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• CL AtriumatGlenpointe,400FrankW.BurrBlvd..Teaneck,NJ 07666 Tel.(201)301-0050 Fax(201)801-0441 October16,1992 Mr.DavidRhine DirectorCorporatePlanning Suite230 4962ElCamino LosAltos,CA 94022 ViaFederalExpress DearDave: Attachedaretwocopiesoftheproposal. TheproposedapproachmeetsNTTsneedsfully. TheapproachbuildsonINPUTslaiowledgebaseandisverycosteffective. TheDecember 18dateisfeasibleiftheprojectisinitiatedquickly. IfyourorNilinJapanhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactme. Sincerelv, ThomasO'Flaherty VicePresident a:prop2:NTT -> INPUT Proposal AProposalfor Submittedto: NTT October16,1992 Submittedby: INPUT TheAtriumatGlenpointe 400FrankW.BurrBoulevard Teaneck,NewJersey 07666 201-801-0050 Fax: 201-801-0441 ' INPUT SOFTWAREMETRICSRESEARCHINTHEU.S. I. OBJECTIVE NTTrequiresinformationonsoftwaremetricsintheU.S.inordertosupportits procurementofcustomizedsoftwareinJapan,specificallytoprovidepricmgguidelinesfor negotiationswithsoftwarevendorsandsystemsmtegrators. n. SCOPE INPUT'S"Scope"incorporatesNTTs"SpecificationsoftheResearch"whichisincludedas Appendix1ofthisproposal. The"Specification"hasbeennumberedinhandwritingfrompage1to7intheupper rightcomerofeachpage. , Specificsectionsofthe"Specifications"arecommentedon; thesesectionsare indicatedbyhandwrittenlettersnexttotheappropriatesection. Thesesameletters areusedintheoutlinebelow. A. LanguageImportance Aspartoftheresearchandreport,therelativeimportanceoflanguagesusedwillbe assessed. Therearetwokindsofimportance: Theimportanceoflanguagesingeneralto.-thecost,quality,etc.ofaproject. This issueisespeciallyimportantinsystemsintegrationcontracts. Forexample,how importantisthechoiceoflanguagecomparedtounderstandingtheapplication,or theoveralloperatingenvironmentofacustomer? TSheciosnidsltyh,ehpoowinitmwphoircthanNtToTnerelfaenrgrueadgetoisinciotmspSaperceidfitcoatainoon.ther(e.g.,COBOLvsC)? NTTProposed Page1of8 I 8 INPUT B. TargetsforResearch INPUTagreeswithNTTgenerallyonthetargetsforresearch. Wherethereare differences,thesearecommentedonbelow. INPUTexpectstosummarizetheresearchfindingsandnotnecessarilypresenttheresults asapplyingtospecificcompanies. INPUTproposesthisapproachforfollowingreasons: NotallcompaniesintheU.S.collectthetypeofinformationrequestedinthe aSspepcriofpirciaettiaorny.MIaNnPyUoTftbheoliseevtehsatthdaotmcoulclehctmothreeiunsfeofrumlatiinofno,rmvaiteiwonthwiisllinbfeormation obtainableiftargetcompaniesarepromisedthatresultswillbeaggregated. INPUTproposestosupplysomeofthisinformationfromrecentsyndicatedresearch studies,whichmayormaynotcontaininformationonthecompaniesrequestedin thespecification. ItisINPUTSunderstandingthatNTTisprimarilyinterestedinobtainingoverall dataandisonlysecondarilyinterestedintheactivitiesandperformanceofspecific firms. INPUTrecommendsthat20userorganizationsshouldbetargetedforresearch. Fiveof thesewouldbetelecommunicationsserviceproviders. INPUTwillalsointerviewabout5expertsinsoftwaremetrics. C. MarketTrends(FormA) INPUTwasthesourcefortheexamplesprovided. INPUTwillupdateandexpandthese niarkettrendindicators. Twoofthemostsignificantchangessincethedateofthereport citedare: TheincreasedimportanceintheSystemsIntegrationmarketcategory. Theimpactof"downsizing" D. TypesofContract(FormB) IenNgPagUeTmernetc]"o.mmTehnidssprtehsatentthsistihenfionrfmoartmiaotnibonempreasneneqtueadlalsy"usaevfeurlagfeorsimzeanodf,ceoqnutarlalcyt[or idemlpiovretraanbtl,eIbNyPIUNTPUalTreoandyatprearckcsotmhpisatnyypebaosfisdabteacaiunstehiosffcoornmf.ide(nTthiiasliitny.f)ormationisnot E. OrganizationalDecisionMakingProcess/ContractTroubles INPUTwouldconductresearchbecauseINPUTdoesnothavedataaddressingthese issues. NTTProposal Page2of 8 F. SelectionofVendors INPUTwouldsupplythisinformationfromrecentsyndicatedresearch. INPUTwillrelyoninformationinitspossessionandoninterviewswithotherexperts. H. PriceSettingbyBuyingandSellingParties(HIandH2) IthNePseUfTinhdaisngpseirnftoortmheedNrTecTenrteproerste.archonpricinginprofessionalservicesandwillintegrate J. StepRateAnalysis(JlandJ2) Thisistheprincipalareathatwillrequireprimaryresearch. INPUTinterpretsFormD andFormEasfollows: FormDwillbeusedtodeterminetherelativecostdifferencesbetweenusingdifferent languagesindifferentkindsofsoftwareprojects. (Note:relativelyfewcustomersinthe U.S.contractforcustomdevelopipentoroperatingsystems; anyactivityinthisareawillbe inthemoregeneralareaofsystemsoftware.) INPUTwillinserthereitsfindingsontherelativeimportanceofanylanguageina particular.field. INPUTexpectsthattherewillbeconsiderabledifficultyinacompanybeingableto attachadollararnounttotheuseofparticularlanguages; INPUTalsoexpectsthat therewillbesignificantproblemsinnormalizingdollarvaluesbetweencompanies. Becauseoftheseproblems,INPUTbehevesthatamethodologywhichcollected indexvaluesforcostdifferencesbetweenlanguageswouldmaketheresearch processmuchmorefeasiblewhileatthesametimegivingNTTequallyvaluable informationasabsolutedollarvalues. Note:Somelanguage/fieldcombinationsmaynotexist,forexample,ADAinbatch off-lineapphcationsprograms. FormEwillbeusedtoshowthepastandfuturetrendsoftherelativeproductivityvalueof differentlanguages. Becauserelativechangesarethemostimportant,INPUTproposes thatthesechangeswithinlangtiage/fieldcombinationsbenoted.(Note:AsinFormD, somelanguage/fieldcombinationsmaynotexist.) NTTProposal Page3of