Update from the IFPUG President, Christine Green
Dear Volunteers, Members, Partners, and friends of IFPUG,
2021 is now well on its way and I hope that most of us around the world can feel that Covid-19 restrictions have started to lift. I am hopeful that it will continue to be an excellent year for all of us.
The improvements that IFPUG recently made and all the things we are working on make me very excited for the future of IFPUG. I have several meetings every week with volunteers, and I cannot help being proud of and honored by all of the commitment to bring the best out to our members. Just look at the Coffee Talk events we have started and the virtual conferences we held in 2020 and earlier this year. These events have been so well received and attended. They are one of the reasons why the board elected the Partnership and Events Committee and especially Sushmitha Anantha—the Partnership and Events Committee’s chair—as the 2020 Committee and Volunteer of the Year.
Another volunteer who has contributed significantly over the last several years is Kriste Lawrence who left the Board at the end of October 2020. Kriste’s contributions started in 1998, and that means that she has used her time and knowledge for the good of IFPUG for more than 20 years. I hope you will join me in wishing Kriste the best of luck for the future.
Every year we announce IFPUG Honorary Fellows as volunteers who have contributed significantly to the IFPUG. In 2019, the honor went to Thomas Cagley Jr. He has dedicated time to be the IFPUG President twice, which is an achievement in itself. In addition, he is also one of our most significant contributors within the Agile community. He is surely one of the people to whom I would go. I have personally learned so much from Thomas Cagley Jr.
For 2020, the reward goes to three remarkable volunteers who provided unique contributions to IFPUG and continue to do so as I write. The Honorary Fellows for 2020 are David Herron, Talmon Ben-Cnaan, and Pierre Almén. Besides being a volunteer and past Committee Chair, David Herron has written books about Function Points that I still use today. I know that many of us have been fortunate enough to receive guidance from David in the past, and I hope we will work as well in the future. You cannot say SNAP without thinking about Talmon Ben-Cnaan. In 2019 he received the reward for volunteer of the year for his contribution to getting SNAP IEEE accredited. Still, his outstanding commitment to IFPUG as a volunteer was also why he was elected for this reward in 2020. Pierre Almén—a former IFPUG board member and current ISBSG President, has been part of many initiatives that have put IFPUG on the map worldwide. His contribution to the Nordic Countries and his contribution as an IFPUG representative at ISBSG is highly appreciated. For more information about our 2019 and 2020 Honorary Fellows, visit the IFPUG Honorary Fellows webpage.
In 2020 a special honor went to Alan Lawrence, who supports IFPUG in the investment of its reserve funds. Al Lawrence’s advice has significantly supported IFPUG standing healthy and strong from a financial perspective after the events in the spring of 2020 with Covid-19’s impact on the stock market.
IFPUG is also fortunate enough to have members who, in their way, are contributing significantly to IFPUG by promoting the organization. At the 2019 event in Brazil, I had the chance to talk with Denise Alencar, a Brazilian CFPS/CSP who has approached a university and conducted (pro bono) training for students over the course of a weekend. Denise spoke about approaching universities to improve the knowledge about IFPUG and FPA, and SNAP. She has also shared with us her own success story. I wanted to use this opportunity to capture this as a success story. I asked Sergio Brigido—our former Brazilian country representative and current board member, to talk with Denise to capture her story. This brilliant article was the result of this work. See more in the Spring 2021 release of MetricViews.
IFPUG would never be a great organization without its volunteers and members to spread the word about all the good things that can come out of using the IFPUG Standards. The great benefit is that when one volunteers, not only IFPUG benefits but all our members. I can say with evidence that I would not be where I am today without my volunteering for IFPUG—without all the knowledge I have gained by working with other IFPUG volunteers. The people and the skills of members and volunteers of IFPUG are outstanding, and I hope that 2021 will be the year during which all organizations or teams will ask for at least one team member to be related to IFPUG as a volunteer.
