Cloud computing is revolutionizing the way firms host software applications, store and access data, and manage IT infrastructure.  Like any quantum leap in technology, the move to the Cloud brings both opportunities and challenges. A recent public Cloud adoption survey found that only 43% of respondents considered their most recent public Cloud migration an overall success. IT departments moving to the Cloud have a thousand decisions to make. All of them require good data and a solid grasp of business goals, current capabilities, and resources. They also need a simple, practical way to predict future staffing and skills gaps, present options to stakeholders and management, build support, and adjust plans when conditions and priorities change. In this white paper, Kate Armel explains where general purpose estimation tools can help you quickly create and revise estimates, establish repeatable estimation processes, sanity check plans against proven performance, and mitigate known – and hidden - migration risks.

Read the white paper!

If you were unable to attend our recent webinar, a replay is now available.

Software size measures are critical to project estimation, governance, and closeout. Methods for measuring size have been around for decades, yet many organizations still struggle to establish consistent, repeatable processes for capturing software size. Common agreement is that project size is the most important predictor of cost and schedule.

In this PDU-approved webinar, Laura Zuber describes ways to measure software size and gather actual data for completed projects to improve future estimates and in-flight project forecasts.

Watch the replay!

Here at QSM, we realize COVID-19 has impacted your lives and businesses in many ways. One thing we don't want you to worry about is how to get the resources you need from us during this time of crisis. QSM is adhering to both CDC and state guidelines with all employees working remotely at this time. Whether it's customer support, online training, one-on-one remote coaching sessions, FAQs, white papers, or webinars, QSM is fully-equipped to support you. Below is a list of resources...

On March 24 at 1:00 PM EDT, QSM will be hosting a PDU-approved webinar, "Measuring Software Size - Insights from the Past to Guide the Future."

Software size measures are critical to project estimation, governance, and closeout. Methods for measuring size have been around for decades, yet many organizations still struggle to establish consistent, repeatable processes for capturing software size. Common agreement is that project size is the most important predictor of cost and schedule.

In this webinar, Laura Zuber will describe ways to measure software size and gather actual data for completed projects to improve future estimates and in-flight project forecasts.

Register now!

We live in a multi-dimensional world.  We see in three dimensions.  Our brains’ ability to process spatial relations of height, width, and depth are essential for navigating everywhere we go and every task we perform.  The scientific world has used computers and data to generate 3D graphics for years, because it is the only way to understand complex phenomenon and ideas.  I remember the first 3D color seismic map of rock formations underground I saw.  The image told a story the numbers alone could not.  The business world has caught on in recent years.  The wave began with data warehousing and business intelligence and has grown to include data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

QSM has brought a scientific approach to software development project estimation and management for over 40 years.  Our SLIM-Suite of tools contain statistics on the largest repository of completed software projects that enable you to model software projects to predict potential outcomes and assess the reasonableness of your estimates and project goals.  They have always provided four common types of Data Analytics¹ – Descriptive, Diagnostic, Predictive, and Prescriptive.  SLIM tools now provide more in-depth data analytics using quadrant charts.

If you were unable to attend our recent webinar, "Demystifying Cloud Migration Using Estimation," a replay and slides are now available.

Technology organizations spend millions of dollars each year implementing cloud-related programs. Whether the programs are in-house or vendor-related, early planning can be a major stress factor in the management of these programs. Organizations often lose big money and time while trying to carry out cost and schedule targets that were unrealistic to begin with.

Join Kate Armel and Keith Ciocco for this PDU-approved webinar as they show the value of using empirically-based software estimation tools to help mitigate risk and improve early planning and negotiation capabilities when migrating to the Cloud.

Watch the replay!

Technology organizations spend millions of dollars each year implementing cloud-related programs. Whether the programs are in-house or vendor-related, early planning can be a major stress factor in the management of these programs. Organizations often lose big money and time while trying to carry out cost and schedule targets that were unrealistic to begin with.

Join Kate Armel and Keith Ciocco for this PDU-approved webinar on January 22 at 1:00 PM EDT as they show the value of using empirically-based software estimation tools to help mitigate risk and improve early planning and negotiation capabilities when migrating to the Cloud.

Register now!

As we enter a new decade, it's important to take a look back at where we've been. The past 10 years saw the introduction of the Ipad, Microsoft Azure, Uber, 4G networks, and Instagram. Some might look back and call this the era of cloud computing and artificial intelligence with increased connectivity and efficiency in technology like never before. But software development goals have remained largely the same: to reduce cost and time to market, increase quality and maintainability, and allocate resources more efficiently. I'm willing to bet those goals will not change in the coming decade. At QSM, we have always believed that the only way to combat the unknown is with practical measurement and metrics grounded in data from our past. As we look to 2020, let's take a look at our top 5 resources from 2019, featuring the most current insights from our industry experts on the state of software estimation and project management and development trends. 

What better way to get a bird's eye view of software development's history than with a look at long-term trends? Leveraging QSM's industry database of over 13,000+ completed projects, Katie Costantini's "Long Term Trends from 40 Years of Completed Software Project Data" took a high-level look at changes to software schedules, effort/cost, productivity, size, and reliability metrics from 1980 to 2019. The study compared insights to similar studies QSM has completed at regular intervals over the past four decades and answered questions like, 'what is the "typical" project over time?' and 'why are projects "shrinking?"

Many organizations have a need and interest in introducing tools for estimating their IT development efforts, but are reticent due to the perceived disruption, or all out difficulty of execution.  Estimating touches many parts and processes of the organization, so implementation can seem daunting. However, many organizations I work with are surprised by the relative ease of the integration and how the results pay off in spades.

While a process may have been in place for years, or merely months, any good estimating tool should be able to adapt and be woven into that process.  This includes aligning the estimating tool to the nomenclature of the environment and customizing the tool to an organization’s project types such as Cloud, Agile, ERP, Waterfall etc.  Even a seemingly small step of branding the tool itself to the corporate identity, via company logo placement, can help.  Once a tool has your environmental language and “feel” embedded, it starts to belong.  Initially, all of this can be accomplished at a very centralized level – one or two projects with no need for disrupting the work of the project staff.   

If you were unable to attend our recent webinar, a replay is now available.

In many agile and even non-agile development environments, the budget, team size, and schedule are fixed based on an organization’s predetermined targets. This leads many project managers to question how they should proceed with target negotiations and some even wonder if they should estimate at all. The problem is, without a reliable estimate, the amount of functionality promised within the time and money constraints could be difficult to achieve. This could cause the product delivery to be short on features, or late and over budget.

Join Keith Ciocco for this webinar as he demonstrates the role of scope-level estimation tools in evaluating if targets are reasonable and in determining how much functionality can be delivered. This crucial analysis helps set customer expectations and provides data-driven leverage for negotiations.