ISMA Conference

IFPUG ISMA Conferences

The purpose of the ISMA (International Software Metrics & Analysis) Conference is to provide educational and networking opportunities to IFPUG members and software measurement professionals in general, by learning and sharing knowledge in the world of software measurement. Along with IFPUG publications and products, the goal of the ISMA conferences is to increase the global reach of Function Points Analysis and SNAP with strategically chosen themes by taking industrial and academic interest into consideration.

Background

IFPUG was formally established in 1986 in Westerville, Ohio, USA, and the first conference was held that same year in Toronto, Canada. For the first several years, IFPUG held bi-annual, in-person multi-day conferences, along with workshops, committee meetings. First ISMA conference (ISMA1) took place in the month of September 2006 and was held in San Diego, CA.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISMA conferences have changed in format, from a traditional face-to-face event to a virtual one-day annual conference, with the most recent having been ISMA19 held in June 2022.

Benefits

For beginners, the conference program often combines regular presentations with educational workshops, during face-to-face events. For experts, it is a platform to share ideas with the measurement community and to learn from other experts. Networking opportunities offered by ISMA are highly valued in the industry.

Upcoming ISMA Conference

Mark your calendars for April 11, 2025, as IFPUG hosts its inaugural virtual conference of the year. This event will feature four engaging talks, including one eligible for CFPS certification extension and another for CSS certification extension.

The conference will be an eligible event for certification extension credits towards IFPUG CFPS and CSS certifications.

ISMA2025 Virtual conference also enables you to earn PMI PDUs, PeopleCert CPDs and CEPAS SCH174 Training Credits.

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to expand your knowledge! Check out the pricing structure for the ISMA2025 Virtual Conference below. Registrations are now open, so be sure to secure your spot today!

Levels of Participation Pricing Additional Benefits
IFPUG Members FREE
Non-Members $75 with additional benefits Access the conference for $75. Becoming a member, you will save what you paid as follows. 10% discount on individual membership fees + 10% discount on certification exams for CFPS and CSS
Register Now

All times listed below are in EDT (Time Conversion)

ISMA2025 Virtual Conference Agenda: Friday, April 11

IFPUG headquarters / Julian Gomez

One of the main challenges faced by organizations is establishing a consistent and agile workflow for software development, particularly when incorporating estimation methods. The use of a unified platform with predefined processes that integrates an estimation model can enable greater efficiency and effectiveness in project governance and management. By implementing structured workflows, organizations enhance their management capabilities, operational efficiency, financial control, and performance monitoring through the use planning and monitoring tool, supported by a standardized, repeatable and auditable measurement method. Additionally, this approach supports compliance with high-maturity process models, such as the latest version of CMMI (v3.0) and MPS.BR SW, fostering continuous process improvement, quality assurance, and competitiveness in industrial and commercial contexts.

This session will present a simple, practical, and easily implementable approach, characterized by low costs and risks. Such an approach allows organizations of various sizes to integrate and simultaneously apply an estimation method and an agile workflow in software development. Furthermore, it demonstrates the potential of this strategy to mitigate risks, optimize resource allocation, and maximize the value delivered in projects.

Main Topics that will be covered during the presentation:
Estimation Methods, Agile Workflow, Project Governance, Resource Optimization and Risk Mitigation
Benefits for Participants:
Greater Efficiency in Project Management, Improved Resource Allocation, Enhanced Risk Mitigation

Thiago Conceição is currently pursuing a Master’s in Innovation and Digital Transformation in Business and a Postgraduate Degree in Artificial Intelligence Engineering, building on his Degree in Systems Analysis and Development. He has over 10 years of experience in IT and business, with expertise in agile methods, cybersecurity, growth hacking, strategy, technology, digital transformation, coaching, and training. With a multidisciplinary background, he has applied his IT and business skills across various sectors.
He holds 15+ international certifications in different domains, including Software Measurement. A member of IFPUG since 2009, and having passed the rigorous CFPS exam multiple times, he became a member of the CEC, PEC, and CMC committees, where he has made significant contributions to the IT community. His contributions include organizing webinars and the ISMA conference, evaluating submissions to IFPUG, and translating SFP manuals and tools.

