Aligning Organizations Through Measurement: The GQM+Strategies Approach

225 Pages·2014·5.02 MB·English

by  Victor Basili

The Fraunhofer IESE Series on Software and Systems Engineering
Victor Basili  Adam Trendowicz
Martin Kowalczyk  Jens Heidrich
Carolyn Seaman  Jürgen Münch
Dieter Rombach
Aligning
Organizations
Through
Measurement
+
The GQM Strategies Approach
The Fraunhofer IESE Series on
Software and Systems Engineering
Series Editor
Dieter Rombach
Peter Liggesmeyer
Editorial Board
W. Rance Cleaveland II
Reinhold E. Achatz
Helmut Krcmar
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/8755
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
Victor Basili (cid:129) Adam Trendowicz (cid:129)
Martin Kowalczyk (cid:129) Jens Heidrich (cid:129)
Carolyn Seaman (cid:129) Ju¨rgen Mu¨nch (cid:129)
Dieter Rombach
Aligning Organizations
Through Measurement
+
The GQM Strategies Approach
VictorBasili AdamTrendowicz
DepartmentofComputerScience JensHeidrich
UniversityofMaryland DieterRombach
CollegePark FraunhoferInstituteforExperimental
Maryland SoftwareEngineering
USA Kaiserslautern
Germany
MartinKowalczyk CarolynSeaman
DepartmentofInformationSystems DepartmentofInformationSystems
TechnicalUniversityofDarmstadt UniversityofMarylandBaltimoreCounty
Darmstadt Baltimore
Germany USA
Ju¨rgenMu¨nch
DepartmentofComputerScience
UniversityofHelsinki
Helsinki
Finland
ISSN2193-8199 ISSN2193-8202(electronic)
ISBN978-3-319-05046-1 ISBN978-3-319-05047-8(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-05047-8
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014936596
#SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2014
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionor
informationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar
methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.Exemptedfromthislegalreservationarebriefexcerpts
inconnectionwithreviewsorscholarlyanalysisormaterialsuppliedspecificallyforthepurposeofbeing
enteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthework.Duplication
ofthispublicationorpartsthereofispermittedonlyundertheprovisionsoftheCopyrightLawofthe
Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from
Springer.PermissionsforusemaybeobtainedthroughRightsLinkattheCopyrightClearanceCenter.
ViolationsareliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt
fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor
anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with
respecttothematerialcontainedherein.
Printedonacid-freepaper
SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com)
About this Series
Whereas software engineering has been a growing area in the field of computer
scienceformanyyears,systemsengineeringhasitsrootsintraditionalengineering.
On the one hand, we still see many challenges in both disciplines. On the other
hand, we can observe a trend to build systems that combine software, microelec-
tronic components, and mechanical parts. The integration of information systems
andembeddedsystemsleadstoso-calledcyber-physicalsystems.
Software and systems engineering comprise many aspects and views. From a
technicalstandpoint,theyareconcernedwithindividualtechniques,methods,and
tools,aswellaswithintegrateddevelopmentprocesses,architecturalissues,quality
management and improvement, and certification. In addition, they are also
concerned with organizational,business, and human views. Software andsystems
engineering treat development activities as steps in a continuous evolution over
timeandspace.
Software and systems are developed by humans, so the effects of applying
techniques, methods, and tools cannot be determined independent of context. A
thorough understanding of their effects in different organizational and technical
contexts is essential if these effects are to be predictable and repeatable under
varying conditions. Such process-product effects are best determined empirically.
Empirical engineering develops the basic methodology for conducting empirical
studies, and uses it to advance the understanding for the effects of various engi-
neeringapproaches.
The series presents engineering-style methods and techniques that foster the
developmentofsystemsthatarereliableineveryaspect.Allthebooksintheseries
emphasize the quick delivery of state-of-the-art results and empirical proof from
academicresearchtoindustrialpractitionersandstudents.Theirpresentationstyle
isdesignedtoenablethereadertoquicklygraspboththeessentialsofamethodol-
ogyandhowtoapplyitsuccessfully.
v
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
I do not believe you can do today’s
job with yesterday’s methods and be
in business tomorrow.
—Nelson Jackson
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
Foreword
A highly recommended practice for controlling software and other projects is the
EarnedValueManagementSystem(EVMS).TheEVMSapproachinvolvesdevel-
opingacompletesetofbudgetsandschedulesforaproject’stasks.Astheproject
proceeds, the completion of each task adds its allocated budget to the project’s
accumulated earned value, even though the actual expenditures on the task were
higherorlower.Atanytime,onecancomparetheaccumulatedearnedvaluewith
itsscheduledearnedvalueandwithitsactualexpendituresatthatpointintimeand
determinewhethertheprojectisunderrunningoroverrunningitsplannedschedule
orbudget.
Unfortunately, however, the “earned value” method says nothing about the
actual contribution to the business, mission, or multistakeholder values that the
system being developed is intended to earn. If the system definition is off target
withrespecttoitsabilitytoearnthosevalues,orisnotmodifiedtoreflectchangesin
thosevalues,aprojectperfectlyaccumulatingits“earnedvalue”willfindthatithas
likelyachievedtheon-budget,on-scheduledeliveryofauselessorobsoletesystem.
TheGoal-Question-MetricplusStrategies(GQM+Strategies)approachpresented
inthisbookenablesorganizationstoavoidsuchunfortunateoutcomes.Itextendsthe
widely used GQM approach to include a project’s strategies to achieve its goals;
connectsthequestionsandmetricstothestrategiesandgoalsviaaGQM+Strategies
grid; and provides guidance on evolving the grid to accommodate changes in the
goals,theenvironment,andthekeytechnologies.
Indoingso,itcapitalizesonthedecadesofexperienceinapplyingGQMartifacts
andprocessesacrossawidevarietyoforganizationsandenterprisesectors.Itisbeing
presentedinthisbookafterseveralyearsoflessonslearnedfrompilotapplicationsof
its evolving nature and from workshop interactions with the empirical methods
community.
Basedonthesefoundationsandthisexperience,thebookprovidesanaccessible
andlogicalpathwaytounderstandingandapplyingtheGQM+Strategiesapproach.
It starts off by providing clear definitions that can be used to represent organiza-
tionalgoalsanddefineaGQM+Strategiesgridthatlinksthegoalstothestrategies,
questions, and metrics. It uses the GQM-adjunct, plan-do-check-act, spiral-type
Quality Improvement Paradigm to establish an iterative Develop–Implement–
Learn cycle aimed at converging on an initial GQM+Strategies grid and evolving
itbasedonexperience.
ix