This is the second part of a two part review of questions asked during a recent webcast on Making Metrics Work. The first part is here.
Q: Todd ran through some interesting metrics. What are the most impactful 2nd generation metrics an IT dept. can start with?
As we discussed during the event, a key characteristic of a 2G metrics program is selecting a small number of highly meaningful metrics to track. Measuring for the sake of doing so is costly and it leads to thrashing and poor decision-making. With that said, one of the foundational metrics of a 2G program is tracking the investment profile--understanding where effort is being expended and whether or not that aligns to priorities and expectations. Time equals investment and every investment has a direct and an opportunity cost. So it is important to know where time is being spent across your teams, activities and project portfolio. Of course this is probably not the only metric you'll want to track. Many organizations combine the sort of activity-based data we create with outcomes-related data, such as defects open/closed and code check-ins. Together, this provides a complete view into productivity. There are certainly other metrics that organizations will want to track, but it is difficult to generalize because they're often unique to the circumstances and context of an organization. For example, many organizations closely track test and quality metrics as a basis for understanding the state and status of their projects.
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Last week, we hosted a very well attended webcast and panel discussion called "Making Software Development Metrics Work: A Framework for a 2nd Generation Metrics Model." The event featured PJ Connolly from SD Times; Bob Galen, author of Software Endgames; Todd Olson, co-founder & CTO of 6th Sense Analytics; and Zach Neis, VP of product development at Rally Software. If you weren't able to attend, you can watch a replay here. In total, we had nearly 100 questions, many of which we covered during the discussion. Others will be answered by e-mail, and through a series of blog posts. Here is the first set:
Q: How does 6th Sense collect the base data? Do you need any tool like a time reporting system to do that?
Actually, that is part of the unique value of the 6th Sense solution--the data is automatically gathered based on the execution of the software development process. We embed a very lightweight sensor in the developers' toolset and capture data about how, where and to what extent time is being spent by activity (e.g., coding vs. editing vs. debugging), project or team.
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Anyone who manages people knows that this is a vastly under appreciated skill. Effective managers facilitate and catalyze execution by ensuring resources are aligned to priorities; balancing how they're utilized; and removing obstacles that hinder execution. The best managers assemble high-performing teams who generate brilliant results and make it all seem effortless. For these teams, work is fun and rewarding and each new day is a welcomed challenge.
Ineffective managers are markedly different and so are their results.
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There’s an excellent book by David Ropiek and George Gray called Risk, which explores the perceptions and realities of what we should and shouldn’t worry about. Of course, the overwhelming conclusion is that our fears are misplaced, and we should really worry about our broccoli intake, not snakes, spiders and plane crashes. But we�re human, and snakes, spiders and plane crashes are viscerally more frightening than heart disease.
This got me thinking about the outsourcing debate. The natural instinct is to fear outsourcing. After all, outsourcing is the export of business processes. And if you believe the pundits, this is nothing short of pure evil — the “giant sucking sound” and the wholesale export of jobs. Like snakes, spiders and plane crashes, this is scary stuff.
But should outsourcing be feared?
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Chris Shipley has built the
DEMO franchise into the premier launch pad for emerging technologies. It is unquestionably the most credible and highest-impact venue for launching a new product, drawing an audience of 700 of the most influential players in technology and bringing them back each and every year—for 17 years and counting. Palm, Tivo and Sun’s Java are just a few of the breakthroughs first introduced at DEMO. While other events have grown larger, no other event has retained its exclusivity, clear mission or loyal attendance. Unlike most conferences, DEMO gets better with age.
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6th Sense Analytics is very pleased to announce that we have been selected to unveil our newest technology at DEMO 07, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, Palm Desert, CA. Year after year, DEMO earns its reputation for being the only bi-annual event that is first to consistently identify the World's most promising technologies that will create the markets of tomorrow. Hundreds of companies from around the world vie for the chance to launch here, but only the very best make the cut. So you can understand why we're so proud to be included as one of this year's presenters.
6th Sense co-founders Greg Burnell and Todd Olson will be on stage for a product demonstration on Wednesday morning, January 31, 2007.
Please consider attending DEMO 07, where you'll be among the first to see the latest innovations in technology--including ours. It's fun, but this is a forum for serious people to conduct serious business. That's because DEMO isn't about prophecy and conjecture; it's about real products and services that you can invest in today, and technologies that you can deploy now--before anyone else.
If you would like more information about DEMO 07, call 800-643-4668, outside the US at 508-490-6581, or via email at registrar@demo.com. You can learn more about DEMO at www.demo.com. We look forward to seeing you at the show!
India is a land of great contrasts and extremes. Driving through Delhi reveals the two sides of India: The unbounded future of a bright, vibrant country with vision and promise, and the starkly different reality of the desperately poor. For an outsider, India is an intense experience; you’re constantly bombarded by hope and hopelessness. At once, you see the future while being reminded of the past—and the deep contrasts of the present.
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Contrary to conventional belief that complex processes should be kept onshore, software development is rapidly gaining favor as an outsource candidate. This according to a
new study by Duke University and Booz Allen Hamilton. But as the pattern of offshoring moves from low- to high-end work, the challenges faced by management shifts from dealing with political and cultural issues to more operational issues like retaining managerial control and gaining operational efficiency. When high-end functions are sent offshore, they're put at significant risk. Offshoring introduces new physical, temporal, cultural, communication and organizational barriers that can wreak havok on software development. But properly conceived and executed metrics programs can help organizations reclaim the visibility and control they lose when projects exit their four walls.
This is the thesis of a new whitepaper by 6th Sense, "
Managing Success in Offshore Software Development: A Framework for Reclaiming Visibility and Control." This paper lends perspective on the challenges faced in offshore software development and provides a context for considering a metrics program as a risk management foundation for your offshore projects. Metrics matter whether you're an organization sending your projects offshore or an outsourcer seeking new ways to differentiate and win customer loyality. After all, you can't manage what you can't measure. And management matters more than ever when your high-end processes leave the building.
This next set of responses comes from Flat World panelist Tom Koulopolous, founder of Delphi Group, managing director of Perot Systems Innovation Labs, and author of Smartsourcing.
- How do you measure the effects of virtual distance in flat world software development?
- Metrics are one thing but what about the actual practicalities of managing a globally distributed software development (particularly given the observations on non-verbal communication etc)?
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The online panel discussion, "Building Software in a Flat World," stimulated a tremendous number of questions from the audience. Some were answered as part of the panel discussion. Others that we could not cover will be answered right here, front and center, for all eyes to see. This first set of questions are answered by 6th Sense Analytics co-founder and CEO, Greg Burnell.
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