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Success Story #2

Problem:  The company had set an aggressive goal of baselining the functional size of their administrative applications (sales, payroll, inventory, etc.) by the end of the year.  The two biggest challenges to accomplishing this goal was that they were short on time (it was already November) and that there was very little documentation on these applications and what was available was generally out-dated.  Two of their staff members had been through introductory FP training, but were committed to other end-of-year deliverables that pressed their time.  They needed qualified and experienced CFPS professionals to lead the way to project success.

Approach:   Quality Plus Technologies, Inc. was secured by the senior director and one of the newly trained FP counters, and immediately sent in a qualified team of certified function point specialists (CFPS) on-site to quantify the portfolio size of the administration applications.  Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) were scheduled to meet with the consultants and documentation was gathered for the onsite sessions.  The schedule was incredibly tight as the client wished to baseline 125 applications in a 3.5 week time period.

Results:   Despite a tight timeframe and the impending holiday season limiting the availability of SMEs, the Quality Plus Technologies team exceeded all expectations and completed approximately 70% of the application counts within the condensed schedule.  Based on subsequent budget restraint and a new calendar year, the client completed the remaining 30% of the application counts themselves.  Subsequently, Quality Plus Technologies was again engaged to conduct an on-site condensed IFPUG certified 2-day Hands-On Function Point Analysis course to get the new counters up to speed three months later.  With the help of the Quality Plus Technologies consultants, they achieved their benchmarking goals and were able to demonstrate their process improvement results with factual measures.  Not only were the senior management impressed, but the IT director presented their results in a general session at the annual conference of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) in September 2000 in San Diego, CA.

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Success Story #3

Type of Company :   Major information technology outsourcing company

Problem:  In order to comply with measurement requirements of it’s new application and development contract (110+ systems) with a major telecommunications company, the outsourcing company needed training and assistance with it’s function point counting efforts.

Approach:  QPT initially provided them with support that included training, mentoring, and counting enhancement projects & baselines when necessary.  After the pilot program, the software measurement program went into full swing and QPT assisted them with conversion of old counts into the selected function point counting tool and definition and documentation of the counting process while continuing the mentoring and counting efforts. 

Results:  In the Fall of 2000, the company’s contract increased by over 400 applications.  QPT was one of the key components to their success and we have become an integral part of their team for the last 2 years.  The line has blurred between consulting company and client. 

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Success Story #4

Type of Company:  Investment & Securities Firm

Problem:  The firm is working on reaching a higher CMM level so they decided to implement software metrics in their organization.  They were especially interested in using function point analysis as a part of this goal.  So as a first step, the firm decided they would establish a pilot of 21 enhancement project counts that would need function point analysis performed.

Approach:   In order to complete the function point goal, QPT helped them determine that part of the solution was to train in-house staff in Function Point Analysis.  We provided them with 5 days of observing certified counters doing function point counts, a 2-day hands-on function point training course, followed by a week and a half of mentoring.  In the process, QPT was assisting them in establishing enhancement function point counts of all the 21 projects in the initial pilot while getting their staff up to speed in function point counting.

Results:   As a result, after an intense month of training & mentoring, the in-house staff were well prepared to begin counting on their own and all of their enhancement projects in the pilot were already counted.  They have also enlisted QPT to assist them in defining and documenting their function point process that will be implemented throughout the IT department.

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Success Story #5

Type of Company :  Telecommunications Software

Problem:  The company had development and design staff in two different  countries and were having problems in communicating changes along with time and cost estimates that was agreeable to both departments.  After some research, they decided that function point analysis would assist them in clarifying requirements and making fact based decisions in time and cost estimates.

Approach:   QPT helped the firm decide that training the United States staff in function point analysis would be the best approach.  A 2-day hands-on function point training course and a half day question/answer session consisting not only of business analysts, but also software designers, provided them with the tools and understanding of Function Point Analysis and how to use it in their day-to-day work effort.

Results:   Upon completion of the training and question/answer session, many of the staff were encouraged and excited about Function Point Analysis and were anxious to add it to their arsenal of project management tools.

Contact us at consulting@qualityplustech.com if you would like for us to do the same for your organization. Or click here.

Success Story #6

Type of Company: Insurance Company

Situation: Clarica (formerly the Mutual Group) has been working with software measurement for several years, and we consulted with them to get them started. Approximately two years ago, Sara Shackelton, a newly hired resource at Clarica attended one of our public Function Point workshops and got excited about Function Point based measurement. So much so, that Sara arranged for a Quality Plus Technologies, Inc. hosted set of workshops in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in January 2001, and has started the Ontario Canada Chapter of IFPUG (OCCI).

Approach and Results: By instructing in a methodical and straightforward manner, explaining where Function Points do and do not fit, Sara and Clarica were able to achieve new levels of success with their software measurement program. Since then, Clarica continues to come back for more training, more articles and more ideas!

Here’s what Sara has to say:
“Carol Dekkers, President of Quality Plus Technologies Inc., is where to find one of the best Function Point trainers in the industry. Her vast knowledge regarding Function Points and how to run a Measurement program is well received by her clients because she brings a wide-range of experience and enthusiasm to her courses. But it is not just the courses that benefit her clients, her open-honesty and willingness to see you succeed is demonstrated through her timeliness in returning answers and by simple things like a well-organized web-site and her 'question of the week'. All of these items help you become a better Function Point analyst and a certified Function Point Specialist. My hat goes off to Carol and her fabulous company - Quality Plus Technologies, Inc.

Due to Carol's encouragement, I was able to become a Certified Function Point Specialist, on my first try with the additional aid of her company's wonderful flip card. With Quality Plus Technologies Inc's on-going encouragement, we have been successful at setting up the first IFPUG chapter in Canada. As well, have made wonderful connections with Certified Function Point Specialists around the world by using her well-run, unmoderated, discussion forum -- FPASM_Forum@yahoogroups.com.

Thanks for all of your support and ongoing commitment to your clients, Carol!”

Sara K. Shackelton, Certified Function Point Specialist, IT Measurement Clarica in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Success Story #7

Type of Company: Technology Solutions Provider

Situation: The contractor had been awarded the contract to redesign three existing systems to design them more efficiently and eliminate overlapping functionality. The contract stipulated that they were to use software measures and function point analysis in their project management approach. The contractor was given a 'functional size' by the government to manage to. The contractor did not know how the number had been derived or whether the functional size they were given was valid.

Approach and Results: Linda (contractor representative) and John Van Orden (Quality Plus consultant) met with the project manager. They decided to size several of the modules that had been through redesign and approved by the customer. When that step was complete, the remaining module sizes were extrapolated to determine an estimated functional size in function points.

The estimated functional size was approximately 25% larger than was originally known. Through streamlined and efficient work effort processes, the contractor will still be able to meet the required delivery date.

And here’s what the manager had to say:
"I just wanted you to know that we have been very pleased with this effort. We have a long-standing customer demand to reconcile our project size with a function point analysis done by the Government. Until Linda and John [Van Orden] stepped up, we had no way to address this. I don't have full command of the analysis of their data yet, but their methodology and documentation are very solid and will be close to unimpeachable when we go back to the customer. As for working relationships, both the process and the personalities have been a nice fit for our small, but hardworking team. That's made this easy to support this initiative. They've done a really good job for us." S.M., Major Defense Contractor

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