Software Measures and the Capability Maturity Model

Abstract

This document describes a set of software measures that are compatible with the measurement practices described in the Capability Maturity Model for Software. These measures, in the form of software indicators, cover thirteen different categories that include progress, effort, cost, and quality. Each indicator category contains example figures which illustrate behavior that may occur on a project. The text provides users with tips on how to use these figures or similar ones on their projects. Project software managers and software engineering process groups can use these indicators during the software development life cycle to gain insight into the software development process and software process improvement activities. The indicators chosen have been successfully used on projects in the software industry. 1.1. Objectives The goal of this document is to provide a comprehensive and cohesive set of indicators that is consistent with the key practices in the CMM. This document describes and serves as a reference manual for that set of software indicators. 1.2. Scope The indicators track both software products and software development processes with the emphasis on the processes. They are not identified as process or product indicators because often one indicator can point to either a process or product characteristic. Also, product characteristics such as maintainability and portability are not addressed specifically as there are no standard measures of these characteristics. Occasionally, they can be inferred from the indicators. For example, product reliability and maintainability can be inferred from the numbers of defects found in the product. Indicators are given for software development activities only. Due to the limited space available, only the life-cycle stages from requirements through testing are addressed so that a comprehensive indicator set for software development could be recommended. Information on the use of the indicators is focused on software development. Many of the indicators can also be used in operations and maintenance, but no claims of completeness are made with respect to indicators for this life-cycle stage.

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