The latest version of QSM’s Performance Benchmark Table is live!

QSM is excited to announce the release of their latest version of the Performance Benchmark Table.  Last updated in 2009, the table provides a high-level reference for benchmarking and estimating IT, Engineering, and Real Time Systems.  It displays industry average duration, effort, staff, and SLOC (or FP) per Person Month for the full range of project sizes encompassed by each trend group. 

The results were analyzed from a database of 1,115 high or moderate confidence projects completed between 2008 and 2012.  Sixteen countries and 52 different languages were represented in this sample.  In addition to the industry average, minimum and maximum values were also provided for each metric to help give a range of possible results.

The project sizes differed somewhat from the previous version to accommodate the new range of sizes present in the data.  Rather than using the same project sizes across trend groups, we selected project sizes specific to each trend.  Since Business projects are typically smaller than Engineering or Real Time projects, this allows readers to select a size relevant to the type of project they’re estimating or benchmarking.  

This tool can be particularly useful to developers and/ or project managers who are new to estimation or do not have historical project data.  

If you were unable to attend our recent webinar, Using Benchmarking to Quantify the Benefits of Process Improvement, a replay is now available.

With increasing pressure to improve quality while cutting costs, process improvement is a top priority for many organizations right now; but once we've implemented a process improvement initiative, how do we accurately measure the benefits? Benchmarking is critical to determining the success of any serious process improvement program. As with any type of measurement program, it requires an initial reference point to measure progress. To set our point of comparison, we first need to perform a benchmark on a contemporary sample of projects that are representative of the typical work that we do. In this webinar, industry expert Larry Putnam, Jr. will take you through the necessary steps to perform a successful benchmark - from collecting quantitative and qualitative data to establish the initial baseline benchmark all the way through to performing follow up benchmarks on new projects and process improvement analysis.

Larry Putnam, Jr. has 25 years of experience using the Putnam-SLIM Methodology. He has participated in hundreds of estimation and oversight service engagements, and is responsible for product management of the SLIM Suite of software measurement tools and customer care programs.

Watch the webinar replay!

On Thursday, Feb. 7, at 1:00 PM EST, Larry Putnam, Jr. will present Using Benchmarking to Quantify the Benefits of Process Improvement.

With increasing pressure to improve quality while cutting costs, process improvement is a top priority for many organizations right now; but once we've implemented a process improvement initiative, how do we accurately measure the benefits? Benchmarking is critical to determining the success of any serious process improvement program. As with any type of measurement program, it requires an initial reference point to measure progress. To set our point of comparison, we first need to perform a benchmark on a contemporary sample of projects that are representative of the typical work that we do. In this webinar, industry expert Larry Putnam, Jr. will take you through the necessary steps to perform a successful benchmark - from collecting quantitative and qualitative data to establish the initial baseline benchmark all the way through to performing follow up benchmarks on new projects and process improvement analysis.

Larry Putnam, Jr. has 25 years of experience using the Putnam-SLIM Methodology. He has participated in hundreds of estimation and oversight service engagements, and is responsible for product management of the SLIM Suite of software measurement tools and customer care programs. Since becoming Co-CEO, Larry has built QSM's capabilities in sales, customer support, product requirements and most recently in creating a world class consulting organization. Larry has delivered numerous speeches at conferences on software estimation and measurement, and has trained - over a five-year period - more than 1,000 software professionals on industry best practice measurement, estimation and control techniques and in the use of the SLIM Suite.

Effort seems like a metric that's very straightforward, but there is a lot of complexity here, particularly if you are performing benchmark analysis. Recently, I was tapped to help out with a benchmark assessment. One of the metrics that the customer wanted to analyze was effort per function point. "Effort" on its own is very vague, and while the customer might know which phases or activities his organization uses, I can't be sure that definition will match what I think he wants. In order to effectively benchmark, we need to make an apples-to-apples comparison by examining what is really behind the effort number, so it was necessary to send the client phase and activity definitions. 

Here are some helpful definitions to help you understand which activities are included in each phase: 

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

-  Albert Einstein

How’s your software measurement program doing?  Is it well funded and supported by management, or do you worry about your job the next time the organization decides it needs to be “leaner and meaner”?  Many measurement programs are cancelled or fade into meaningless obscurity.  Why?  Some things are out of your control; but here are a few that will improve your odds for success: