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Capability: What is it about?

Prof. Dr. Oscar Pastor

Department of Information Systems and Computation

Valencia University of Technology, Spain

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Table of Contents

• Vagueness of the concept

• What is a Capability?

• How to use the notion for improving

Software Process?

• Some answers as conclusion…

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Does the Capability term exist

in your language?

• Yes, in english

• capability /ˌkeɪpəˈbɪlɪtɪ/ n ( pl -ties) the quality of

being capable; ability

• the quality of being susceptible to the use or

treatment indicated: the capability of a metal to be

fused

• (usually plural) a characteristic that may be

developed; potential aptitude

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Does the Capability term exist

in your language?

1. capacity /kəˈpæsɪtɪ/ n ( pl -ties) the ability or power

to contain, absorb, or hold

2. the amount that can be contained; volume: a

capacity of six gallons

3. the ability to understand or learn; aptitude; capability:

he has a great capacity for Greek

4. the ability to do or produce (often in the phrase at

capacity): the factory's output was not at capacity

5. a specified position or function

6. a measure of the electrical output of a piece of

apparatus such as a motor, generator, or

accumulator

7. a former name for capacitance

8. the number of words or characters that can be stored

in a particular storage device

9. legal competence: the capacity to make a will

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Does the Capability term exist

in your language?

• ability /əˈbɪlɪtɪ/ n ( pl -ties) possession of

the qualities required to do something;

necessary skill, competence, or power

• considerable proficiency; natural

capability: a man of ability

• (plural) special talents

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Does the Capability term exist

in your language?

• Not, in spanish

• capacidad • Talento o inteligencia:

quedó patente su capacidad para los idiomas.

• habilidad • f. Capacidad, inteligencia y disposición para realizar

algo: tiene una habilidad endiablada para liarte.

• Lo que se realiza con gracia y destreza:

nos mostró sus habilidades al volante.

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Some “uses” of the notion in

practice

• The IKEA metaphor

• An Enterprise Modeling-oriented /

Organizational perspective

• A Military projection

• Some “personal”, delicate decisions…

• Even an ISO standardization use…Quality Definition of ISO 25000: The capability of a software product to satisfy stated and implied needs when used under specified condition.

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Why should we use Capability-

driven methods?

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The strong need of reaching an

“Ontological Commitment”

• What does exactly mean to have both the

“capacity” and the “ability” to do

something?

• The CaaS offer is a precise answer:

Capability is an ability to continuously deliver

business value in dynamically changing

circumstances

Capability is the ability and capacity that enable an

enterprise to achieve a goal in a certain context.

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A question

• Is this definition acceptable for the

Capability community? (provided that this

community exists!)

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A practical projection

• The adequate link of goal, process and

context gives a precise direction.

• Context set and context situation

(example).pdf

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Methodologically speaking…

1. Let’s fix your organization goals (Goal Model)

2. Let’s complement it with the process model

that operationalizes goals (BPM-like Model)

3. Let’s add the context perspective to plan the

right answer for a modified context (Context

Model)

IT Development offering

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Tool support

• Such a Capability-based working framework makes

sense, including:

1. A Goal-modeling component

2. A Process-modeling component

3. A Context-modeling component

• All the three properly integrated through the Capability

Metamodel, the “conceptual glue” of the method.

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Going back to our initial

“application examples”…

• The IKEA metaphor

• An Enterprise Modeling-oriented /

Organizational perspective

• A Military projection

• Some “personal”, delicate decisions…

• Even an ISO standardization use…

• So then?

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• Probably because Goals, Process and dynamicContexts are not properly and efficiently integrated?

• Assembler, Third Generation Languages, Relational Databases, Declarative Programming, Methodologies and CASE tools(Structured Analysis and Design, Object-Oriented Modeling, UML-based), Component-based Programming, Aspect-based, Agent-Oriented, Extreme Programming, Agile Methods, RequirementsEngineering, Organizational Modeling… -- CAPABILITIES AS A SERVICE!!!

• Sounds good!!! We are just trying to go ahead with this ASDENCA initiaitive…

• Adoption requires Tools!!!!

Why do many Software Systems and

Applications fail to meet the needs?

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CaaS/CDD in a Nutshell

“To develop an information system is

necessary and sufficient to define the

capabilities that it must fulfil”

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Thank You!