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Closing the Management Gap Linking Software Development and Business Strategy through Measurement Dr. Adam Trendowicz adam.trendowicz@iese.fraunhofer.de
About the Presenter Dr. Adam Trendowicz Senior Engineer at Fraunhofer IESE, Kaiserslautern, Germany Division Process Management Research focus IT/Business alignment and measurement systems Software sizing and effort estimation Quality modeling and defect management Quantitative methods Continuous process improvement 3
About the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Named after Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826), a researcher, inventor, and entrepreneur Germany s leading organization for applied research and technology transfer 60 institutes 18,000 employees Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE) Kaiserslautern, Germany Bremerhaven Bremen Itzehoe Lübeck Rostock Hannover Berlin Potsdam Teltow Braunschweig Magdeburg Cottbus Oberhausen Dortmund Halle Schkopau Leipzig Duisburg Schmallenberg Dresden St. Augustin Jena Aachen Euskirchen Chemnitz Wachtberg Ilmenau St. Ingbert Saarbrücken Karlsruhe Pfinztal Ettlingen Stuttgart Darmstadt Würzburg Erlangen Kaiserslautern Fürth Freiburg Kandern Efringen- Kirchen Nürnberg Freising München Holzkirchen 4
Organizational Structure of Fraunhofer IESE Executive Director Prof. Dr. D. Rombach Scientific Director Prof. Dr.-Ing. P. Liggesmeyer Deputy Director Prof. Dr. F. Bomarius Business Areas Divisions Product Sectors, e.g. R. Kalmar Automotive & Transportation Systems Automation & Plant Engineering Embedded Systems (ES) Dr. Mario Trapp Embedded Systems Development (ESD) Dr. M. Becker Embedded Systems Quality Assurance (ESQ) Dr. R. Eschbach Service Sectors, e.g. M. Ochs Medical Systems Information Systems egovernment Health Care Process Management (PM) Dr. J. Heidrich Measurement, Prediction & Empiricism (MPE) Dr. J. Heidrich Process Compliance & Improvement (PCI) R. van Lengen Information Systems (IS) Dr. J. Dörr Information Systems Development (ISD) Dr. Marcus Trapp Information Systems Quality Assurance (ISQ) M. Eisenbarth 14.09.2011 CON.ECT Informunity: Neue Software-Trends Requirements 5
Process Management Goal and Strategies Goal: The main objective is to ensure high quality of processes and products through measurement and continuous improvement. Strategies: To achieve this goal, the Process Management division provides services in the following areas with an orientation towards practical application: Process diagnostics and management are the basis for the definition, introduction, and continuous improvement of development processes; processes are analyzed in terms of their strengths and improvement potentials or in terms of their conformity to standards. Measurement and quantitative analysis brings transparency to IT and software development, so that potential problems can be detected early on, risks can be minimized, and the quality of products and processes can be improved in a sustainable manner. 6
Process Management Service Areas (Products) Process Management (PM) Measurement, Prediction & Empiricism (MPE) IT/Business alignment and measurement systems (GQM) Cost/effort estimation and sizing (CES) Quality modeling and defect management (QM) Evaluation and piloting of SE technologies (ESE) Process Compliance & Improvement (PCI) Process modeling, documentation, evolution, and deployment (PD) Process analyses, audits, and compliance management (CM) Evidence-based process improvement (PI) 7
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Measuring Success Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School Achieving a goal requires the right course an effective vehicle collaboration between all involved units Question: How do we know whether the course is right and the collaborative vehicle is effective? Answer: Alignment & Measurement 14.09.2011 CON.ECT Informunity: Neue Software-Trends Requirements 9
Gap Analysis Example Goals and Strategies Measurement Data Business Level Strategy: Improve product reliability Goal: Increase customer satisfaction by 10% Strategy: Improve usability of product M1: Customer satisfaction (survey) Software Level Goal: Reduce customer-reported defects by 20% Strategy: Improve efficiency of system testing No sub-level goal defined Strategy not explicitly communicated Strategy: Improve maintainability of software Isolated strategy What is the contribution/value? Is there an implicit goal? M2: Customerreported field defects M3: Code metrics (McCabe, coupling, cohesion, etc.) Isolated data What is the data used for? (e.g., to improve code quality?) 10
