Towards a software engineering approach to the deployment and implementation of scheduling systems

Most of the academic studies consider their scheduling proposals in isolation from, or with a very limited perspective on, the application context. As a result, several obstacles and drawbacks can be identified in relation to Scheduling Support Systems (SSSs). Some of the most significant ones are: (i) Many relevant ifunctionalities are ignored, thus preventing the use of the systems in real situations, (ii) The role of users is mostly disregarded; (iii) Little guidance is given to aid results' interpretation, diagnosis and/or improvement, (iv) Integration with other applications is overlooked, (v) Very few non-functional requirements are considered; therefore, the quality of most SSS is quite modest. In order to overcome these obstacles, this contribution proposes a systemic approach to the development, implementation and deployment of SSS.