The document summarizes Graeme Prescott's presentation on administering a substantial function point counting (FPC) program in a large organization. It describes implementing and managing an FPC regime across multiple projects and sites within the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). Key aspects included utilizing a qualified metrics cell and trained counters in each project team to count over 40 projects delivering more than 10,000 FPs per quarter across 25 applications. Challenges involved managing staff movements, fluctuating skill levels, potential conflicts between project counts impacting the same applications, and consolidating counts in a timely manner. Techniques aimed to automate linking reported FPs to effort recording and drive process and performance improvements using

1. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
ACOSM 2009 – Presentation Abstract
• Presenter: Graeme Prescott - Australian Government Department of Education, Employment &
Workplace Relations
• Title: Administering a Substantial FPC Program in a Large Organisation
• Abstract:
‫ ‏‬Organising metrics recording in a large IT organisation working out of multiple sites, developing
and maintaining applications and delivering training to end users, where over 40 projects deliver
more than 10,000 FPs from work done on up to 25 applications each quarter. A comprehensive
function point counting regime is used to support estimation and to help justify funding proposals
and restrictions on work programs. The operational model utilises a qualified metrics cell,
supporting trained counters in every project team. Techniques applied to support fluctuating skill
levels and availability of the counting group includes continually monitoring staff movements and
providing regular information and training opportunities. Managing the counting of multiple
projects, impacting the same applications, provides challenges managing possible conflicts and
corruptions of the counts and baselines. Managing the time critical consolidation of project
counts into the application baselines before the next round of counts are required. Techniques to
automate matching the reported function points to effort recording outcomes to provide defensible
performance metrics. Progressing the metrics program into a management tool that enables the
use of industry metrics to drive process and performance improvements.
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 1

2. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Administering a Substantial FPC
Program in a Large Organisation
The DEEWR Experience
Graeme Prescott
AIMM CFPS MACS
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 2

3. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Presentation Roadmap
• An Overview of the Employment Systems
Group
• Implementing and Managing the Counting
Program
• Problems and Outcomes
• Where to from here ?
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 3

4. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
An Overview of ESG
• The ESG environment
– Location and Structure
– The Pattern of Work in ESG
– The visibility of metrics in ESG and DEEWR
• The history of FPCing in
– DEEWR ESG
– Other DEEWR IT Areas
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 4

5. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Location and Structure
Employment Systems Group
Canberra Sydney
Application Development Application Development
(Application Development, Project (Application Development)
Office, Training))
Application Systems Support
(Help Desk, Production Support, Test
Management, BA Support)
Application Systems Technical
Support
(Release, DBA, Internal Client
Applications)
Business Intelligence
(Data Warehouse Development,
Reporting & Support)
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 5

6. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Pattern of Work in ESG
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 6

7. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Pattern of Work in ESG
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 7

8. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Pattern of Work in ESG
ESC4 (2008-2009)
Working Nation (2007-
2008)
W2W (2006-2007)
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 8

9. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Current ESG Portfolio
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 9

10. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The‫‏‬Visibility‫‏‬of‫‏‬ESG’s‫‏‬Metrics
• Within ESG
– Weekly management project progress
reviews
• Outside ESG
– Business area Board meetings
– Departmental annual report to
Parliament
– Departmental budget proposals
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 10

11. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The History of FP Counting in ESG
• Within ESG
– A constantly maturing metrics program
• Initially one count per physical environment
• Changing the counting boundaries to business area based
• Maturing the management of counts as workload increased
• Outside ESG
– No other IT development area, has a metrics program in
place
– The ESG governance model may be exported to other
IT areas as part of the best practice approach to IT in
DEEWR
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 11

12. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The History of FP Counting in ESG
ESC4 (2008-2009)
Working Nation (2007-2008)
W2W (2006-2007)
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 12

13. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Implementing and Managing the Counting
Program
• The Structure
• The Workflow
• Managing the Process
• The Metrics
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 13

14. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
ESG’s‫‏‬Organisational‫‏‬Structure
• Projects implement government initiatives
– Often bracket business areas
– Often impact multiple IT applications
• Branches consist of multiple project teams
– Project teams focus on business areas (e.g.
Indigenous)
– Project teams run concurrent multiple projects
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 14

15. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Structure of Counting in ESG
Business Proposal M Contract
Type W
Area A Project
1 Project
team
Alpha
Contract
Type X
Business Proposal N
Project
Area B 2
Contract
Type Y
Project
team
Project Beta
Business Proposal O 3 Contract
Type Z
Area C
Project
Project IT APP team
4 A Delta
FP Count Files
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 15

16. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Structure of Counting in ESG
• Every business area has a count
– Client business areas (generally contract types)
– IT business areas (generally service applications)
• Branches consist of multiple project teams
– Project teams focus on business areas (e.g.
Indigenous)
– Project teams run concurrent multiple projects
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 16

17. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Counting Workflow
• Project initiation
– Establish project infrastructure
• Initial counts
– Validate bottom up estimates
– Sanity check on requirements
• Final counts
– Validate initial count, modify as needed
– Feed count into ESG metrics matrix
• project, quarter and FY
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 17

18. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Managing the Counting Process
• Identifying counts required
– Input from counters and project specialists
• Creating & distributing count files
– Project Office manages count creation & maintenance
• Reviewing counts
– Certified counter oversights and reviews counts
• Consolidating counts
– For projects
– For business areas (applications)
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 18

19. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Managing the Metrics
• Metrics are compiled for each project, all projects
in a quarter and for the FY
• The‫‏‬KPI’s‫‏‬are‫‏‬reported‫‏‬by:
• $s per FP
• Defects per 1,000 FPs
• Proposals estimated from requirement counts
• Establishing program of work size
• Picking‫‘‏‬winners’
• Justifying estimates for funding
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 19

20. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Problems and Outcomes
• The Model
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Challenges
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 20

21. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The ESG Model
• Distributed counters
– Ideally at least one counter in each project team
– At worst one counter per project manager
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 21

22. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The ESG Model
• Distributed counters
– Ideally at least one counter in each project team
– At worst one counter per project manager
• Central management
– Certified counter manages the creation and distribution
of count files, tracks progress, performs count reviews,
manages reporting
• Training and Mentoring
– Certified counter mentors during counts, runs
information sessions, etc
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 22

23. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Strengths
• Project experts as counters
• Proximity to business knowledge
• Personal knowledge of project
developments
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 23

24. ACOSM2009 “Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
High experience Counter
The Strengths
Medium experience Counter Group Manager
Dev Br #1 Dev Br #2 Dev Team #3 Bus Intel Br Tech Support Br
Tester Trainer 1 Tech Supp 1
Developer 1 Dev Team 1 Training Team Release Team
Dev Team 1 Developer 1 Developer 2 Trainer 2 Tech Supp 2
Dev Team 1
BA Developer 2
BA Coder 1 Tech Supp 3
Developer 3 Developer 3
Developer 4 Coder 2 Tech Supp 4
Developer 4 Developer 4
Developer 5 BA Tech Supp 5
Tester BA
Dev Team 2 Developer 1 DW Dev Team BA DBA Team
Dev Team 2 Developer 1 Dev Team 2 Developer 1
Developer 2 Developer 2 DBA 1
BA Developer 2
Developer 3 Developer 3 DBA 2
Developer 3 Developer 3 Developer 4 Developer 4
Developer 4 Developer 4 DBA 3
Tester Developer 5 DBA 4
BA BA
BA BA
Developer 6 Tester
Special Projects
Dev Team 3 DW Analysis Team
Dev Team 3 Developer 1 Team
Developer 1 Dev Team 3
Developer 1
Developer 2 Analyst 1 BA 1
Developer 2 Developer 2
BA Analyst 2 BA 2
Tester Developer 3
Developer 4 Analyst 3 BA 3
Developer 4 Tester
Developer 5
Developer 5 Tester
BA
BA BA BA/Tester Mgmnt
App Dev Team Developer 1
Team
BA BA Mgr
Dev Team 4 Developer 1
Dev Team 4 Developer 1 Developer 1 Developer 3 Tester Mgr
Dev Team 4
Tester
BA Developer 4
Developer 2 Test Tool
Developer 3 Tester
Developer 3 BA BA Tool
Developer 4 Developer 6
Developer 4 Developer 4
Tester
BA Lead BA BA
Developer 6 Developer 6
Bus Liaison Team Project Office
Dev Team 5
Dev Team 5 Developer 1 BA 1 FP Coord
Developer 1 Dev Team 5
Developer 1
BA BA 2 Schedules
Developer 2 Developer 2
Developer 3 BA 3 Governance
Developer 3 Developer 3 BA BA 4 PM Liaison
Developer 4 BA
Developer 5
Developer 5 Developer 5
Developer 6
BA Tester
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 24

25. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Weaknesses
• Part time counters
• Lack of control over
– timing of counts
– counters time (competing priorities)
– counter distribution
• Counters variable backgrounds
– BA’s‫‏‬are‫‏‬best,‫‏‬testers‫‏‬close,‫‏‬developers‫‏‬tend‫‏‬to‫‏‬a‫‏‬
technical view
• Potential for PM pressure
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 25