Importance of IT Business Alignment Recognize these symptoms? BSC Financial Strategies on different levels of an organization are not linked to each other Business Level Customer Business Process It is not clear how IT and software development activities contribute to business goals Software and system engineers are frequently faced with apparently unrealistic goals IT and software are seen as a pure cost driver that is easy to substitute Core competencies for business success are outsourced GQM Project Level PSM Goals Questions Metrics Innovation/ Growth? Data Collection Attainment Answers Measurement SW Development & Maintenance CoBIT 11
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Closing the Management Gap with GQM + Strategies Close gaps and let all goals and measurement data contribute to a consistent and meaningful story Align the business at all levels of the organization in a seamless way Link goals and strategies from the top management level down to the project level Control the success/failure of goals and strategies through measurement Document the rationale for linking goals and strategies (context and assumptions) Organizational Levels Top Level Intermediate Level Bottom Level Goals & Strategies Goal + Strategies Elements Top Goals and Strategies Intermediate Goals and Strategies Rationale Bottom Goals and Strategies Rationale GQM Goals GQM Goals GQM Goals Data Goals Questions Metrics Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 13
The Basic Conceptual Model of GQM + Strategies Goals and Strategies Measurement Data Goal + Strategies Element GQM Graph Rationale influences Context/ Assumption influences Goal Strategy realized by a set of > made measurable through < measures achievement of GQM Goal made measurable through Question Question Interpretation Model Metric Metric Metric leads to a set of is part of Goal + Strategies Element GQM Graph 14
Basic Concepts Business Goals: Goals the organization wishes to accomplish in general in order to achieve its business objectives Context Factors: Environmental factors that represent the organizational environment and determine the kind of models and data that can be used Assumptions: Estimated unknown environmental factors affecting the interpretation of the data Strategy: A possible approach for achieving a goal that may be refined by a set of concrete activities (i.e., business or development processes) Level i Goals: A set of lower-level goals inherited from level i-1 goals as part of the level i-1 goal strategy, e.g., a goal related to a project that is part of the software strategy decision GQM Goals: Goals defined so that they can be measured using the GQM approach; a GQM goal is associated with goals at all levels Interpretation Models: Models that help interpret data to determine whether goals at all levels are achieved 15
Real-Life Grid Example Separated branches Are there hidden relationships? Different levels of detail Is model balanced? 16
GQM + Strategies Life Cycle 6 Package and Improve Adapt and improve grid Correct wrong assumptions Adapt strategies 1 Characterize Define application scope Define responsibilities Characterize environment/context 5 Analyze Results Analyze data and revise strategies Review and communicate results Analyze cost/benefit 2 Set Goals Determine organizational structures Perform gap analysis Prioritize goals Perform grid derivation process 4 Execute Model Apply strategies Collect and validate data Perform feedback sessions 3 Choose Process Plan implementation of strategies Organize data collection and analysis Define feedback mechanisms 17
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Oil & Gas Company (Colombia) Context and Objectives Context Global player on the oil and gas market Objective Change the role of IT and software development From: simple service provider and cost driver To: central information provider in order to enable business-oriented decision making and act as a tool for achieving business success Solution Align IT and software development activities to business Clarify business value of the IT & software departments Make this value measureable 19
Oil & Gas Company (Colombia) Solution (1/2) G1: Be positioned among the first 27 companies by 2015 S1: Increase oil and gas reserves C1: In 2009, reserves are equal to X and increase by Y A1: There are sufficient funds to do the exploration Business Level GQM Graph G2: Increase oil and gas reserves by 30% S2: Achieve an effectively balanced exploration portfolio G3: Decrease analysis time for finding reserves A2: If portfolio is of good quality, faster decisions A5: Balanced portfolio leads to increased reserves A4: Getting good data faster leads to better decisions A3: If portfolio is of good quality, decisions less risky S3: Improve information quality G4: Improve and maintain information quality S4.1: Improve internal data management for faster decision making S4.2: Develop / maintain / integrate applications that provide high-quality information S4.3: Improve business process definition and information processing S4.4: Identify time-sensitive and critical information required for business IT Level G5: Solve 80% of issues related to information quality S5: Improve modifiability of the architecture A6: Issues resolved faster if system modifiability is better 20
