QSM News
New Addition to QSM Consulting Team: Carol Dekkers
Please welcome Carol Dekkers who joins QSM as a part-time Consultant and Trainer. Carol will be a member of our consulting team and also assisting as needed with our research and training needs. Carol has been a longtime teaming partner of QSM and those of us who have worked with her know that she is an excellent speaker, writer, trainer and consultant.
Carol is a recognized international expert in the software metrics and IT Project Management industries. A former President of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG), Carol has been project editor of the U.S. delegation to ISO software and systems engineering standards in function points and benchmarking (ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7) since 1994.
QSM Welcomes Andy Berner to the Software Development Team
QSM is pleased to welcome Andy Berner to our development team as a Senior Software Engineer. He will be supporting the product development team on new SLIM software estimation, forecasting, and benchmarking products as well as the IBM Rational integrations. As an IBM Rational Partner, QSM has had the priviledge of working with Andy over the last several years designing and implementing integrations between the SLIM Tool Suite and the IBM Rational applications Rational Team Concert, Rational Focal Point, and Rational Method Composer.
"The Difference Engine" by Phillip Armour in Communications of the ACM
January's Communications of the ACM featured an article by QSM consultant Phillip Armour. "The Difference Engine" focuses on building teams of differently skilled people. The article is partly based on University of Michigan Professor of Complex Systems, Scott Page’s book, The Difference, which shows the power of cognitive diversity in building systems and solving problems. Phil will elaborate more on this subject in a upcoming series on the QSM blog, so stay tuned!
QSM Consulting Receives Four “Exceptional” Ratings from Army CPAR
We are pleased to announce that QSM has received four "Exceptional" ratings from the Army Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR). A CPAR assessment is based on objective facts and supported by program and contract management data, such as cost performance reports, customer comments, quality reviews, and earned contract incentives. The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) is the Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Solution for collection of contractor Past Performance Information (PPI) as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
QSM Presentation at Better Software West 2012
Paul Below will be presenting "Optimal Project Performance: Factors that Influence Project Duration" at the 2012 Better Software West Conference on Thursday, June 14 at 4:00 PM.
QSM Awarded Contract with Army Cost Center
We are pleased to announce that the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Cost and Economics (ODASA-CE) has contracted QSM to provide a comprehensive cost methodology, which includes tools, consulting support, and on-site training. This contract is a continuation of a successful working relationship between QSM and the Army that began in 2004. With the new contract, QSM will be providing estimation assistance on major ACAT 1 programs (major acquisition programs). QSM will also help establish a metrics database with software data from the Defense and Cost Research Center (DCARC) and from DASA-CE data collection efforts. This database will be used for program analysis and evaluation.
Read the full press release here.
QSM Presentation at Gartner Symposium: Best Practices for Establishing a Successful Estimation Process
On October 17 at 7:30 PM, Keith Ciocco will be presenting "Best Practices for Establishing a Successful Estimation Process" at the Gartner Symposium ITXpo. This presentation covers best practices for project estimation. Keith will summarize some key things to remember when setting up a successful estimation process at the organizational and project level, including the importance of calibrating to historical data and measuring size and productivity.
QSM will also be exhibiting at this conference. Stop by booth ET3 and enter to win an iPad 2!
New SLIM Product Tour
We are pleased to announce that QSM has a new SLIM product tour. This online demo shows you how to quickly and easily use SLIM-Estimate to create an estimate validated by industry benchmarks or your own project history. The demo then demonstrates how to negotiate trade-offs and highlights some of the new features of the tool. The product tour also includes SLIM-MasterPlan, which allows you to roll-up multiple estimates and is ideal for iterative and non-iterative developments.
View the new SLIM demo here and tell us what you think!
New Faces in QSM Support
The next time you call or email QSM for support, you may notice a few unfamiliar names or voices. That's because QSM Research and Support is growing!
The first addition to our team is Katie Costantini. Katie joined QSM as a temporary summer intern in May of this year. We were so delighted by the quality of her work that we recently offered her a full time position at QSM as a Technical Support and Documentation specialist.
New Additions to the QSM Team
QSM is pleased to announce we have been rapidly growing this year. To accommodate our new consulting services, training offerings, SLIM tool releases, and research projects, QSM has welcomed a wide range of talented and experienced team members. Here's a brief overview of our recent additions:
