Seminar: Product and Process Measurement

Nowadays, functionality and innovation are increasingly driven by software. That is, software quality becomes essential for business success. However, guaranteeing dedicated software qualities (such as maintainability, reliability, or portability) and controlling the processes for software development (e.g., in terms of efficiency and effectiveness) is a challenging task.

Moreover, systematic evaluation of product and process qualities is one key requirement of process maturity models such as CMMI or SPICE.

In practice, being able to identify the right metrics for measuring products and processes and to interpret measurement data is the basis for efficient project and quality management.

In this two-day seminar, you will learn about common metrics for systematically evaluating different quality characteristics of software products and processes, how to select and use the right metrics for your environment, and how to integrate measurement systems into your organization.

Practical exercises will guide you in defining measurement goals and metrics, selecting metrics, collecting measurement data, and evaluating products and processes regarding dedicated quality characteristics.

This seminar mainly addresses people who need to make measurement-based decisions in their organization with respect to product and process quality.

Introduction to SW Measurement

• Introduction and Motivation
• Measurement Process
• Goal-oriented Measurement
• Related Work (BSC, 6s, CMMI, SPICE)
• Exercise: Goal-oriented Measurement

Measuring Software Products

• Size Measurement
• Design and Code Complexity
• Requirements Traceability and Volatility
• Reliability / Reliability Growth Models
• Quality Models (ISO 25000)
• Exercise: IFPUG Function Points

Measuring Software Processes

• Project Effort and Schedule Adherence
• Defect Flow Models
• Productivity and Benchmarking
• Project Effort Estimation
• Exercise: COCOMO II

Strategic Software Measurement

• The GQM⁺Strategies^® Method
• Data Collection, Analysis, Visualization
• Cost-/Benefit of Measurement
• Exercise: The GQM⁺Strategies^® Method