Project controls are the data gathering, management, and analytical processes used to predict, understand and constructively influence the time and cost outcomes of a project or program to assist effective management and decision making.”
Process Instrumentations Measuring, positioning, recording, and controlling are key parameters for all industrial processes.
It provides an efficient means to increase plant efficiency and improve product quality.
Software metrics are used to implement the activities and products of the software development process.
Hence, the quality of the software products and the achievements in the development process can be determined using the software metrics.
The Seven Core Metrics
Software metrics are used to implement the activities and products of the software development process. Hence, the quality of the software products and the achievements in the development process can be determined using the software metrics.
Three are management indicators and four quality indicators.
Management Indicators:
1.Work and progress(work performed over time)
2.Budgeted cost and expenditures(cost incurred over time)
3.Staffing and team dynamics(personnel changes over time)
Quality Indicators:
1. Change traffic and stability(change traffic over time)
2. Breakage and modularity(average breakage per change over time)
3. Rework and adaptability(average rework per change over time)
4. Meantime between failures(MTBF) and maturity (defect rate over time)
Management Indicators
The management indicators i.e., technical progress, financial status and staffing progress are used to determine whether a project is on budget and on schedule. The management indicators that indicate financial status are based on the earned value system.
Work and progress
This metric measures the work performed over time. Work is the effort to be accomplished to complete a certain set of tasks. The various activities of an iterative development project can be measured by defining a planned estimate of the work in an objective measure, then tracking progress (work completed overtime) against that plan.
The default perspectives of this metric are:
Software architecture team: – Use cases demonstrated.
Software development team: – SLOC under baseline change management,
SCOs closed Software assessment team: – SCOs opened, test hours executed and evaluation criteria meet.
Software management team: – milestones completed.
Budgeted cost and expenditures
These metric measures the cost incurred over time. Budgeted cost is the planned expenditure profile over the life cycle of the project.
To maintain management control, measuring cost expenditures over the project life cycle is always necessary.
Tracking financial progress takes on an organization-specific format. Financial performance can be measured by the use of an earned value system, which provides highly detailed cost and schedule insight.
The basic parameters of an earned value system, expressed in units of dollars, are as follows:
Expenditure Plan – It is the planned spending profile for a project over its planned schedule.
Actual progress – It is the technical accomplishment relative to the planned progress underlying the spending profile.
Earned value: It is the value that represents the planned cost of the actual progress.
Cost variance: It is the difference between the actual cost and the earned value.
Schedule variance: It is the difference between the planned cost and the earned value. Of all parameters in an earned value system, actual progress is the most subjective
Assessment: Because most managers know exactly how much cost they have incurred and how many schedules they have used, the variability in making accurate assessments is centered on the actual progress assessment. The default perspectives of this metric are cost per month, full-time staff per month, and the percentage of budget expended.
Staffing and team dynamics
Iterative development should start with a small team until the risk in the requirements and architecture have been suitably resolved.
Depending on the overlap of the iterations and other project-specific circumstances, staffing can vary.
For long-lived and continuously improved products might require important releases and kind of updates.
Quality Indicators:
1.Change traffic and stability(change traffic over time)
2.Breakage and modularity(average breakage per change over time)
3.Rework and adaptability(average rework per change over time)
4.Meantime between failures(MTBF) and maturity (defect rate over time)