QSM is pleased to welcome Taylor Putnam to the QSM Research and Technical Support team. Taylor joins QSM with a strong research background. Throughout college and her time interning for QSM, she has conducted studies on risk perception, complex decision making, behavioral economics, and project sizing. Taylor graduated cum laude from Dickinson College with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish.

Taylor will be assisting in peer reviews for product documentation, new product testing, research to support consulting engagements, validating new projects for the QSM Database.

SLIM-WebServices is here! We are pleased to introduce the newest generation of SLIM tools: a "light and lean," cloud-based version of our world-class project estimating, tracking, and benchmarking products. With a streamlined structure and simplified user interface, SLIM-WebServices endows more people in more positions at more places in an enterprise with sophisticated project estimation intelligence – improving visibility, transparency, and global collaboration.

Whether you’re conducting a feasibility assessment, estimating a new project, tracking ongoing projects, building a historical database, or benchmarking your completed projects, SLIM-WebServices support better decision making at each stage of the software lifecycle. This powerful, yet easy-to-use tool delivers fast results using minimal inputs, allowing estimators, project managers, stakeholders, and senior management to quickly and easily share information and lessons learned. SLIM-WebServices mirror the software development lifecycle, and encourage the adoption of enterprise-wide standards for project estimation, tracking, and benchmarking.

Read the full news release.

Imagine we are starting a new Agile project, one that is key to our competitive position. We need to deliver in six months. Our competition is already in the market, so we must at least match them on features and quality. This project is twice as large as other projects we've done recently, but the project is important enough to put our best people on it. Two teams stand out - their velocity is consistently high on the projects they've completed. If we put those teams together, their combined velocity should do the trick! Well, maybe it's not quite that easy. In Predictable Change - Flexing the Five Core Levers of Software Development, Dr. Andy Berner from QSM introduces the key metrics used to predict what it takes to do a new project and some of the issues you'll encounter when moving from Agile iteration planning to planning new projects and releases. 

Dr. Andy Berner is a senior software engineer at Quantitative Software Management, Inc. Previously, Andy worked at IBM where he was lead architect for enablement and strategy in the Ready for IBM Rational program. Andy has done extensive consulting on software development methods and tools, recently focusing on integrations of tools and team members throughout the software lifecycle. Prior to IBM, Andy spent 11 years at EDS. In a former life, Andy was a research mathematician and teacher. He now helps QSM customers improve their ability to manage and control their projects. 

Download the free white paper now!

QSM is pleased to welcome J. D. Ottenbreit and James Heires, two recognized industry experts, to our growing professional services team.

An accomplished business leader with 15+ years of technical and functional experience that spans the commercial, government and academic sectors, J. D. Ottenbreit specializes in client and large account management, project/program oversight and control, the full software development lifecycle, quality assurance, business process redesign, as well as strategic planning and execution. He has led teams both domestically and internationally as part of a former Big Four corporation, a Fortune 50 company, and as an advisor to various cabinet level government agencies and departments.   

Jeff will lead the QSM commercial consulting line of business where he and his team leverage our SLIM Suite of Tools and deep business insights to provide software modeling, project stewardship and best practice, metric and benchmark studies for application development and IT decision makers. 

Jeff is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and trained in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) methodology and Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) model. He holds a MBA in Management Information Systems from Sacred Heart University, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan, and is a graduate of the Yale School of Management Strategic Leadership Workshop. 

If you were unable to attend our recent webinar, Using Function Points and SLIM to Support a Complete Estimation Process, a replay is now available.

How can project managers use their Function Point history to improve the way they estimate their projects? Leveraging historical data to generate and sanity check macro-level estimates early in the project lifecycle can save thousands of dollars in planning time and prevent signing up to unrealistic project schedules and budgets. Now that we've learned the basics of estimating before requirements, Keith Ciocco demonstrates how to use industry data and Function Point history with the SLIM Suite of Tools for a more mature estimation process. 

