Returns Visibility and Control to Globally Distributed Software Development
Palm Desert, CA -- January 30, 2007 -- 6th Sense Analytics, a pioneer in improving software development metrics, will unveil the latest version of its groundbreaking analytic solution at the Launchpad for Emerging Technology, DEMO 07. 6th Sense co-founders Greg Burnell and Todd Olson will lead the DEMO stage presentation on Wednesday, January 31, 2007. The 6th Sense solution allows software developers and managers to automatically collect software development data and delivers immediate insight into the execution of physically distributed software development projects. This latest release of 6th Sense introduces pre-built reports and a new dashboard-style user experience that provides users immediate access to actionable, vital information about the systems, teams, and individuals comprising their development projects�all without creating queries or custom reports.
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MORRISVILLE, NC -- December 12, 2006 -- 6th Sense Analytics, a pioneer in improving software development metrics, today announced it will make its software solution available to academic groups and open source projects free of charge. By assisting these groups through automated collection of activity-based data, 6th Sense will actively support the academic study of software engineering and help open source projects to demonstrate progress, value and differentiation.
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Provides Accurate, Automated Visibility into Software Projects; New Functionality Supports Maintenance Efforts
MORRISVILLE, NC -- September 25, 2006 -- 6th Sense Analytics, a pioneer in improving software development metrics, today announced a new version of its leading-edge technology for automatically collecting software development data and aggregating metrics. 6th Sense provides the basis for keeping software projects on time, on budget and on target with business goals, and includes new levels of automation that directly support maintenance needs -- data that offers a clear answer to exactly how much time is spent on maintenance activities like defect tracking and change requests, and exactly how those actions impact cost and successful product completion.
Traditional application development tools have not met the challenge of delivering accurate visibility into development processes. As a result, software development projects have been left to chance, which has led to a stunningly high rate of failure. 6th Sense Analytics is in a unique position to change the face of software development by delivering accurate and up-to-date software metrics that empower organizations to better manage projects, while keeping them on track with business goals.
"Today's software development projects are highly distributed and complex, which makes the need for accurate metrics more critical than ever," said Dana Gardner, principal analyst for Interarbor Solutions. "The challenge is gaining accurate and transparent visibility into the actual work patterns of developers, and, more importantly, amassing the metadata of development productivity analytics. Organizations without visibility into development processes are putting business goals at risk."
The key to 6th Sense's solution is its ability to automatically gather data without requiring developers to change their working processes or their tool selection. All the data captured through 6th Sense sensors is unobtrusive to the user and is presented via a variety of visualization and analysis tools for developers, project managers and IT executives.
6th Sense arms development organizations with information about the development process and resource utilization via an independent, open, web-services architecture to collect and analyze software development metrics. The metrics delivered by 6th Sense can be viewed in a wide variety of ways, including by team, activity, time, tools used and even file extension. With easy to use and highly configurable reporting capabilities built on SVG technology, teams can quickly aggregate data, clearly understanding what developers are doing, what tools and technologies they are using, and how much time they've spent on development activities such as editing, viewing, debugging and testing. All of this allows software development teams to improve their ability to deliver successful project outcomes.
6th Sense Analytics 2.0
The first release of the 6th Sense solution focused on harvesting accurate, fact-based metrics about developers' work in real time, particularly measuring Active Time (time spent in development activities, including editing, viewing, debugging and testing) and Flow Time (Active Time a developer spends on a specific task without interruptions for 20 minutes or more).
"The new functionality in the 6th Sense solution goes beyond just providing insight; it extends the way we look at development efforts, allowing teams to gain transparency into maintenance efforts and their impact on the software development process," said Todd Olson, CTO and co-founder of 6th Sense Analytics. "With this ability, managers have a way to increase their success in on-time delivery."
Version 2.0 extends its automated capabilities from capturing data on development team actions, to providing data that specifically focuses on maintenance efforts; from defect tracking and bug fixes to change requests. Managers and team members can easily see how much Active Time was spent on maintenance activities, which team members were involved in addressing them and the results of the time spent. With this improved visibility, the financial impact of maintenance efforts can identified and managed.
