Getting Started

SPEM 2.0 is one of the modeling tools integrated with Enterprise Architect.

"The Software and Systems Process Engineering Metamodel (SPEM) is a process engineering meta-model as well as conceptual framework, which can provide the necessary concepts for modeling, documenting, presenting, managing, interchanging, and enacting development methods and processes. An implementation of this meta-model would be targeted at process engineers, project leads, project and program managers who are responsible for maintaining and implementing processes for their development organizations or individual projects."

(Quoted from the Object Management Group (OMG) Software & Systems Process Engineering Meta-Model Specification (Version 2.0, April 01 2008))

SPEM is a Profile of UML, which uses UML as a notation and takes an object-oriented approach. To accommodate UML 2, the SPEM specification was upgraded to 2.0 in April 2008. SPEM 2.0 focuses on providing the additional information structures that you require for processes modeled with UML 2 Activities or BPMN/BPDM, to describe an actual development process.

Selecting the Perspective

Enterprise Architect partitions the tool's extensive features into Perspectives, which ensures that you can focus on a specific task and work with the tools you need without the distraction of other features. To work with the Software & Systems Process Engineering Meta-Model you first need to select the Perspective:

<perspective name> > Management > SPEM

Setting the Perspective ensures that the SPEM diagrams, their tool boxes and other features of the Perspective will be available by default.

Example Diagram

An example diagram provides a visual introduction to the topic and allows you to see some of the important elements and connectors that are created in specifying or describing a Software or System Engineering method or process including: Process Activities, Milestones, Team Profiles, Work Product Definitions, Steps, Tool and Task Definitions Guidance Metrics and more.

Language Overview

This topic introduces you to the main concepts of the language including its structure, architecture and the elements and connectors that are used to create SPEM models.

Toolbox Pages

The Toolbox pages contain the palette of elements and connectors that can be used to create software or system process engineering metamodels. When you create a process metamodel you will use these items to create drawings of the process you are defining.

More Information

This section provides useful links to other topics and resources that you might find useful when working with the Software & Systems Process Engineering Meta-Model tool features.