Practical Software Metrics for Project Management and Process Improvement [Paperback]

Robert B. Grady (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0137203845 | ISBN-13: 978-0137203840 | Publication Date: May 8, 1992

This application-oriented book shows how to apply proven software metrics and methods to efficiently manage software development and maintenance--to help boost productivity, efficiency, and quality of software projects at every stage of the process. Detailing practical methods throughout, the book covers tips to best measure and present progress, a useful model for understanding organization limitations, possible problems in process improvement illustrated by examples, evidence of what works and what doesn't work, and more. An ideal reference for project managers and professionals responsible for process improvement.n

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This application-oriented book shows how to apply proven software metrics and methods to efficiently manage software development and maintenance--to help boost productivity, efficiency, and quality of software projects at every stage of the process.

From the Back Cover

At last! New experiences and lessons from one of the authors who brought you Software Metrics: Establishing a Company-Wide Program. This exciting book has over 70 charts and graphs from real projects that will help you to manage software projects and process improvements more effectively.

Project managers: Learn through practical examples what to measure and track, which will help you more effectively manage your projects throughout the life cycle. Learn how to measure and present progress. Most importantly, learn why you need to measure and how important it is for you to tie your measurements to visible, agreed-upon project goals.

People responsible for process improvement: Learn a useful model for understanding organizational limitations. Explore the relationship between tools and the potential for achieving improvements. Examine some of the potential problems you might face and see examples of how some of them have been avoided. Finally, discover how metrics can be rolled up into useful, balanced organizational indicators.

This book emphasizes proven practices and results. These include:

• Which software development "rules" are supported by measured evidence
• How measurement should be tightly linked to organizational strategies
• How the metrics that engineers find useful help project managers as well
• What people feel about metrics and what approaches you can take to gain their support
• How metrics are used to achieve continuous process improvement
• Which measures are meaningful for a large organization

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (May 8, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0137203845
• ISBN-13: 978-0137203840
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #694,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy read, valuable desk reference and metrics resource, April 22, 2001

By 

Linda Zarate "IT Ops Consultant" (Azusa, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Practical Software Metrics for Project Management and Process Improvement (Paperback)

I was introduced to Mr. Grady's work when I borrowed a copy of Software Metrics: Establishing a Company-Wide Program. Where that book interwove a storyline into metrics and how they support mature process improvement, this book is more like a desk reference. Mr. Grady has divided this book into two parts: tactical metrics, which are project-oriented, and strategic metrics which address process improvement.

The first part starts with a collection of practical rules of thumb for software managers. This collection of heuristics covers every phase of the development life cycle and are backed up with data gathered during 125 software projects at Hewlett-Packard. An example of one of these rules of thumb is that you will find 1 defect after software has been released into production for every 10 defects caught during testing. This, of course, is purely empirical, but is an interesting rule that I mentally filed away. Some highlights of the first part are: a good introduction to the goal-question-metric approach to determining what to measure based on your objectives, and a focus on project goals of maximizing customer satisfaction while minimizing project schedule and costs, and product defects. This is followed by chapters that address each of these goals. One of the best chapters in the first part of this book is work analysis. While I am more focused on the service delivery side of metrics (after the project has produced something that has been released into production), some of the metrics were very valuable to me - especially the ones that revolved around testing and QA.

Part 2 is squarely in my domain - production and application support, and service delivery. The best chapter, Dissecting Software Failures, was one of the most insightful descriptions of the defect life cycle I have ever read. It fully addresses defect data collection and analysis, and how to use this data to effect process and product improvement. Even better is the chapter on investing in process improvement. Here Mr. Grady gives a workable approach to using the defect data to developing a business case for process improvement. He guides you through developing a plan, selecting from among an array of solutions, and case studies.

This book is a quick read. It's main value lies in the many tables and facts provided on nearly every page. I use it as a desk reference, especially the appendices that summarize defect origins, types and modes, and metrics definitions. It spans both project and production metrics, and is as valuable to project managers as it is to application support professionals.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable information for your development process, May 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Practical Software Metrics for Project Management and Process Improvement (Paperback)

While the book (like most other books of its kind) is a very high-level overview of its subject matter, it discusses many new and compelling ideas that you should find of great use for your own development efforts. Of particular note is the author's discussion of the FURPS+ system, in which functional and nonfunctional requirements are melded into an easily-readable matrix, and all requirements are assigned numerical grades for priority and technical risk. (FURPS+ was developed at HP, where the author works.) And project leaders should pay careful attention to the chapters on project phase metrics, where the author provides average project percentages for the major phases of development.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seamless integration of development and project activities, May 18, 2002

By 

Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical Software Metrics for Project Management and Process Improvement (Paperback)

This is Grady's first book and it sets the tone for his later two books, Successful Software Process Improvement and Software Metrics: Establishing a Company-wide Program. What makes this book so important is that it is one of the first to integrate software metrics with project management metrics.

What I particularly like about this book includes:

(1) Complete view of metrics that matter, and the chronicle of how these metrics evolved in a large company (Hewlett-Packard).
(2) Recognition that any software metrics initiative extends beyond the project that delivers the software - Grady examines post-production metrics and ties them back to not only the development life cycle, but the product life cycle as well. Ten years after this book was published there are still large organizations that are struggling with doing this, yet Grady's book provides a clear roadmap to achieving this elusive goal.
(3) Continuous improvement is the central theme in this book. Grady does not stop with collecting and analyzing metrics, but how to effectively employ them to spot improvement opportunities and develop a strategy to effect those improvements.

The book is written as both a story of how a successful metrics program evolved, complete with anecdotes that will prove helpful, and as a collection of data that illustrates what is and is not important to a comprehensive metrics program.

Among all of Grady's books I like this one the best; however, I recommend that his other two also be carefully read if software process improvement is your goal. He has much to say and backs it up with data and a chronicle of his experiences from real projects.