Exploration of a practical approach for assessing the measurement capability of software organizations

Abstract

Measurement is the foundation for successful software management. However, it is not easy for software organizations to evaluate their measurement practices and to determine what they should do to improve them. There are models to evaluate capability and maturity of measurement processes. However, they frequently focus on the measurement process in relation with a well-defined capability model like CMMI or SPICE. Organizations following recent agile methodologies do not desire to apply these holistic models. We have developed a model to assess measurement capability of software organizations by inspecting individual measures, independent from software development approach and process architecture. The model includes sample of core measures for aspects and defines generic practices for three capability levels. Organizations can use the model to determine and improve their measurement capability. In the paper, an exploratory case study conducted in a large telecommunication company is discussed and the results are evaluated.