I Simposio de Postgrado 2023. Ingeniería, ciencias e innovación

I SIMPOSIO 2023 Moreover, it is not clear how the industry deals with the pre-contract process; particularly, when addressing the pre-selling of small software projects. This article presents an exploratory study (Figure 1) that involves 14 Chilean software companies, in which we performed qualitative research to understand how they conduct the pre-contract process of small projects. The results were arranged in a model, named the Pre-Contract Process (PCP) model (Figure 2), which identifies the most prevalent actors (Figure 3), activities, outcomes, and a workflow according to the best practices used by these companies; as well as the instruments used by the interviewees during the pre-contract process (Figure 4). These results extend those reported in the literature; particularly, the PCP model contributes with more in depth information about how to conduct the macro-activities in practices. Although this process is still preliminary, it can be used to inform the design of pre- contract activities in software companies and educational institutions. Future software engineers and practitioners can take advantage of it to address their own project pre-contract processes. Figure 1. Structure of the research process followed in this study. Figure 1: Structure of the research process followed in this study. Figure 2. Software project pre-contrast process (PCP model). Figure 2: Software project pre-contrast process (PCP model). ( CONTINÚA DE PÁGINA ANTERIOR )