Typically software process improvement (SPI) activities address existing development processes. This is in particular the case in established software organizations with defined process models by centralized process control and management. However, often the starting point for such process standards is not clearly understood, and the original assumptions and competitive environment factors for defining the process(es) may have become partially obsolete over the years. Moreover, radical changes in business strategies and technology choices could make the original software process inefficient and even dysfunctional. On  the other hand, startup companies do not have such a process history, but they need to develop their software process from the beginning.

In general, such new software process development can be conducted as follows:

1. Goals (e.g., efficient creation of desired software capabilities at specific cost for the specific users)
2. Strategies (selecting / devicing a suitable process model and practices with appropriate measurements, e.g., Scrum)
3. Focus (e.g., software team in a SME company)

This broad topic is most suitable to be investigated as a case study in an established software organization (in particular under transformation), in a startup company, or as a part of the Software Factory project (where each project team is basically free to develop their own processes). Specific research questions can be set based on the particular needs and interests (e.g., efficiency measures).