The assessment of software development performance, be it of a software development team or a software development project will vary greatly depending on the type of metrics used.
This request for performance assessment in software development projects is constantly coming back and is a source of major concern for Managers; which is quite normal considering the low ratio of projects delivered in time… and costs.
The perception of software development performance truly varies according to management style; hence, performance assessment is, in fact, a question of perception. The performance assessment of a development team is closely linked to the management style and, more precisely, to the priorities it dictates; in software development as in any other activity.
Any manager would like to have an objective assessment of the performance of both his development team and his IT department as part of a software development project. The term “objective” is the key to the riddle here. Is there an objective method for assessing the performance of a developer, a development team or a software development company? Is there a key performance indicator in software development that really tells the truth?
In fact, one can hardly count the systems, methods, and nomenclatures that have been created since the beginning of the industrial era to evaluate performance in software development, as in any other field.
Lean Software Development is the extension of the Lean principles to IT Products and Services Development and Management; more specifically, it aims at eliminating any type of work that adds no value to an IT product or service.[1]
Lean Six Sigma is a methodology that relies on a collaborative team effort to improve performance by systematically removing waste,[1] on eight types of operation: Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over production, Over processing, Defects, and Skills (abbreviated as ‘TIMWOODS’).
One shouldn’t underestimate, in a more and more predominant eBusiness and eCommerce environment, the crucial role IT has come to play in businesses’ primary activities of delivering value to customers. IT often provides products and services that enable customers to find, order, and pay. IT also provides enhanced productivity and allows both suppliers and employees to better communicate, collaborate and produce / execute.
The New Millennium has witnessed the splendid triumph of « best practices » and « quality control » concepts, in almost all fields of activities. And most of all, best pratices and quality control have come to define the true nature of Custom Software Development in particular and IT in general, Communications and Information Technologies, which have accelerated their broadcasting.
2000 à 2010 – reminder
Who defines the concept of best practices, broadcast it and why?
Expert firms such as Gartner, Forrester, KPMG, Deloitte, etc., that counsel large corporations and assess the evolution of standards within different industries to take their pulse, which is quite useful for investors and shareholders as well as for managers. It helps decision-makers to weigh their enterprise against their industries and to get to know the necessary means to keep the pace with the competition.
When Analystik starts a new mandate with a client; the main goal is almost always to automate a business process and the methodology is, all things considered, quite simple:
One spontaneously sees that a tailor-made software solution will fit more like a « glove » for the enterprise compared to a commercial software which is more of a « mitt ».
Shall we point it out over and over; although it calls upon a superior initial investment compared to a commercial software which answers roughly from 50% to 75% of requirements; a tailor-made software solution will always respond to 100% of requirements. And let’s not forget, while adaptation to existing technologies and processes is always included with tailor-made software solution; it is always necessary as well with commercial software solution but never included !!! We’re talking extras here; sounds like a story you’ve heard recently?
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