| Report Summary: |
Software development projects have a long and storied history of failure. In fact, 82% of projects today run late, while errors cost 80% of the average project budget to fix (The Standish Group). Certainly no other business process today is allowed to endure this sort of failure. But software development is often left to chance, despite the significant cost and importance of the process.
Why are software projects so prone to failure? In large part, it’s because of a profound lack of visibility and transparency into development processes. And this lack of visibility only increases with the complexity of projects and physical distribution of teams. This means that projects that are sent offshore are even more challenged when it comes to visibility, transparency and control.
Of course, no metrics program is a silver-bullet solution. To be effective, metrics must be properly planned, managed and acted upon. What is measured, how it’s collected and how it’s interpreted are the difference between brilliant insights and blind alleys on the path to metrics-driven software development. This whitepaper discusses the five essential elements of software development metrics success, providing a framework for planning a metrics program within your organization. |