© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002. Internationally, as an aid to the improvement of software quality, there is a growing interest in the improvement of software process. This initiative, if ignored, may contribute to a reduction in the advantage which Irish companies have had in the international marketplace in recent times. As much of the software in Ireland is developed by small companies, this sector not only should be aware of, but must become involved in available software process improvement initiatives. This paper presents a list of characteristics which must exist for software process models to be useful to such companies. A model, the Software Process Matrix, which demonstrates these characteristics and is based on Quality Function Deployment and has been developed and implemented. The development of the model and its implementation in one small software development company is discussed.