Register Now: Annual Membership Meeting
Oct. 4, 2021, 10:00 am ET
We hope to see you on October 4 for this year’s Annual Membership Meeting, which will be presented virtually. The meeting will highlight the Board election results, 2021 awards and honorees, and other key IFPUG news. Registration will open soon. Note – you must be logged in as a member to register.
Volunteer of the Year 2020: Sushmitha Anantha
The IFPUG board has decided that Sushmitha Anantha is the IFPUG volunteer of the year for 2020.
The board, under the direction of the President Christine Green, wanted to increase the sharing among members and create events that would be Current & Relevant (IFPUG Goal 2019-2021) as well as attractive to IFPUG members and a new group of people. The result was that in the fall of 2019 the board decided to change strategy and move away from the name and purpose of the Conference & Education Committee to the Partnerships and Events Committee (PEC).
A strategic decision like this from the IFPUG board requires volunteer support and cooperation so that the strategy and goals are met. Sushmitha Anantha was a member of the Conference and Education Committee when she volunteered to be the chair of the new PEC.
With Sushmitha’s dedication and professionalism, the committee quickly had goals, procedures, contacts and was planning the first events (both the Knowledge Cafés that are short one-hour sessions and the first big conference with three speakers) all done virtually due to the pandemic.
There is no doubt that Sushmitha’s professionalism, ability to coordinate as well as her winning personality is what is making her (as the Chair of the PEC as well as all the events and partnership communication) the winning hand of IFPUG in 2020.
IFPUG would like to officially thank Sushmitha for her volunteering for IFPUG and dedication to serving IFPUG members and others with the planning of events and coordinating partnerships with other interest groups.
Committee of the Year 2020:
Partnerships & Events Committee
The Partnerships and Events Committee (PEC) started 2020 defining new Vision and Mission statements for the next years, reshaping its set of activities.
PEC started conversations about strategic partnerships with other associations like ISBSG.
As the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic arose, we strategized the occurrence of regular virtual events, such as the Webinar series “Knowledge Cafe.” The event was launched in June 2020, hosted by the world-known Tom Cagley in its inaugural session, which represented a major turnaround in the IFPUG strategy to continuously engage the measurement community.
Still with the restrictions caused by the pandemic, the IFPUG annual face-to-face ISMA conference and the other countrywide face-to-face conferences had to be reshaped as well. PEC then arranged in July 2020 a virtual conference being eligible for CEP, to enable IFPUG worldwide members to maintain their CFPS certification. The conference was a huge success, being attended by 330+ people.
During later months of 2020, PEC arranged three other “Knowledge Cafe” webinars with nearly 40+ people attending each event on average. One of them was delivered by Pierre Almén, president of ISBSG, an IFPUG long-term partner organization.
A Special Thank You to Kriste Lawrence
IFPUG would like to thank Kriste Lawrence for all her commitment to IFPUG in recognition of her leaving the IFPUG Board of Directors in 2020.
For more than 20 years, Kriste Lawrence has been a Contributor, Volunteer, and Board member of IFPUG and of course the President of IFPUG during 2013-2015.
During this period, she has made so many vital contributions to the success of IFPUG. Such as her membership of the Certification Committee that she chaired between 2004-2009. During this period, the Certification Committee automated the exam for the first time and introduced the Certification Extension Program. In 2009 Kriste was elected to the IFPUG Board and started as the Director of Conference & Education.
During this same period, IFPUG had its first conference outside of the US: ISMA Cinco in Brazil in 2010. The ISMA Cinco conference opened the door for many other IFPUG conferences held in the USA, Brazil, Spain, Italy, and India. After only one year on the board, Kriste Lawrence was elected to be part of the executives on the board. The first year as IFPUG Treasurer and was after this elected as Vice President in 2011. Kriste’s last years on the board were again as IFPUG Treasurer where she made sure that IFPUG stayed strong even in troubled waters.
Since 1994, Kriste has been actively using IFPUG Sizing Standards and was awarded the IFPUG CFPS Fellow in 2017 after being certified for 20 years. Her contribution to the learning and growing of IFPUG Function Point Analysis is long. One has even had an approved US pattern, “The Method of Pricing Application Software,” even though it is from 2005 it is still worth a reading today.
