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by: Grant Rule
Most organisations of any size have a significant investment in software applications and the business processes they enable. But, maybe because the accounting profession has still to come to grips with the knowledge-based economy, few company boards have a systematic approach to managing this investment. Meanwhile, the investment continues to grow, as enhancements are made and new applications to support new business opportunities, come into operation.
Good governance of any business requires that the organisation’s assets and investments are managed to ensure the best long-term return for the stakeholders. Property, equity, cash and human resources are all managed as a matter of course and expectation. So are intellectual property rights, copyrights and so on. Many companies take exceptional measures to protect such intangible assets as their company logo and brand image. So why do few organisations really manage their software assets, which are no less tangible? It is not so difficult a task.
Ask yourself:
- How many software applications does our business depend on?
- What are the inter-dependencies between these applications?
- What dependencies do our applications have with respect to external software?
- What are the characteristics of each of our applications?
- Are some growing in importance, necessitating regular enhancement? Maybe some are decreasing in importance and can be more or less ignored until they are no longer needed at all? Possibly there are others that are stable, unlikely to change but that do continue to be important to the business? Perhaps some should be retired forthwith, as more trouble than they are worth?
- What level of support does each application need each year, in terms of staff, effort, skills and computing resources, just to keep it in operation?
Having considered the status quo, what about the business’s plans for expansion, provision of new functionality and new services? Do you know how many projects are currently in progress? How do these projects depend on one another? What impact will they have on operational services, support and maintenance?
Getting better management information on the organisation’s portfolio of applications and projects starts with a simple count and some basic measurements. Typically, an Application & Project Register is established, containing information such as:
- Identity
- Project characteristics eg. platform, language, demographics, lifecycle, etc.
- Applications affected by this project (often more than one)
- Start Date/Milestone Dates/End Date (both planned and actual)
- Size of the functional requirements
- Number and size of changes to the requirements imposed during the project
- Required product performance criteria
- Number of staff or Full Time Equivalents employed
- Duration
- Costs
- Defects detected during each project stage
And so on. It can be as extensive as necessary, but we advise you to keep it simple to begin with. You’ll notice, of course, that the information required is all basic project management data that any project manager worth their salt will have readily to hand.
SMS has long experience of performing such studies, in many business sectors, helping clients to establish the procedures and infrastructure necessary to maintain such an Application & Project Register. It is a core function of a measurement programme or project support office.
Our approach typically involves:
| A Scope Study (timeboxed and consuming some 5 – 10 work days) |
To estimate the effort, duration and cost of a Full Study |
| A Rapid Application Portfolio Sizing Study (timeboxed – the effort depends on the portfolio, but a for once only effort of 30 – 60 days is typical) |
To capture the details of the current portfolio of applications, including measures of their functional size, the platform used, pattern of enhancement, reliability and criticality to the business. |
| One or more Fast Data Collection Studies of the set of current or planned projects (effort and time depends on the number of projects involved) |
To record the characteristics both of the project plans and actuals and of the desired products and actual deliveries. |
| Performance benchmarks optionally can be provided using the QuantiMetrics Performance Enhancement Programme (PEP) – this is a subscription-based service with a fixed annual fee |
Establishing quantified baselines for application development and enhancement (AD&E) and/or maintenance and support (M&S) performance, against which performance improvements can be justified and measured. |
| Consultancy support and advice on implementation (agreed on a time & materials basis) |
Our skilled consultants have been helping organisations to establish and sustain a measured approach to software management for many years. We can help you do it, or provide the staff to do it for you. We can then help you use the information to maximise your insight into and your return on software investment, improve estimating predictability and performance. |
| Process Appraisal (optional – can take the form of a full-scale CMM-based appraisal to determine capability and a commitment to improve, or a shorter, project-focused appraisal to confirm status and/or progress) |
It is also worth considering the processes actually used by software projects, either in conjunction with a Software Project Census, or separately. A qualitative comparison of team procedures against (say) a model such as the Capability Maturity Model, can provide essential insights into why performance is as it is. It can identify improvement opportunities and ‘quick wins’ that will improve planning reliability and results. |
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