SNAP 2.0 APM – Review & Beta Test

IFPUG Members,

As members of IFPUG, the IFPUG SNAP Core Team invites you and your development organizations to participate in the review and Beta testing of the second release of the Software Non-functional Assessment Process (SNAP) Assessment Practices Manual (APM).

The review and beta test are critical to proofing the revised method and calibrating the model. Only with your organizations’ input can we test this enhanced method of sizing the technical requirements associated with software development.

The SNAP Team has taken the feedback from initial users of the method to produce Version 2.0 of the APM. This version should answer many of the questions raised during initial testing and provide simpler assessments of certain categories. When complete with your organization’s input, SNAP APM 2.0 will provide an even better tool to size non-functional requirements.

The SNAP Team is requesting the involvement from a wide variety of organizations including yours. This will allow us to produce an effective release of the method. This important effort is a volunteer commitment. Each organization will be asked to assess five projects and comment on their experience using the method. The SNAP Team will provide a form to record your effort, results and experience.

The period of the Beta test and Review will be between the 1st of August 2012 and 31st of August 2012. The beta testers will be provided the SNAP Assessment Practices Manual which they would need to read and create a basic understanding. A conference session will be conducted for all beta testers to provide an overview of the model and clarify any questions and concerns. This session will take place on the 7th of August at 11 AM US Eastern time.

If you are interested in being a SNAP Beta Test organization, please respond by 21 of July 2012 by sending an email to the following email address:

[email protected]

All data from participating organizations will be held in the strictest confidence. IFPUG will eliminate any reference to individuals or organizations prior to passing data to the rest of the team. This test is the next critical step in an effort that has taken over two years to develop, and it can not succeed without you!

Thank you,
Steve Chizar
Chair of the Non-Functional Standard Committee

PSM 16th Annual Users’ Group Meetings and Workshops, 30 July – 3 August 2012

You are all invited to attend our Practical Software and Systems Measurement (PSM) 16th Annual PSM Users’ Group Meetings and Workshops. The theme this year is “Using Measurement to make Hard Choices in a Constrained Environment.” There are some wonderful presentations scheduled for this year, including a keynote by Chris Gunderson on “Einstein’s Velvet Gloved FIST: Sneaking Acquisition Agility in Under the Radar,” and a second keynote by Mike McLendon of the Software Engineering Institute. There are also some great presentations on measurement experiences at large organizations, estimation, maintenance, cloud, IT services, system-of-systems, and many others.

There will also be a series of workshops addressing measurement as it relates to performance measurement/affordability, system and software architecture, agile developments, maintenance estimation, SE in System-of-Systems, technical debt, and operational analytics. There are lots of great topics!

The Users’ Group is being held at the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel this year, a wonderful hotel. All participants will receive a reduced hotel rate of $89 per night (this is a great rate for this hotel). The registration form is available on the PSM web site, under “Events,” with a link to the site to receive the Users’ Group rate.

The Users’ Group will begin with a 1-day training session, for those who are new to PSM and for PSM trainers, to review the revised training course. An agenda with presentations and workshop descriptions has been posted on the PSM web site (www.psmsc.com/events.asp) – this will be updated as plans are finalized.

For more information, contact the PSM Support Center at [email protected], Dave Morris at 703-405-2191, or Cheryl Jones at 973-724-2644.

IWSM-MENSURA 2012 – Call for Participation