Software process and project metrics

Software process and project metrics

Software process and project metrics are quantitative measures that enable software engineers to gain insight into the efficiency of the software process and the projects conducted using the process framework. In software project management, we are primarily concerned with productivity and quality metrics. The four reasons for measuring software processes, products, and resources (to characterize, to evaluate, to predict, and to improve).
Measures, Metrics, and Indicators

Measure -  provides a quantitative indication of the size of some product or process attribute
Measurement -  is the act of obtaining a measure
Metric -  is a quantitative measure of the degree to which a system, component, or process possesses a given attribute.

Process and Project Indicators
Metrics should be collected so that process and product indicators can be ascertained
Process indicators enable software project managers to: assess project status, track potential risks, detect problem area early, adjust workflow or tasks, and evaluate team ability to control product quality.

Process Metrics
Private process metrics (e.g. defect rates by individual or module) are known only to the individual or team concerned.
Public process metrics enable organizations to make strategic changes to improve the software process.
Metrics should not be used to evaluate the performance of individuals.
Statistical software process improvement helps and organization to discover where they are strong and where are weak.

Project Metrics
Software project metrics are used by the software team to adapt project workflow and technical activities.
Project metrics are used to avoid development schedule delays, to mitigate potential risks, and to assess product quality on an on-going basis.
Every project should measure its inputs (resources), outputs (deliverables), and results (effectiveness of deliverables).