As Vice President of QSM, Keith has more than 25 years of experience working in sales and customer service, with 17 of those years spent at QSM. Keith’s primary responsibilities include managing business development, existing client relations, customer retention and response. 

Watch the webinar replay!

On Thursday, June 28 at 1:00 PM EDT, QSM's Keith Ciocco will present Using Function Points and SLIM to Support a Complete Estimation Process.

How can project managers use their Function Point history to improve the way they estimate their projects? Leveraging historical data to generate and sanity check macro-level estimates early in the project lifecycle can save thousands of dollars in planning time and prevent signing up to unrealistic project schedules and budgets. Now that we've learned the basics of estimating before requirements, Keith Ciocco demonstrates how to use industry data and Function Point history with the SLIM Suite of Tools for a more mature estimation process. 

As Vice President of QSM, Keith has more than 25 years of experience working in sales and customer service, with 17 of those years spent at QSM. Keith’s primary responsibilities include managing business development, existing client relations, customer retention and response. 

Watch the replay of this webinar!

Our recent webinar, Estimating Before Requirements with Function Points and Other Metrics, was a huge success! If you were unable to attend, a replay and pdf version of the slides are now available. If you have any questions regarding this material or QSM's Function Point Analysis services, please do not hesitate to contact us.

It is well known that project estimating based on parametric models has reached a sophistication where realistic estimates, schedules and predictable outcomes are indeed possible given a set of software and systems requirements. However, increasingly with the fast pace of Agile and other development methods is the requirement for estimates much earlier in the life cycle. What happens when project estimating moves back a full phase – before requirements, and acquisition managers, contractors, auditors and financial analysts are forced to develop and analyze estimates based on unknown requirements? Presented by industry expert Carol Dekkers, this presentation examines how to identify and document assumptions, create a logical and traceable project map including locations of potential “landmines” (calculated risks) that accompany this preliminary estimating. Experienced estimating professionals and contract managers will find a basis for common ground in this presentation – as the advice presented will create the basis for dialog and discussion of early estimates.

Watch the full replay here!

On Thursday, June 7 at 1:00 PM EDT, QSM will host Estimating Before Requirements with Function Points and other Metrics, presented by industry expert Carol Dekkers.

It is well known that project estimating based on parametric models has reached a sophistication where realistic estimates, schedules and predictable outcomes are indeed possible given a set of software and systems requirements.  However, increasingly with the fast pace of Agile and other development methods is the requirement for estimates much earlier in the life cycle. What happens when project estimating moves back a full phase – before requirements, and acquisition managers, contractors, auditors and financial analysts are forced to develop and analyze estimates based on unknown requirements?  Presented by industry expert Carol Dekkers, this presentation examines how to identify and document assumptions, create a logical and traceable project map including locations of potential “landmines” (calculated risks) that accompany this preliminary estimating.  Experienced estimating professionals and contract managers will find a basis for common ground in this presentation – as the advice presented will create the basis for dialog and discussion of early estimates.

QSM is pleased to announce that we are now an approved PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.), making it easier than ever for SLIM Training attendees to earn PDUs! R.E.P.s are organizations that have been approved by PMI to help project managers achieve and maintain the Project Management Professional (PMP)^®, Program Management Professional (PgMP)^® and other PMI professional credentials.

QSM's SLIM Training Course teaches attendees how to accurately estimate project size (scope) and calculate productivity to project risk-buffered effort-time trade-offs. Additionally, attendees learn how to leverage the SLIM tools for tracking, variance, analysis, forecasting, and benchmarking to manage risk as a project unfolds, as well as analyze key project metrics to meet project business goals and plan continuous software process improvement efforts.

The full SLIM training course is 19 PDUs. Students taking the full course can claim 6 PDUs for PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)^® and 4 PDUs for PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)^SM.

Read the full press release.

PMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP, and PgMP are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

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.