During her period as the President in 2013-2015, one of Kriste’s goals for IFPUG was to be “Be Adventurous, Creative and Open-Minded.” Kriste Lawrence has been adventurous, creative, and open-minded in her long period as a volunteer for IFPUG. Her open-minded approach has had many benefits for IFPUG and IFPUG members in the last 20 years.
A Special Thank You and Congratulations to
Tom Cagley, IFPUG Past President and Honorary Fellow
Tom Cagley has the distinction of having served twice as IFPUG President (2007-2009 and 2015-2017). His contribution to IFPUG has been immeasurable. Over the years, Tom has poured time and effort into the IFPUG organization as a committee member, board member and president. His experience as a measurement specialist (CFPS), consultant, speaker, author, coach, and agile guide has been instrumental in keeping IFPUG alive and up-to-date.
As a professional, Tom leads organizations and teams to unlock their inherent greatness. His goal is to help our industry evolve through agile adoption, adaptation, and measurement. Tom helps teams and organizations improve cycle time, productivity, quality, morale, and customer satisfaction, and then prove it. Tom believes change only occurs when you unlock the power of people and data. He has been an internationally respected blogger and podcaster for over 15 years focusing on software process and measurement. He co-authored Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques with Murali K. Chemuturi. Tom also penned the chapter titled “Agile Estimation Using Functional Metrics” in The IFPUG Guide to IT and Software Measurement.
By awarding Tom Cagley the Honorary Fellow designation, IFPUG recognizes his commitment as a volunteer and his contribution to the success of IFPUG. Congratulations, Tom!
Congratulations to Honorary Fellows:
Pierre Almén, Talmon Ben-Cnaan and David Herron
Pierre Almén has been using Function Point since 1984. Since the early days of IFPUG, Pierre has been part of many important events – such as being one of the first CFPS in 1994. Pierre has been the Management & Reporting Committee Chair – the team that in the past created the Measurement syllabus and certification program. Pierre was a member of the IFPUG Board of Directors elected in 2014 and left the board again in 2017. Today, Pierre serves IFPUG primarily as the ISBSG representative in the ISBSG Board of Directors and has since 2019 been the President of ISBSG.
In addition to his Presidency at ISBSG, Pierre Almén is part of many other activities such as the chair of the IFPUG taskforce for a Benchmark Certification of Organizations delivering Benchmark using IFPUG data. You will always have a great and committed volunteer in Pierre Almén. So look out for new assets within IFPUG – it is likely you will see that Pierre has contributed to the success of the development of these.
Pierre Almén has given a large number of presentations around the world – such as in 2006 the very first ISMA branded IFPUG conference – ISMA 1 in San Diego, U.S. – he presented with the title “Outsourcing – A Fact Based Decision?” In Sweden he has for many years been an active leading member of the Swedish – Software Metrics Network under the Swedish Computer Society. In this network he arranges both virtual and face-to-face meetings with interesting speakers and is spreading the value of Metrics – including of cause IFPUG FPA.
In Pierre’s spare time, he will enjoy the country & nature with cross-country running and kayaking along the beautiful Swedish coastline.
Talmon Ben-Cnaan has a long ICT experience dealing with software metrics, quality assurance and testing methodologies. He has been actively part of the Non-Functional Sizing Standards Committee (NFSSC) from the beginning and he is still the Chair, contributing to create and evolve the SNAP (Software Non-Functional Assessment Process) method, as the “counter-part” of FPA and find a way to measure and size NFRs (Non-Functional Requirements), moving from the IFPUG 2003 white paper asking to evolve the GSC (General System Characteristics) concept into a separated, measurable concept matching with ISO/IEC 25010, the standard defining the software product quality attributes. One of the goals achieved was to cover a series of scenarios related to the so-called “zero FP” projects, dealing with some maintenance types not impacting on FURs (Functional User Requirements).