Oil & Gas Company (Colombia) Solution (2/2) Uniqueness: An information unit has a named unique source and every representation of that information unit has the same value For each information unit (relevant for the decisions to be made): Q1: Is one defined unique source specified? M1: (yes/no/don t know) Q2: Do you know about all replications of this information unit? M2: (yes/no) M3: Estimated # of known replications Q3: Does every representation of that information unit have the same value (check a representative sample, 10% of # of known replications)? M4: (yes/no/don t know) M5: Estimated # of non-duplicates 21
Government (Japan) Context and Objectives Context Information-technology Promotion Agency, Software Engineering Center, Japan Objective Assess project proposals and select the optimal set of projects to achieve organizational objectives at minimal cost Solution Define, align, and measure organizational goals and strategies Define catalog of reference strategies and associated generic project-level goals Assess alignment of the candidate projects 22
Government (Japan) Solution (1/4) GQM + Strategies Grid Organizational Goals & Strategies Reference Strategies Project Goals Template New project Project-specific Goals Scenario 1 2 3 4 Organizational strategy Project-template goal Project-specific goal 23
Government (Japan) Solution (2/4) 1. Project addresses organizational strategy by implementing an appropriate goal defined by the organization-wide template of project-level goals (defined in the organizational GQM + Strategies Grid) 2. Organizational strategy defined in the GQM + Strategies Grid is not addressed by any of the project-specific goals Project neither adapts any of the project goals defined in the organizationwide template (Case 1) nor defines specific goals that address organizational strategy (Case 4) 3. Project defines its specific goals, which are not linked to any of the organizational strategies defined in the GQM + Strategies Grid 4. Organizational strategy defined in the GQM + Strategies Grid is addressed only by project-specific goals 5. Any combination of the above scenarios 24
Government (Japan) Solution (3/4) GQM + Strategies Grid Organizational Goals & Strategies Goals of a New Project Reference Strategies Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3 Organizational strategy Project-template goal Project-specific goal 25
Government (Japan) Solution (4/4) Project addresses any organizational strategy Project addresses many organizational strategies Organizational strategy addressed by more than one project Organizational strategy not addressed by any project 26
Overview of Recent Applications Clarify and harmonize goals, strategies, and measurement data Illustrate value of IT/ software in terms of larger business objectives Improve communication of goals throughout an organization Support transparent decision-making Business Domain Application European telecommunications company European automotive supplier European network testing company International software company Asian insurance company Asian systems engineering organization International gas and oil company Telecommunications Automotive Telecommunications Embedded systems used in telecommunications Information systems Safety-critical software for aerospace domain Information systems Drive strategic improvement programs Support measurement and analysis Modernize existing product suite Increase the visibility of strategic decisions Address new business domain Enhance supplier collaboration Alignment and value of IT 27
Lessons Learned Success Factors and Threats Get Support Management commitment is missing Get Acceptance Project manager and project members are difficult to convince regarding the benefits of measurement People fear misuse of measurement data, e.g., for employee assessment Getting data from external organizations (e.g., suppliers) is difficult Avoid Manipulations Analysis results are manipulated in order to make the results look better Steer Effectiveness Measurement program is not as effective as expected Control Costs Measurement costs too much overhead 28
