Software Development Metrics

Managers and team leads can be blindsided by delivery issues they can't see coming when the things that keep them informed aren't being measured. Successful teams select and use practical metrics for managing projects and tracking process improvement that align with their organizational objectives and software development method. Software Development Metrics is a handbook for anyone who needs to track and guide software development and delivery at the team level. New development practices, including "agile" methodologies like Scrum, have redefined which measurements are most meaningful and under what conditions readers can benefit from them. It identifies key characteristics of organizational structure, process models, and development methods, and it describes the uses, mechanics, and common abuses of a number of metrics that are useful for steering and for monitoring process improvement. Another added feature of this book is that the insights and techniques in this book are based entirely on field experience. RETAIL SELLING POINTS Insights and techniques based entirely on field experience Practical information that can be put to immediate use Simplifies selecting metrics to meet organizational goals AUDIENCE The book is for people with ground-level responsibility for software delivery such as project managers, team leads, and others who have similar responsibilities. ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY The book, which is not technology focused, is needed because the landscape has been changing so rapidly that management schools have been unable to keep up with all the emerging process frameworks, buzzwords, and metrics that are in play in IT organizations today.