Talmon was actively contributing to the creation of the CSP (Certified SNAP Practitioner) exam, beginning in 2013 that’s evolving toward the Specialist level, called CSS (Certified SNAP Specialist) in the coming months. Without him, SNAP would not be what it is today: SNAP became an IEEE standard (2430-2019) and is moving also towards the ISO certification. His dedication and leadership has been outstanding. Currently, Talmon is contributing also in other IFPUG groups, with the aim to integrate and diffuse SNAP more and more throughout the ICT community.
David Herron is an authority in the areas of performance measurement, process improvement, and functional size, among others. For decades he has been an IFPUG unconditional servant: IFPUG MetricViews editor, chair of the IFPUG Management Reporting Committee, member of the IT Performance Committee, member of the Communications and Marketing Committee… David has put in practice in a huge number of entities, from different parts of the world, the use of metrics to monitor the impact of IT on the business, in governing outsourcing contracts, and has brought the name of IFPUG and its concepts and add value to the highest levels. David was one of the founders of the prestigious company David Consulting Group and has provided consulting and coaching services for a high number of IT companies.
He has been presenter in a huge number of IFPUG conferences, with topics such as “Identifying Your IT Organization’s Best Practices,” “The Need for Auditing Your Measurement Program,” “Early Lifecycle Identification of Software Quality Risk Factors,” “The Lighter Side of Software Measurement,” author of a high number of articles and co-author of different books such as “Measuring the Software Process: A Practical Guide to Functional Measurements” or “Function Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects.”
In the words of Antonio Ferre, former IFPUG CMC chair, “David Herron has been an unconditional person sharing its wisdom, time and knowledge in IFPUG, and I am proud to have been able to work close to David during years.” In words of Christine Green, IFPUG President, “I met David Herron for the first time at my first conference in 1999. He was at that time this super guy that had written the book about Function Points. So, I brought my book and got him to sign it. I still use the book – recently when I did a review of an FPA where we could not find an answer in any of the iTIPS or CPM.”
IFPUG 2021 CFPS Fellows:
Congratulations to Ms. Christine Green and Mr. Daniel French
The CFPS Fellows listed below have shown their expertise over 20 years and act as a beacon in leading measurement practices. We appreciate their dedication and integrity.
Christine Green is a very well-known industry Estimation expert and is one of the very few in the world (only in Nordic) with the combination of experience and certifications within Project Management, Scrum, Scale & Lean Process Improvement. Before taking on as the President of IFPUG, Christine has served IFPUG as an undeterred volunteer for more than 20 years. She has led multiple key initiatives within IFPUG, which include the SNAP manual release and IT Performance training to name a few. Christine leverages her unique combination of skills and experience to secure process improvement and utilize best practices for the projects undertaken. She is very forthcoming in sharing her knowledge and has been a known speaker for many IFPUG conferences. She has been also active in other organizations liaising with IFPUG such as ISBSG, Agile United and ICEAA.
Daniel French is the currently the Chairperson for the Functional Software Sizing Committee. Dan has been part of the Functional Sizing Standards Committee (FSSC), and its predecessor, the New Environments Committee for almost two decades. He also represents IFPUG in various other industry forums like ICEAA. His dedication and outstanding contributions to writing FP white papers has really helped the users to adopt FPA to newer technologies. Over the years, he has been a key person who monitored the IFPUG bulletin board to address counting related questions.
By awarding Christine Green and Daniel French the 2021 CFPS Fellow designation, IFPUG is recognizing their commitment as a volunteer and their contribution to the success of IFPUG. Congratulations to them.
Special Honor to Alan Lawrence
In 2013, IFPUG decided to invest part of the revenue in stocks instead of having it stored in a bank account. This action would not have been possible without the advice of Alan Lawrence. Due to the fact that not only have the revenue invested been kept intact in the stock market but generated a significant plus on our investments. Alan Lawrence has always given IFPUG advice that has been insightful and will continue to do this in the future. For his volunteer support on this area IFPUG decided to award Alan Lawrence for a Special honor in the fall of 2020.