Benchmarking for the Rest of Us

There is no shortage of data available to determine whether your software team is sufficiently productive. Whether it is the often quoted Chaos Report from the Standish Group, the quarterly updates from the Software Engineering Institute or the hidden project data behind parametric estimation models such as COCOMO II, it is seductive to hold your own performance against these standards for comparison.

We quickly find, though, that these comparisons bear little relevance for most organizations, especially those that are ‘up-and-coming’. It is the growing companies who are most in need of benchmarks to gauge their performance and progress. This discussion identifies the challenges with most published information, and enumerates the approaches that we can all use to generate meaningful benchmarking information.

  • What’s Happening

    June 20 – Spoke to a sold out, enthusiastic group at the local chapter of the PMI on The Future of Project Success (it’s Already Here)!

    Whitepaper available here!

  • On The Road Again

    Jim frequently travels across Western Canada for engagements, and welcomes opportunities to meet, run a workshop, Diagnostic or Lunch and Learn session.

    Contact Jim if you would like to connect around any of the upcoming dates:

    • Blissfully at home in Vancouver, BC over the summer!

  • What People are Saying

    If your desire is to effect change or have more influence on a software team, you could either stumble around in the dark for a few years, experimenting with different techniques, or you could buy, read, and apply the techniques in this book. This choice, of course, is up to you.

    — Matt Heusser