![]() |
|
Shop the new tech.book(store)
New! Introducing the tech.book(store), a hub for Software Developers and Architects, Networking Administrators, TPMs, and other technology professionals to find highly-rated and highly-relevant career resources. Shop books on programming and big data, or read this week's blog posts by authors and thought-leaders in the tech industry. > Shop now |
Software by Numbers is a significant new contribution to value-based, financially responsible software engineering...
—Barry Boehm, Ph.D., Director, USC Center for Software Engineering, Creator of COCOMO and Spiral Model
Link software development to value creation and optimize ROI.
Ultimately, software development is about creating value—yet, all too often, software fails to deliver the business value customers need. This book will help you change that, by linking software development directly to value creation. You'll learn exactly how to identify which features add value and which don't—and refocus your entire development process on delivering more value, more rapidly.
Software by Numbers shows you how to:
Whatever methodology you're already using—whether it's RUP or XP—this book shows how to achieve the goals that matter most to your business: reduced risk, better cash flow, and higher ROI.
MARK DENNE is a Partner with consultancy firm Accenture, specializing in IT Transformation. He previously managed Sun Microsystems' Java Center in New York City leading architects working with financial services, media, and retail clients. He was Sun's chief architect for Citibank's financial services portal, voted the world's best online banking portal by Forbes and Yahoo! As head of software R&D for Computer Automation Europe, he invented the SABRE business-oriented 4GL.
DR. JANE CLELAND-HUANG is Assistant Professor at DePaul University's School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems, and Associate Director of DePaul's Institute for Software Engineering. Her research interests include process models, requirements engineering, and traceability. She currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at DePaul, supervises an active research program, and has published several papers in leading research journals.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
The authors describe an Incremental Funding Method (IFM) for scheduling incremental development of software which optimizes the Return on Investment (ROI) by having the requirements engineered into Minimum Marketable Features (MMF) with concrete, monetary value.
The book is very light (less than 200 pages) but packed with interesting material. I read most of the book during a flight from Finland to Germany and finished the book on my way home. Despite the minimal page count, the authors manage to explain why their method is desperately needed and how it fits to existing software processes such as RUP and XP. They also describe the business case for incremental architecture and different strategies for sequencing MMFs and Architectural Elements (AE) for maximum ROI over the project's lifetime.
The only downside I found for this book is that I would've needed some more baby-steps support for the actual calculations (sequence-adjusted net present values etc.). I'm sure others will be hoping to see some more real world examples of feature deconstruction and sequencing as well. On the other hand, I really appreciate the fact that the authors made the effort of putting up a spreadsheet online for supporting their method.
Overall, an excellent book. Highly recommended.