How a large German Transport company uses Function Points for Estimating

Dominique Lafourcade

QuantiMetrics GmbH

Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 1, 65189 Wiesbaden, Germany

Agenda

• Introduction

• The company & it‘s figures

• History & evolution of metrics, FP‘s and Estimating within the company

• FP Governance: how is the FP counting organized?

• Projects: How are FP‘s used in estimating

• Benchmarking: what role does it play

2

Introduction

• My story, our company, our customers (briefly)

• Why present a positive example

• Large companies, big problems, complex solutions

3

The company & it‘s figures

§ main branches: • Three main activity areas:

– people transport

– goods transport

– transport network maintenance & enhancement

• Some key figures:

– 2.7 Billion travelers per year

– 341 Million tons transported per year

– 63 914 km dedicated network to maintain

– 5 707 dedicated charge discharge terminals

– 2009 Revenue: 29 335 Million Euros

4

The company & it‘s figures : the IT Department

• Over 500 systems supported

• 240 000 man days effort expended in application development during 2007

• 71 000 Desktops

• 1,2 Petabyte Disk Storage / 3,2 Petabyte Backup capacity (1 PB is approx 1 M GB)

• 300 Million visitors on Internet Portal during 2008

• Main systems supported: – Passenger Reservations (quote some volumes…)

– POS ticket terminals (145 M tickets in 2008)

– Logistics

– Scheduling

5

IT Delivery is organized by Functional areas

-Project Managers -Functional Architects -Business Analysts

People Transport

Functional Areas

-Project Managers -Functional Architects -Business Analysts

Logistics

-Project Managers -Functional Architects -Business Analysts

Goods Transport

Process Management Guidelines, Repository, Benchmarking, Gate reviews

Technical Architects Technical Analysts Developers

Platform 1

Technical Resource pool

-Test Managers

Testing Technical Architects Technical Analysts Developers

Platform 2

6

Key Success Factors in the Introduction of Functional Metrics

• Focus on the simple implementation

– Have one steering group for Functional Counting

– Gather count results into a centralized repository

– Comparison amongst groups should have a limited audience

– Counting and data gathering should take place in the functional team

– Effort expended in counts should be commensurate with the value of the results

• Reduce the counting effort by using average values (“Rapid”)

• Training and Communication

– Training at different levels and depths (management, analysts, technicians, counters)

– Correct common misconceptions through accurate and recurrent communications

• Functional metrics are used as one of parameters in estimating, however an estimating tool/method needs to be used in order to produce an estimate

7

Step by step introduction of Functional Measurements

2005

• Metrics for Software Development launched

• Selection of Function Points as metric of choice

2006

• Integration of FP in the development process

• Training of Function Point counters

• Set up of FP database

2007

• FPA and Cocomo adopted as a standard

• Expanded FP training for Managers, Project leaders and Business analysts

• Establishment of FPA by Business area

2008 • Full integration in the existing processes and toolkit

2009

• Introduction of the concept of FP delivery rather than Man Time

• Quotations delivered in „Functionality“ rather than „Effort“

8

Function Point Counters

History & evolution of metrics, FP‘s and Estimating within the company

-Project Managers -Functional Architects -Business Analysts

People Transport

Functional Areas

-Project Managers -Functional Architects -Business Analysts

Logistics

-Project Managers -Functional Architects -Business Analysts

Goods Transport

Process Management Guidelines, Repository, Benchmarking, Gate reviews

-Technical Architects -Technical Analysts -Impl. Managers

Platform 1

Technical Areas

-Test Managers

Testing

-Technical Architects -Technical Analysts -Impl. Managers

Platform 2

Process Management

Function Point Steering

9

FP enhancement counts per release

FP Baseline count

Gate review Requires FP count

and Cocomo Estimate

Projects: How are FP‘s used in estimating

Define Project

Functional Requirements

Technical Design

Implement Test Deploy Maintain

Cost: effort/FP Time : time/FP Quality : time , scope , budget , defects

As agreed

16% of total 13% of

total 40% of total

15% of total

5% of total

% of total

The Cocomo Model calibration: how the estimate is broken down

Estimates pre RFQ to support negotiations 10

Projects: How are FP‘s used in estimating

• Cocomo model: choices to be made 50% versus 90%

Effort

Pro

bab

ility

„Realistic“ Estimate

50%

„Secure“ Estimate

90%

Re

sou

rce

s „Realistic“ Estimate

„Secure“ Estimate

Time

“Secure” planning might lead to blocked resources

11

History & evolution of metrics, FP‘s and Estimating within the company

• Frame contracts with IT suppliers now (since 2009) include Function point productivity requirements

• Estimating for projects is done using multiple techniques and merging them:

– Avoid “common sense errors” that may result from a model

– Use available experience & resources

– Provide more accuracy in the estimate

12

Benchmarking: what role does it play

Productivity

Speed Quality

Comparison group best 25 %

Comparison group median

My Company

-Compare yourself to the market to set your targets

-Track your performance year on year

13

Questions?

14

Many thanks for your attention!

15