From the Sales Front

QSM Welcomes New Clients
As QSM enters a new fiscal year, the company is pleased to announce two very successful years with a record-breaking number of new clients signing on to use SLIM products. Here are a few companies that have recently joined the QSM ranks: BAE, CVS, Alcatel, Orbimage, BB&T, Panasonic, GE Medical Systems, SAP, Enecco Energy, and the Australian Department of Defence. Our immediate goal is to help these new customers reach the same level of competence as many of our long-term users.

Feedback from the field
We recently received some positive feedback from one of our customers in the financial services industry. It is always nice to hear that our products and advice are making a difference. Click here to see what they had to say.

WebEx Makes Getting a SLIM Demo More Convenient
QSM now offers demos of all the SLIM products through the internet. We use WebEx, an application and document sharing tool, to do the demonstrations. What our customers like the best is that they can quickly and easily evaluate the tools without ever leaving their desks. In thirty minutes to an hour, customers can see how the SLIM tools can help save time, money and produce a better product.

To get a free demo, contact Keith Ciocco by email at keith_ciocco@qsm.com or phone 703-749-3812.

From the R&D Lab

These research findings are based on a sample of 563 IT software projects. The research determined the average project profile based on actual schedule and effort expended from business requirements definition through the initial delivery and stabilization phase. Best in class were determined to be top 16% performers in both schedule & effort. Worst in class were bottom 16% performers in both schedule and effort.

The typical IT software development project release was 30,000 new or modified source lines of code or 600 function points. The total project duration was 13.5 months that built up to a peak staff of 7.4 full time equivalent people and consumed 55 person months of effort.

Figure 1: Comparison of average, best in class, worst in class performers for a medium sized IT application.

QSM plans to publish the Metrics Almanac at the end of the summer. To request more information regarding this study, please contact Doug Putnam at doug_putnam@qsm.com or 703-749-3817.

From the Support Center

QSM Introduces Formalized Support for New SLIM Users
In order to accelerate users getting maximum value from SLIM, QSM recently introduced a formal support process. Our initial batch of customers to complete the process have found that at the end of 3 short 2 hour WebEx sessions (staged one week apart), they have a completely tailored SLIM product and estimation process that suits their organization and individual needs. QSM has found that this results in better users who will ultimately get better results from SLIM.

Here's what one of our customers had to say about the new process:

"QSM is able to work with companies to understand their specific needs and create a really customized product, which was one of the biggest selling features in our decision to buy SLIM. The support sessions helped us create multiple templates that can be customized on the fly to our changing environment. We also saved time by getting to know the exact features of the tool that were practical to us and what we would be using it for. Larry [Putnam] and John [Bryant] spent a great deal of time with us, helping us create templates with customizations available to the many users in our company."

We would like to invite some of our established users to also participate in this process. If you think you could benefit please contact your account representative and he or she will email you the process document and set up the initial WebEx meeting.

SLIM Training
During the last year, QSM has trained close to 400 users in regularly scheduled and on-site classes. Of all the people trained last year, 97% said the course was excellent or very good. We think we know why. John Bryant heads up our training operation. For those of you that have met John you know he has a great way with people and he has a ton of knowledge and experience. Frankly, it's an unbeatable combination. Here is a typical response from a recent class:

"The class was great! The materials were well presented and the exercises were very good - throwing us in the deep end (I like that). Learned a lot of new things about a business I've been in for a while. It was also interesting talking to folks who will utilize the tool in a non-software environment. All in all, a good experience."

If you have a requirement for training new SLIM users in your company or need a refresher course, here is the schedule for upcoming courses in McLean, VA:

To register for an upcoming training course or to request on-site training, please contact Keith Ciocco at keith_ciocco@qsm.com or 703-749-3812

Call QSM today for a FREE DEMO
of our best in class SLIM-Suite Estimation Products
800 424 6755

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