Using Metrics to Become Excellent at Maintenance

Larry Dribin

Today, software maintenance activities often make up well over 50% of an IT organization’s budget. Yet, many organizations do not effectively measure their maintenance activities. Ineffective measurement prevents many IT organizations from maximizing the value of the maintenance dollar. In this presentation, Larry Dribin will discuss a variety of maintenance measures. He will then show how IT organization’s can use these measures to better manage their maintenance activities, improve maintenance productivity and provide more value to the business for their maintenance dollars.

Dr. Larry Dribin is a process improvement consultant and President of the Pearl Street Group, Inc., (PSG). Pearl Street provides process improvement and measurement consulting services to Information Technology and Business organizations. Dr. Dribin utilizes industry best practice frameworks such as the SEI’s CMMI, itSMF’s ITIL, PMI’s PMBOK and Six Sigma to develop solutions for clients. He incorporates organizational change management techniques to speed the change process and make it more enduring. Dr. Dribin holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from Illinois Institute of Technology, an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology. Dr. Dribin is also an adjunct Professor in Software Engineering at DePaul University of Chicago. He is active in local professional groups where he has been past Director with the Chicago Software Process Improvement Network (C-SPIN) and the Chicago Quality Assurance Association (CQAA).

Capers Jones is Chief Scientist Emeritus of Software Productivity Research (SPR). Mr. Jones is the designer of several software cost and quality estimation tools including SPQR/20™, the first commercial software estimating tool to use function points as the basis for sizing source code and other deliverables such as specifications and user documents. He is also an international consultant on software management topics, a speaker, a seminar leader, and a prolific author. As an author, Mr. Jones has written 14 books including his best seller "Applied Software Measurement: Assuring Productivity and Quality." His most recent book is "Estimating Software Costs."

Carl Pritchard is the principal and founder of Pritchard Management Associates (PMA). He is a recognized lecturer, author, researcher, and instructor. He is the lead chapter author for risk management in the 4th Edition of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, the ANSI standard for project management. His work as an instructor has taken him around the world, training with some of the leading international training organizations, as well as for private clients and the Project Management Institute®. He has presented at each of the last 13 North American Project Management Institute Symposia and Congresses. He is the U.S. Correspondent for the U.K. project management journal, Project Manager Today.

James Ryan is the Director of the CAI Consulting Practice in Wilmington, DE. His expertise is in business and technology transformation, process reengineering, performance management, and customer relationship management. Mr. Ryan has over forty years of experience in the information management industry helping clients redesign more effective businesses that result in the growth of profitable revenue streams as well as lower cost structures. He has worked in a variety of industries with a wide variety of clients including distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, development engineering, utilities, finance services and insurance.

Don Reifer is an internationally-recognized software consultant. During his over 38 years in the software field, he has served as a consultant, built businesses, managed major projects, led recovery teams, served on red and greybeard teams, prepared proposals and served in executive positions in both industry and government. He has also served as a Visiting Associate at the Center for Systems and Software Engineering at the University of Southern California. Don has published more than one hundred papers and seven books. His many awards include the AIAA Software Engineering Award, the Frieman Award and the Secretary of Defense’s Medal for Outstanding Public Service.