GQM + Strategies Summary Provides justification and accountability at all organizational levels Provides a clear plan of action Provides guidance not just for planning, but also for analyzing and rolling up the resulting data to the people who need to make decisions Provides support for defining and sustaining the strategic measurement and management process Creating the right organizational structure Getting feedback to projects in a timely fashion Maintaining commitment within all organizational levels 29
Homework Critical Questions to Ask How do IT investments contribute to my business value? What are critical factors that affect my business goals? How do I avoid unrealistic and contradictory goals and strategies? What data do I need for guiding business improvement? 30
Learn more Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft www.fraunhofer.de Fraunhofer IESE www.iese.fraunhofer.de GQM + Strategies www.iese.fraunhofer.de/products/gqm/ Contact us Dr. Adam Trendowicz Phone: +49 (0) 631-6800-2137 Fax: +49 (0) 631-6800-9-2137 Email: adam.trendowicz@iese.fraunhofer.de 31
APPENDIX Related approaches Bibliography Contributors 14.09.2011 CON.ECT Informunity: Neue Software-Trends Requirements 32
Overview of Related Approaches CoBIT is an approach for quantitative IT governance that distinguishes between different goal levels and provides predefined metrics for controlling the goals Benefit: Explicit linkage of IT-specific goals and metrics Weakness: Limited customization support Practical Software and System Measurement (PSM) guides project managers in selecting, collecting, defining, analyzing, and reporting specific software issues Benefit: Project needs / characteristics guide metric selection Weakness: Measurement as software project level activity Balanced Scorecard (BSC) incorporates four measurement views: financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth measurement Benefit: Links measurements to company goals Weakness: No support for project measurement Six Sigma (6σ) is a continuous quality improvement method adapted from the manufacturing domain Benefit: Aims at understanding and controlling process-product dependencies with a focus on defect measures Weakness: Does not explicitly link measures to business-level goals Slide 33
Further Reading V. Basili, J. Heidrich, M. Lindvall, J. Münch, M. Regardie, D. Rombach, C. Seaman, A. Trendowicz. Bridging the Gap Between Business Strategy and Software Development. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems, 9.-12. Dec., Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2007. V. R. Basili, J. Heidrich, M. Lindvall, J. Münch, M. Regardie, D. Rombach, C. Seaman, A. Trendowicz. GQM+Strategies : A Comprehensive Methodology for Aligning Business Strategies with Software Measurement. In: Tagungsbad des DASMA- Software-Metrik-Kongresses (MetriKon 2007), 15.-16. Nov., Kaiserslautern, 2007. V. Basili, J. Heidrich, M. Lindvall, J. Münch, M. Regardie, A. Trendowicz. GQM+Strategies Aligning Business Strategies with Software Measurement. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2007), 20.-21. Sep., Madrid, Spain, 2007. J. Heidrich, J. Münch, A. Trendowicz. Messbasierte Ausrichtung von Softwarestrategien an Geschäftszielen. Fachmagazin IM 1/2009. V. R. Basili, J. Heidrich, M. Lindvall, J. Münch, M. Regardie, C. Seaman, A. Trendowicz. Determining the Impact of Business Strategies Using Principles from Goal-oriented Measurement. 9th International Conference on Business Informatics, 25.-27.- Feb., Vienna, Austria, 2009. V. R. Basili, J. Heidrich, M. Lindvall, J. Münch, M. Regardie, D. Rombach, C. Seaman, A. Trendowicz. Linking Software Development and Business Strategy Through Measurement. IEEE Computer, vol. 43, no. 4, April 2010. V. Mandić, L. Harjumaa, J. Markkula, and M. Oivo, Early Empirical Assessment of the Practical Value of GQM+Strategies. in New Modeling Concepts for Today s Software Processes, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2010, Volume 6195/2010, pp. 14-25 A. Tendowicz, J.Heidrich, K. Shintani, Aligning Software Projects with Business Objectives, Proceedings of The 6 th International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement (Mensura), November 3-4, 2011, Nara, Japan. Vol. I, IEEE Computer Society, 2011 34
GQM + Strategies Contributors and Trademark Dieter Rombach, Jürgen Münch, Jens Heidrich, and Adam Trendowicz Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE), Kaiserslautern, Germany http://www.iese.fraunhofer.de Victor Basili, Mikael Lindvall, Myrna Regardie, and Carolyn Seaman Fraunhofer USA Center for Experimental Software Engineering (CESE), College Park, Maryland, USA http://fc-md.umd.edu For more information, please contact Dr. Jens Heidrich <jens.heidrich@iese.fraunhofer.de> Phone: +49 631 6800 2193 GQM + Strategies is registered trademark no. 302008021763 at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office; international registration number IR992843. 35