Dr Carlos Simões has over 30 years of experience in information technology. He holds a Ph.D. from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, with the thesis Model of Process Reference for Outsourcing of IT Workforce, which won the award for Best Doctoral Thesis at the Annual Workshop of MPS BR – Improvement of the Brazilian Software Process, held at the Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality.
He also holds a Master’s degree in Systems Engineering and Computing from COPPE/UFRJ, with a dissertation on Measurement Repository for High Maturity in Software Development. He is a consultant in PMO, Agile Methods, Project Management, and Metrics for several companies in Brazil, including the Enel Group.

SNAP is the IFPUG methodology that allows the assessment of the non-functional dimension of the software. The security requirements of an application generally involve both functional and non-functional requirements. In this presentation, we propose a SNAP based approach to the measurement of the non-functional dimension of the security requirements, starting from their necessary identification and separation from the functional requirements. Referring to an example of a typical application, we will propose a scheme for the decomposition of different security requirements into FURs and NFRs. Subsequently, for the NFRs only, the SNAP subcategories involved will be identified and the details of their counting will be provided.

    Benefits for Participants:

  • Decomposition of “Security User Requirements” in their Functional and Non-Functional aspects: focus on the need to separate FURs from NFRs in measuring the security requirements of an application
  • Identification and description of the main sub-categories most frequently involved in the assessment of Security NFRs
  • Non-functional assessment of security functionalities applied to practical occurrences of security functionalities in an example of a real application

Measuring NFRs in Application Security Functionalities is approved for Certified SNAP Specialist Certification Extension Activity.

Daniele Zottarel was born in Rome in 1961 and graduated in Civil Engineering in 1987 at “La Sapienza” University. He has been working as an IT technician since 1989 in Sogei, which is the Italian leading company for Public Administration IT. For his company, currently he’s the reference for Business Intelligence solutions for the Italian State Property Agency. He is a CFPS “fellow” certified and carries out testing and methodological consultancy as a company referent on IFPUG metrics. Since 2020 he has been a member of IFPUG Functional Sizing Standards Committee (FSSC) and since 2022 he has also been a member of the Non-Functional Sizing Standards Committee (NFSSC).

Luigi Buglione is a Measurement & Process Improvement Specialist at DXC Technology in Rome/Italy. Luigi is currently the IFPUG Secretary and Director for Partnerships and Academic Affairs, ISBSG Vice President and President of GUFPI-ISMA. He is a regular speaker at international Conferences on Software/Service Measurement, Process Improvement and Quality and is actively part of International and National technical associations on such issues. He is also an ITIL4 and DevOps trainer. He achieved several certifications (included IFPUG CFPS [FPA], CSS [SNAP] and CSMS and COSMIC CCFL for the Software Measurement side) and received a Ph.D in MIS and a degree cum laude in Economics.

Fabrizio Di Cola got masters graduated in Computer Engineering. He had university research and private consulting experiences in the IT sector between 2000 and 2007. In 2007 he was hired by Sogei Spa as IT and Software Architect. He has been working in software measurement metrics as company reference in this sector since 2011. He is currently responsible for coordinating the metrics competence center and related projects in Sogei. In the same role, he is involved in contract design and implementation. He works as a teacher for internal and external courses on software metrics. He received the CFPS in 2012, the PMP in 2016, and the PMI-ACP in 2020, the CSS in 2023. He is chair of the IFPUG committee for non-functional sizing standards (NFSSC). He was elected vice president of GUFPI-ISMA, the Italian association dedicated to software metrics, in 2025.

Effective IT management within development projects is more critical than ever. A common misconception is that agile, DevOps, and multidisciplinary teams negate the need for planning, cost estimation, leadership, and performance measurement. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In reality, many projects and programs, especially as they scale in size and complexity, operate with insufficient visibility. This lack of oversight often leads to significant cost overruns and projects that spiral out of control. Without objective insights into team performance, predictability and cost estimation accuracy suffer dramatically.

Data-driven insights are essential to understanding the value delivered by development teams, including its impact on project scope and quality. Measurement plays a crucial role in achieving this understanding.

By leveraging measurement data, organizations can recalibrate long-term effort, duration, and cost estimates based on actual productivity. This data empowers senior management to gain a clear understanding of project progress, enabling them to provide active guidance and direction. The result is increased predictability, greater value creation for the allocated budget, and improved organizational outcomes.

Key words:
agile teams, performance measurement, agile estimation, software cost estimation, benchmarking.

Harold van Heeringen (Harold) works as a principal consultant and practice lead for IT Intelligence services (including Measurement, Estimation & Performance measurement) services for Metri, an international IT sourcing advice and IT Benchmarking services provider. Metri is part of IDC, a leading international IT Research and Analysis company.

