What a Baseline analysis

covers
• A software baseline analysis explores essentially all of the soft and
hard tactical factors that impact software development and
maintenance
• The project itself, the tools, the methodologies, morale and policy
issues, languages, customer constraints, purchased software, training,
and many other things.
• The following is an overview of the major topics and their significance
 Project factors

Change control factors

Programming language

Baseline Analysis Covers

factors

Methodology factors

Defect removal and

quality assurance factors

Package acquisition and

modification factors

Management factors

Staff specialist factors

Staff Physical environment

factors specialist factors
Management factors
• Achieving high productivity requires much more than just buying new
tools and methods. The way employees are dealt with, the way
morale issues are handled, and the way enterprises manage and
organize software projects are very significant parameters.
• The software productivity analysis covers all of the critical managerial
issues in depth.
• This portion of the baseline analysis may sometimes lead to the
formulation of new policies and management practices.
Staff specialist factors
• Software engineers, systems analysts, quality assurance specialists,
maintenance specialists, database administrators, and so on.
• The baseline analysis examines which specialist types are currently
available within the enterprise and which additional specialists may
be needed to meet the needs of future projects.
Physical environment factors
• The availability of sufficient workspace for software development and
maintenance staffs and the kinds of equipment and workstations
installed are explored fully.
• Although few enterprises recognize its significance, physical
environment is one of the major determinants of software
productivity.
Methodology factors
• The word “methodology” covers a broad spectrum of methods, tools,
and procedures applied to software projects.
• The methodology portion of the productivity analysis covers all
procedures used by the enterprise for software, including the way
requirements are developed, the specification and design methods
Package acquisition and modification
factors
• In many enterprises, a significant percentage of applications are
purchased from outside vendors.
• The baseline analysis explores enterprise methods for evaluating,
acquiring, and modifying software packages.
• Package acquisition is often a productivity enhancement factor, but it
can sometimes be a productivity reduction factor as well.
Programming language factors
• Selection of single language or a set of languages that is optimized for
its needs.
• Part of the baseline analysis is to examine the enterprise’s future
projects and diagnose the most effective language choices.
• The most appropriate languages can range across all generations.
• It is not accurate to prescribe fourth-generation languages exclusively,
since they are not appropriate for many program and system types.
Defect removal and quality assurance
factors
• Eliminating bugs or defects is usually the most expensive single
activity in the software world when all defect removal efforts are
summed together.
• The baseline analysis also covers the methods and techniques used to
find and remove errors: reviews, walk-throughs, inspections, all forms
of testing, and proofs of correctness.
Change control factors
• During development software projects add and change requirements
at measured rates of between 1 and 3 percent each month.
• After deployment, software projects add new features at a rate of
about 7 percent per year, using the function point total of the
application as the basis for judging changes.
Maintenance and enhancement factors
• Since maintenance of legacy applications usually comprises more than
50 percent of the effort.
• It is normal to examine topics such as use of code restricting tools,
complexity analysis tools, renovation, removal of error-prone
modules, and other topics that are known to affect maintenance
performance.
Measurement and normalization factors
• Most enterprises that commission a baseline analysis start with
essentially no hard data at all on either productivity or quality.
• Therefore, a vital output from the analysis will be a solid benchmark
of validated, hard productivity and quality data.
• The first baseline report will give most enterprises much better data
than they have ever had or even knew was possible.
Standard design blueprints and reusable
code
• The baseline analysis explores whether or not standard designs,
termed “blueprints,” and reusable code would be appropriate
technologies for the projects and enterprises studied.
• Reusability is one of the most effective technologies yet developed,
but it is not applicable to all enterprises and project types.