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Issue: 012  |  March 2009
Improving Productivity
“What is our supplier’s achieved level of productivity on ‘difficult’ projects? How does this compare with other experiences in the industry?” An SMS Case Study on an outcome-based approach to managing outsourced supply.




Delivering Value from IT investment

Recent statistics suggest the typical business spends 80% of it’s IT budget on “keeping the lights on” and 20% on innovation and new development.

Little wonder the business perceives little benefit from investment in IT. Given the speed of technological developments, this means most business IT departments are running to stand still.

Many quality and improvement initiatives fail to make this key connection between IT Service Management and the delivery of an effective service to the business from the IT department.

IT Service Management really isn't about complying with a particular model or standard (ITIL, ISO 20000, CMMI SVC). It's about ensuring the maximum value for money from the overall business spend on IT by systematically building on good practice and eliminating wasteful practice.

If this just seems like common sense to you, then join Jill Pritchet, Alison Marsden, Roger Gamage and Stephen Elston-Jenkins for the next in the SMS Webinar series:

A Common Sense Approach to IT Service Management Webinar
, Thursday 26th March, 10.30 am

contact events@measuresw.com for more information.

 

SMS WEBINAR
26 March 2009
A Common Sense Approach to IT Service Management
SMIF
21st May 2009
Practical Performance Improvement
BCS SPIN
26th May 2009
9th International SPICE Conference
2 - 4 June 2009
SEPG Europe
9 - 12 June 2009
Perform at a Higher Level
 
How effective is your product development?
How much more effective could it be? Bob Marshall’s questionnaire offers a quick-look self-assessment of how effective your business is at software and product development.

Effective Metrics
Good news from the COSMIC Global Benchmarking Initiative for businesses using the most recent and most effective of the functional size measurement techniques.


SMS News
Download a copy of the first in SMS’ new Webinar series, Outcome-Based Contract Management presented by Grant Rule.



SMS White Papers 

SMIF
Contact events@measuresw.com for a copy of the presentations delivered at the Software Measurement and Improvement Forum: Effective Estimating held on 19th February.

  Some interesting areas of discussion.
...a very relevant session.
 
  "SMIF participant feedback"
 

Practical approaches to performance improvement which deliver real business benefit.
The next SMIF will be on 21st May 2009 at Intellect, Russell Square London.

The programme of speakers will be announced shortly.

Attendance at SMIF is free, but must be registered in advance.



Flying start to 2009 COSMIC Benchmarking Initiative

COSMIC group leader Charles Symons announced a flying start to an initiative to increase the COSMIC data included in the ISBGS benchmarking database. This is good news for businesses using or thinking of using COSMIC, the most recent and most effective of the functional size measurement techniques, as it will improve the quality, extent and value of ISBSG’s COSMIC benchmarks.

Contributors to this initiative will benefit from:

  •     A free analysis of all COSMIC-measured projects in the ISBSG
  •     More refined comparisons than ever before
  •     Valuable estimating data & insights
  •     A report of each project you submit comparing performance to similar projects
  •     Analyses to focus attention on opportunities to improve effectiveness & efficiency

Publication of the COSMIC Functional Size Measurement Method Version 3.0 (Nov-07) marked a new level of maturity in software measurement. 2008 saw the 10th anniversary of the Common Software Measurement International Consortium. Acceptance has grown, with many new users in Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK & USA.

Increased use has led to increased demand for benchmark data. In 2009 COSMIC and the International Software Benchmarking Standards Group < www.isbsg.org > will establish more refined benchmarks, to increase value for those submitting data, and for the general user community. Users are encouraged to submit data for around 5 development or enhancement projects, although even short ‘sprints’ and Requests For Change will be useful.

Closing date for contributions to the 2009 COSMIC Global Benchmarking Initiative is 1st May 2009. Data for 1 or more projects should be entered on the ‘COSMIC/ISBSG Concise Data Collection Questionnaire (CDCQ)’ http://www.isbsg.org/isbsgnew.nsf

Submit the form before May 1st to ensure inclusion in Release 11 of the ISBSG database (later submissions will go into Rel. 12). It takes just a few hours to enter the data. There is no limit to the number of projects you submit – the more you provide, the more value you will add & receive.

ISBSG has successfully maintained confidentiality for many years, and guarantees all data you submit will be anonymised. No-one will be able to link any data to your organization. There is no risk of you losing competitive advantage. The more data submitted, the more value can be delivered to participating organizations.