Harold was president of the International Software Benchmarking Standards Group (ISBSG) from 2011 until 2019 and is still a director of the board. Harold is the current president of Nesma, the international organization focusing on maintaining the Nesma ISO standard for functional size measurement and the application of software metrics based on functional size in business decisions regarding software cost estimation, (agile) team performance measurement, benchmarking, outsourcing, contracting, etc. Harold is also involved as a board member in the Special Interest Group Software of the International Cost Estimation and Analysis Association (ICEAA).

Have you ever had difficulties to measure data function or doubts on how to group related entities into logical files using Function Point Analysis (FPA)?
If yes, this presentation is for you.
Measuring data functions is a critical yet complex step in Function Point Analysis (FPA), directly impacting the accuracy and reliability of function point counts. This webinar will walk you through the process to measure data functions breaking down the following sub-steps in a practical approach.
• Sub-step 1.1 – Identify all logically related and user recognizable data or control information.
• Sub-step 1.2 – Exclude entities that are not maintained by any application.
• Sub-step 1.3 – Group related entities that are entity dependent into logical files.
• Sub-step 1.4 – Exclude those entities referred to as code data.
• Sub-step 1.5 – Exclude entities that do not contain attributes required by the user.
• Sub-step 1.6 – Remove associative entities that contain additional attributes not required by the user and associative entities that contain only foreign keys.

The most challenging sub-step is to group related entities into logical files, and it demands a dual approach: process-driven and data-driven. Process-driven is based on how the transactions create and delete data and data-driven is based on the business rules about how the occurrences of each related-entity can exist on its own.
This workshop simplifies the complexity of data function measurement, providing a structured guideline to streamline the analysis. Attendees will gain practical techniques to identify logical files with confidence, leveraging a comparative approach to assess entity relationships efficiently. Whether you are new to FPA or an experienced analyst looking to refine your skills, this workshop will equip you with the knowledge to enhance your accuracy and effectiveness in logical files identification.
Join us and master the art of measuring data functions with assertiveness!

Benefits for Participants –
• Gain in-depth knowledge for accurately measuring data functions.
• Discover a structured and practical approach to grouping related entities into logical files, using both process-driven and data-driven analysis.
• Avoid common pitfalls and improve the precision of function point counts, ensuring reliable software measurement for projects and organizations.
• Gain hands-on insights from an experienced professional in counting function points, making it easier to apply CPM concepts in your professional projects.
• Enhance your FPA skills and stand out as an expert in software measurement, improving your career prospects in IT.

Cleber Ferrareze is an IT Project Manager expert in Software Metrics with a with a solid all-around business, project management and software engineering skillset with the ability to understand the business requirements, convert them into functional and non-functional requirements with the aim to apply FPA and SNAP methods.
The consultant holds an extensive experience in reducing costs and promoting greater visibility in software projects, negotiating software contracts, estimating project effort, validating function and SNAP points as well as tracking the productivity of the development team.
He had the opportunity to be involved in multiple platform solutions leading projects for private and public sectors spanning Government, Banking, Finance, Payroll, Aviation, and Commercial Services among others, liaising with all relevant stakeholders to strengthen broad engagement, support and address the issues related to functional and non-functional measurements.
He is CFPS, PRINCE 2, PMP, CSP, CSM and MBA certified with strong experience to lead and measure IT project’s size, effort, costs, and timelines.

IFPUG headquarters / Julian Gomez

Conferences from Past

ISMA22

Hybrid Conference - Oct 4, 2024 - Spain (Madrid)


Presented by Christine Green Session Description: Have you noticed something new in the Request for Proposals for Large Scale IT contracts from EU Agencies? Function...

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Presented by Andrés Darío Gutiérrez Poveda Session Description: LedaMC has established the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into the estimation process of function points,...

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Presented by Renjith Ramananda Shenoi , Esteban Sanchez Session Description: In Present Scenario of Automotive Systems with high focus on Electronics & Software, Research &...

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Presented by Roberto Meli Session Description: The presentation will introduce the SFP method in its basic elements. It will highlight the advantages of using the...

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Presented by Saurabh Saxena and Kiran Yeole Session Description: There are various challenges faced by customers/ vendors related to software sizing and estimations. In this...

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Presented by Michele Canalini Session Description: This presentation aims to explore accounting reporting methods that incorporate both technical and economic measurements of intangible assets. By...

