July 2008 - Pragmatic Software Newsletters

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From a metrics perspective in Agile, you will want to collect metrics that answer 2 questions:

1. Will all my sprint requirements get completed by the end of the sprint?  To answer this, we will use burn down charts that show the number of hours remaining each day of the sprint.  As the sprint progresses, the chart should incrementally trend downwards, showing whether you will be done with all requirements at the end of the sprint.

2. Will all requirements completed in the sprint have high quality?  To answer this, we will use test cases and defect statistics.  Test Case statistics will let us know if we have thoroughly tested the software and defect statistics will alert us as to the quality of the software.

When collecting statistics and metrics, you can use spreadsheets or an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tool to generate the information needed to answer these critical questions.  Using a spreadsheet is less costly (no purchase of a tool required) but it does require that you key your data into the spreadsheet daily and keep it updated.   ALM tools can prevent double data entry and can provide a more comprehensive statistics and a better view of your progress.

Using a Spreadsheet to Capture Metrics
For companies that do not have a budget for an ALM tool, they can collect statistics at enter them into a spreadsheet.  The most difficult issue with this approach is that you must keep the spreadsheet updated and you must have a way of collecting the statistics.  For example, each day you must ask each developer how many hours they have remaining on each task they are working on.  You also must manually keep track of the number of test cases, the status of them, the number of defects and the status of them. 

Below is an example of a spreadsheet that shows a burn down chart of each requirement and it charts how many hours should be remaining day-by-day and the actual hours remaining day by day.  By reviewing the chart daily, you can determine if you are progressing towards plan or not.



If you would like to download the spreadsheet above, go to http://www.pragmaticsw.com/Template_PADDailyScrum.xls 

Using an Application Management Tool to Capture Metrics
The advantage of having an ALM tool to provide statistics is that you do not have to ask your developers each day for their hours remaining -- they will enter their time in the ALM tool daily and it will automatically update the statistics.  Your quality assurance team can also use the tool to manage requirements, test cases and defects, and statistics will always be a click away -- no need to do any double data entry.

There are many ALM tools available, below are some screen shots that show how Software Planner (http://www.SoftwarePlanner.com) generates statistics that provide the metrics needed for Agile sprints.

Burn Down Charts
As you can see below, burn down charts are available without double entry of data -- it pulls from the timesheets entered each day by your developers.   A key advantage is that you can easily toggle between sprints, comparing one to another.



Quality Assurance Analysis
You can quickly see how many test cases are run for each sprint, and how many passed and failed, day-by-day.  You can also trend defects day-by-day to ensure that as the end of the sprint approaches, the quality of the release is high.  Another key advantage is that it does allow you to quickly toggle between sprints, comparing one to another:



If you would like to download a free trial of Software Planner, go to:

      http://www.softwareplanner.com/FreeTrial.asp?AppName=SP

What's Next?
Upcoming newsletters will discuss the following topics:

• Agile Scrum - Retrospectives
• Agile Scrum - Site specific variants of Scrum

Below are some helpful templates to aid you in developing software solutions on-time and on-budget: