4 Things to Measure on Software Projects
Or perhaps more precisely:
“4 key project metrics that you can measure with Function Points – and one that you can’t”
They are:
- Scope (measured in FP)
- Resources (staff per FP)
- Quality (defects per FP)
- Schedule (FP delivery per week/month)
The one key aspect of projects that you cannot readily measure using Function Points is Risk.
Of course there are many other things that a software project manager has to be concerned with too, such as staff competence, requirements stability, system complexity, management support, organisation maturity, complexity, tools and working environment.
If you can measure 80% of the fundamental with just one base metric, you have a really powerful foundation for successful project control.
Function Points have their critics, but there is little out there that I have found to better them.