“The only way to increase product quality and reduce cost while concurrently improving product development speed is to fundamentally change the development process itself.”

Christopher Meyer   1

This article discusses how, in software development, metrics can provide managers some assurance that the development can be conducted within bounds of cost, schedule, and reliability. 

“While reuse has long been more of a hope than a promise, the greatest opportunity for dramatic productivity and quality improvement will be through improved ways to build new software on the progressively richer foundation of previously produced products.”  Watts S. Humphrey 1

“That phrase, time boxing, has a fine manly ring to it,” the vice president said, grinning broadly. “I like it.”

“What does it mean to you,” we inquired.

“First you box in the development time you allow a project to have,” he answered.

“No more shilly-shallying around. You draw a box on the time line, like this (Figure 1). The project people know they have to deliver at the end of the box.”

What is the minimum of control that will maintain the process? Peter F. Drucker 1