By broadening the set of tools data is gathered from to include leading source control management and change request management systems, software development teams can combine use 6th Sense's new analytics with data they already have to better understand the immediate effect on delivery and overall project costs. Tools supported by 6th Sense include Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Eclipse and Emacs, among others. For a complete list, visit the 6th Sense website at www.6thsenseanalytics.com.
Pricing and Availability
Version 2.0 of the 6th Sense solution will be available mid-October 2006. 6th Sense is a Software as a Service (SaaS) hosted solution available from the 6th Sense website. The 6th Sense solution is available in two editions; Personal Edition is available free of charge; and Team Edition which aggregates project metrics, is available for $960 per user per year.
About 6th Sense Analytics
6th Sense Analytics, a pioneer in improving software development metrics, gives developers and managers deep insight into their software development process by delivering accurate metrics without interrupting the software development lifecycle or changing the tools used. The company uses an open and independent architecture that provides visibility into the status of distributed software projects. Founded in 2004 by a team of experienced executives in the software development market, representing companies including Rational (now IBM), TogetherSoft and Borland, 6th Sense Analytics is a privately held company based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
Company Will Demonstrate its Software Development Analytics Solution at Tech 2006 in October
August 28, 2006, MORRISVILLE, NC -- 6th Sense Analytics, a pioneer in improving software development metrics, today announced it has been selected by The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) to demonstrate its technology innovations at Tech 2006. The conference will be held on Oct. 10 and 11 at North Carolina State University's McKimmon Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. 6th Sense will demonstrate its leading-edge technology for automatically collecting software development data and aggregating metrics, providing a basis for keeping software projects on time, on budget and on target with business goals. Data is gathered from the leading development tools and presented within a rich, web-based user interface, providing a variety of visualization and analysis tools for developers, project managers and IT executives. The product is offered as a software service delivered online via a web browser.
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, DATE, 2006 � 6th Sense Analytics, delivering real time insight into the life of software projects, has been named a “Cool Vendor” in the March 20, 2006, “Cool Vendors in Application Development, 2006″ report published by Jim Duggan, et al of Gartner, Inc.
The vendors highlighted in this year�s report are striving to make software development more measurable, repeatable and easily managed. They are part of a transformation in approach within IT. Managed processes are being created that can be re-used in successive projects. Persistent processes make instrumentation both desirable and necessary.
“6th Sense Analytics helps steer distributed software development projects towards success,” said 6th Sense chief executive officer Greg Burnell. “Business and development teams have traditionally relied on bulky reporting tools or gut feeling to plan and deliver software projects. 6th Sense provides up-to-the minute, fact-based insight empowering teams to take the necessary steps to keep software projects on track and establish repeatable processes.”
6th Sense Analytics uses an independent, open, web-services architecture to collect and analyze project metrics. A suite of community-supported software sensors integrates with leading tools, delivering a complete picture of the development lifecycle - not just from a single vendors’ perspective. 6th Sense Analytics’ AJAX-based reporting system presents metrics using online charts that can be customized to meet individual business and IT users’ needs.
About Gartner’s Cool Vendors Selection Process
Gartner’s listing does not constitute an exhaustive list of vendors in any given technology area, but rather is designed to highlight interesting, new and innovative vendors, products and services. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness of a particular purpose.
Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are: Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn’t do before; Impactful, have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology); Intriguing, have caught Gartner’s interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.
About 6th Sense Analytics
6th Sense Analytics is for everyone with a stake in software development. Founded in 2004 by a team of experienced developers, 6th Sense Analytics uses an open and independent architecture that provides visibility into the status of distributed software projects. We integrate with the leading IDE and editors such as Visual Studio and Emacs; source control management systems including ClearCase and Subversion; and change request management systems such as ClearQuest and Bugzilla. 6th Sense Analytics, based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, is already helping major systems integrators, independent software vendors and Fortune 500 companies steer distributed software projects towards success.
