rami kron oman mi mane se PV NOE | | rt b isuri etivit Gain Management Support by Measuring Produ y JANUARY 8, 1990 Pace 76 This is the third of a series of articles on rapid applica- tion develop- ment ČRAD),a development methodology de- signed to be much faster than the tradi- tional method. Information: systems (18) or- ganizations strive to develop sys- tems that are faster, higher in guality and lower in cost. This can be achieved by using new de- velopment; technigues such as RAD. The RAD life cycle is based on the use of in- tegrated computer-aided software engi- neering (CASE) tools, small teams of highly trained and motivated personnel, interactive joint application design CJAD) technigues, and management pro- cesses focused on breaking down obsta: eles to high-speed development. RAD is an effective management tech- nigue for application development. It fo- cuses on the management technigues needed to facilitate communication be- Xween end users and analysts, motivate the development team, build complete appličations within a strictly defined window of time, and ensure that com- pleted applications meet end users' needs. Approximately 80 percent of RAD's effectiveness is attributable to better management processes; only about 20 percent is due to the use of computer technology. | One of RAD's management technigues is the measurement and reporting of de- velopment productivity. Appropriate measurements enable managers to moti- vate and set goals for developers. They 4 AUAMES < MARTIN nigues, and sati managers to detect, examine and, possibly, repli z ples of excellence. me Periodic measurements of productivi: ty enable managers to establish auality permit the comparison of tools and tech- cutable lines of code and the Data Divi- sion lines, but should exclude comments. Its desirable to measure project com- plexity independent of any particular computer language." NE The complexity metric that's most commonty used is the function-point method. This was developed at IBM and improved in GUIDE, the IBM users: orga: nization. B 'The funetion-point method lists and counts the elements of a system, in- eluding: 6 inputs (sereens, messages and bitch transactions); l % outputs (screens, reports, messages and batch transactions); vendors' claims. Some individuals re- member measuremeritš such as eguiva- lent lines of COBOL per person-day, re- lating this perhaps to their. own experi- ences in programming, Other individuals 'remember function points per person- month. I recommend that IS executives measure and remember function points per person-month. For systems of average complexity without. elaborate user interfaces, one function point per person-month eguals about five lines of COBOL per person- day. ; For systems with human interfaces such as a mouse, icons and pull-down menus, the ratio becomes higher. Differences in Development Productivity | Function points per person-month Produttivity j Ereie doda Avaktan and reward development. ie ; j PELA JE, podi monekr nate prododiii Zeli, y. Measurement, measurements a a na ENEJ ofp enable managers ae neve. ment are needed and esab o area o klet improve a i tim leh an ongolng program establish a program for improvement. meaningful measurement. of devel- ae mo rv | Spment productivity relate proc complete la 19 jona, o potem data stores (logical nes), The US. average ue valuable to plot various measure ne shared lih other systems | tivity ig five pooje ve op net Produc- mb, cis tare soki (external interface files); and a! Nano ata per poro ; uni inguiries. J to about 25 lines sata measure "The method assigns a weight to jona IL per person-day. bi v garden al projects were. jey toraj m mia based on its omplex. | tema With COBOL, gaje elo ping sys: mh a COD o MAO Cr tr Pn o de adut tke radon o doge tvi are pike re average Me ote Ti bar Abe nej SPilem sompleity O MA jene (about ig o LOBI, per kazat Te leč Šertij of fourth-genera. a ee: metrics are generally — alda ujem o nave used Prodtuctivity lon language (4GL) projecta with CO Ang copriata for scientific or engi-/ — voja e derWise manual COBOL de- re a great deal lea code. oo "heh Complex algorithm pa) |, Mucivity topa tele Lines of COBOL must. be counteg coded. ' i Per person: st COBOL vih |: rday (about Te rni li ld z pe ie a a o cm PE Pt m me or and technigucs le today's power tools to ly higher productivity numbers. The figure shows measurements of IS productivity at Marine Midland Bank in Buffalo, N.Y. COBOL development had reached a plateau of about 12 function points per person-day across all mea- sured projects. The first introduction of 4GL technol- ogy using the Telon code generator from Pansophic Systems Inc. resulted in slightly lower productivity, but the staff rapidly climbed a learning curve, build- ing to about 40 function points per per- son-day. This is a fairly typical number for well-managed use of a 4GL/CASE tool with a code generator. Using an inte- grated CASE environment and a tighter methodology, the productivity figures are likely to increase. Highly trained teams using integrated CASE tools-and a RAD methodology can achieve much higher productivity fig- ures. Some teams regularly achieve 1,000 eguivalent lines of COBOL per person-day (or 200 function points per person-month) on projects of moderate complexity. Measurements in the Du Pont Fibers division show skilled developers averag- ing 13.8 hours per function point. with a traditional Yourdon structured method- ,9logy, while other Du Pont analysts were averaging two hours per function point using its "time box" methodology, which is a version of RAD. Some large and bureaucratic applica- tion-development projects average only two or three funetion points per person- month, at a cost of more than $1,000 per function point. Some software-devel- opment companies charge more than $1,000 per function point. IS organiza- tions typically average about $500 per function point. A reasonable target for a RAD project is about $100 per function point (corresponding to 100 function points per person-month). CEO Productivity Report A corporate president should monitor IS productivity because of its vital ef- fect. on corporate capabilities. The CEO report should include five types of measurements: % speed of development; € development costs; € development. productivity; € guality of delivered systems; and ' maintenance. When this type of report is reguested on a guarterly basis by the CEO, the IS manager is motivated to strive vigorous- Iy for the most. efficient use of powerful development. technigues. Next week 1 will discuss the automat- ed tools that are appropriate for use in a RAD life cycle The concepis embodied in RAD are de- seribed in a new volume in the James Martin Report Series. For more infor- mation on this volume, call (800) 242. 1240. For information on seminars, contact (in the United States and Can- ada) Transfer Institute, 731 10h Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 (213) 394-8305. Im Europe, con- tact Savant, 2 New St, Carnf (0524) orth, LA5 9BX United Kingdom 734 505.