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Presented by Sushmitha Anantha and Fabrizio Di Cola Industry technology landscape is ever evolving. Yesterday’s state of the art technologies has become normal today and...

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Presented by Marcello Sgamma Session Description: System clock and other platform data are commonly used in modern software systems. Examples of platform data include network...

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ISMA21

Virtual Conference - Dec 1, 2023


Presented by Charley Tichenor  Session Description: Functional software describes “what” the software will do. IFPUG interprets these aspects as external inputs, external outputs, external inquiries,...

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Presented by Manjusha Misra - Recording Coming Soon Session Description: Starting with some scenarios involving application enhancements that do not involve changes to functional requirements,...

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Presented by Alfonso González Mateo  Session Description: There are many, more and more, organizations that are committed to use the size of software to help...

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Presented by Sushmitha Anantha  Session Description: The topic of technical debt is very diverse. This term is used for wide spectrum of problems related to...

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Presented by Luigi Buglione  Session Description: In the IFPUG FPA method an Elementary Process is characterized by three elements: set of DETs, set of FTRs...

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ISMA20

Virtual Conference - May 4, 2023


Presented by Thomas Cagley Session Description: Explicit transparency is a hallmark of all agile approaches. Measurement is one form of making the impact of development...

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Presented by Charles Wesolowski Session Description: This presentation demonstrated the capability of automatically counting Function Points from well-formed Software Component Architectures expressed in SysML. Students...

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Presented by Christine Green Session Description: The consistency of the usage of FPA is extremely important for the benefits of FPA in the business area....

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Presented by Luigi Buglione Session Description: One of the elements initially present in the FPA (not only in the IFPUG version) is the VAF (Value...

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ISMA19

Virtual Conference – June 24, 2022


Presented by Daniel French & Carol Dekkers Session Description: Roberto Meli developed a more streamlined function point analysis methodology based on the International Function Point...

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Presented by Saurabh Saxena Session Description: Software Nonfunctional Assessment Process (SNAP) was developed to size non-functional project requirements which were non-sizable by traditional Function Point...

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Presented by Charley Tichenor Session Description: During the 1990s and early 2000s, there were questions about the usefulness of function points for the portion of...

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Presented by Charles Wesolowski Session Description: This session will include the following overview: Model Based System Engineering IFPUG Meta Model Elements and Types Functional Analysis...

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ISMA18

Virtual Conference – June 24, 2021

Presented by Carlos Eduardo Vazquez Session Description: This presentation addresses the software development economic environment in the last decade and how it has changed the...

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Presented by Julián Gómez Session Description: Discover the 7 key points of function point methodology. These include product focus, use by the international community, improved...

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Presented by Fabrizio Di Cola and Domenico Geluardi Session Description: In the current scenario of the IT world, security is one of the preponderant factors...

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ISMA17

Karnataka, India – March 8, 2019

Michael Milutis   Abstract: In this session, Michael Milutis will share what he has learned from having consulted with hundreds of project management and IT...

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Abstract: In the era of the internet of things (IoT) the boundaries of hardware/software combinations that were once standalone now have expanded. In your kitchen...

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Abstract: The presentation will describe how a team training program can enhance the team’s skills, based on a new, creative set of metrics. In addition...

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Abstract: Shu-Ha-Ri is a Japanese martial art concept which describes the progression of learning to mastery. This concept can be applied to various disciplines and...

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Abstract: What are Micro-services? : Micro services is a form of service-oriented architecture style wherein applications are built as a collection of different smaller services...

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Abstract: CMMI v 2.0 released in April 2018, has allotted a separate process area for estimation which is entirely based on solution-size measurement. In this...

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Abstract: The advent of digital has brought about a paradigm shift in developing IT solutions. Today’s customers expect exceptional creativity in solving business problems, requiring...

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Abstract: Main Topics: Why Objective Sizing like Functional Sizing is still required for Agile Deliveries How to define Categories of T-shirt sizes to achieve functional...

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Abstract: Using Functional Sizing on Agile projects requires integration of delivery process with measurement process. The gaps, if any, can take away the whole purpose...

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Abstract: When Agile trends started picking up, we heard enough about ‘Function Points are not suitable for Agile’, ‘Function Points are too heavy for Agile’...

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Abstract: Nucleon’s and Function Points, a match made in heaven for C-level visibility of IT. To most C-level management, their company’s IT department is a black...

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