26. ACOSM2009 “Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
High experience Counter
The Weaknesses
Group Manager
Medium experience Counter
Dev Br #1 Dev Br #2 Dev Team #3 Bus Intel Br Tech Support Br
Dev Team 1 Tester Training Team Trainer 1 Release Team Tech Supp 1
Developer 1 Developer 1
Dev Team 1 Dev Team 1 Developer 2 Trainer 2 Tech Supp 2
BA Developer 2
BA Coder 1 Tech Supp 3
Developer 3 Developer 3
Developer 4 Coder 2 Tech Supp 4
Developer 4 Developer 4
Developer 5 BA Tech Supp 5
Tester BA
Dev Team 2 Developer 1 DW Dev Team BA DBA Team
Dev Team 2 Developer 1 Dev Team 2 Developer 1
Developer 2 Developer 2 DBA 1
BA Developer 2
Developer 3 Developer 3 DBA 2
Developer 3 Developer 3 Developer 4 Developer 4
Developer 4 Developer 4 DBA 3
Tester Developer 5 DBA 4
BA BA
BA BA
Developer 6 Tester
Dev Team 3 DW Analysis Team Special Projects
Dev Team 3 Dev Team 3 Developer 1 Team
Developer 1 Developer 1
Developer 2 Analyst 1 BA 1
Developer 2 Developer 2
BA Analyst 2 BA 2
Tester Developer 3
Developer 4 Analyst 3 BA 3
Developer 4 Tester Developer 5
Developer 5 Tester
BA
BA BA BA/Tester Mgmnt
App Dev Team Developer 1
Team
BA BA Mgr
Dev Team 4 Developer 1
Dev Team 4 Developer 1 Dev Team 4 Developer 1 Developer 3 Tester Mgr
Tester Developer 4
BA Developer 2 Test Tool
Developer 3 Tester
Developer 3 BA BA Tool
Developer 4 Developer 6
Developer 4 Developer 4 Tester
BA Lead BA BA
Developer 6 Developer 6 Bus Liaison Team Project Office
Dev Team 5
Dev Team 5 Dev Team 5 Developer 1 BA 1 FP Coord
Developer 1 Developer 1
BA BA 2 Schedules
Developer 2 Developer 2
Developer 3 BA 3 Governance
Developer 3 Developer 3 BA BA 4 PM Liaison
Developer 4 BA
Developer 5
Developer 5 Developer 5
Developer 6
BA Tester
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 26

27. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges
• Managing competition for counters (with PM)
• Adherence to standards
• Consistency between counts
• Succession planning
• Support‫‏‬for‫‏‬counters‫‘‏‬in‫‏‬the‫‏‬field’
• Managing and consolidating project counts
• The provision of useful metrics to management
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 27

28. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges – Competition for Counters
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 28

29. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges – Adherence to Standards
• Establishing standards
• Documentation guidelines
• Recommendations on tool use
• Inclusion of reference material
• Reviewing all counts
• Counselling counters
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 29

30. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges – Consistency
• Establishing a culture
• Improve‫‘‏‬dodgy’‫‏‬counts
• Regular training updates
• Review all counts
• Counsel counters
• Review all counts when the rules change
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 30

31. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges – Succession Planning
• Participate in team construction
• Train for more staff than are needed
• Monitor location and experience of counters
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 31

32. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges – Supporting Counters
• Stay in touch
• Participate in their counts
• Mentor, train, support
• Liaise with the project managers
• Set up an FP counter network
• Support further training and certification
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 32

33. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges – Managing & Consolidating
Counts
• Keep track of the counts
• Police the local standards
• Document deviant counts
• Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 33

34. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
The Challenges – Management Metrics
• Invest in a tool to store & report data
• Keep project data up to date
• Subscribe to ISBSG, then use it
• Get an estimation tool that uses your data
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 34

35. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Where to from here ?
• Hopes
– Input to the (re)distribution and tasking of counters
• Plans
– Upgrade the recorded metrics so they can be readily
exported to the ISBSG data base
• Dreams
– Build comprehensive predictive metrics baseline, and
maintain it, and use it
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 35

36. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Key Takeaway Points
 A model for managing the sizing projects in a complex
development environment
 The importance of maintaining counting standards in a
distributed counting model
 Remotely managing distributed metrics gathering and
reporting
 A workable metrics reporting model for a complex
environment
 Things to consider when building a metrics program so
its’‫‏‬outcomes‫‏‬are‫‏‬comparable‫‏‬to‫‏‬ISBSG‫‏‬data
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 36

37. ACOSM2009 The Australian Conference
on Software Measurement
“Achieving Positive Outcomes in a Changing World”
Finishing Up
• Questions ?
• Observations from the floor
• Suggestions
• Discussion
ACOSM2009, Sydney Australia, 13 November 2009 37