Research from Quantitative Software Management Inc. has found that best-in-class software-development projects not only make it to market faster than competitors, they are significantly less expensive.

The company surveyed 563 IT software-development projects over the course of four years and found that best-in-class projects are 3.37 times faster to market and 7.48 times cheaper than worst-in-class producers. When compared to “average” software producers, the top projects are 1.86 times faster to market and 2.72 times cheaper. According to the research, the most significant factors influencing best-in-class performance were:

• Controlling requirements change
• Highly skilled people with good functional knowledge of the application domain
• Effective tooling
• Effective project leadership resulting in low staff turnover

The survey found that the typical IT software-development project release was comprised of 30,000 new or modified sources lines of code, or 600 function points. The total project duration was 13.5 months, using the equivalent of 7.4 full-time employees, representing 55 persons-months’ worth of effort.

Quantitative Software Management Inc. provides tools and services for software- development professionals. For more information, visit www.qsm.com.

 …