user requirements and expectations. This is accomplished by exploiting a goal-oriented process based on the Goal/Question/Metric paradigm developed at the University of Maryland. Ideal data marts are derived from user requirements. The second bottom-up step extracts candidate data marts

Software developers are increasingly exploiting the Web as a document management system. However, the Web has some limitations, since it is not aware of the structure and semantics associated to pieces of information (e.g., the fact that a document is a requirement specification) and of the semantics of relationships between pieces of information (e.g., the fact that a requirement specification document may be associated to some design specification document). In the Labyrinth project we enhance the capabilities of the Web as a document management system by means of a semantic model (called schema, in analogy with database schemas), which is associated to Web documents. This model is itself a Web document and can be accessed and navigated through a simple Web browser.

This paper presents an experience in software process assessment that has been conducted in a mid-size Italian company.The assessment has been carried out using the CMM(Capability Maturity Model) and taking into account also the indications offered by QIP (Quality Improvement Paradigm).The paper discusses the resr.dtso ftheassessmen tandthe lessons we have learned from running it.It particular, it argues that it is necessa~to broaden the scope of assessment methods, and to evaluate the applicability to software processes of the experiences, methods, and techniques developed in other business domains.