Providing automated support
for the GQM measurement process

Luigi Lavazza

CEFRIEL - Politecnico di Milano

Abstract

Measurement is a key ingredient for both managing and improving the software development process. Measurement not only enables effective monitoring and control of software projects, but also provides clues for improving the development process and the quality of the software products. A great effort was made in order to define useful process and product metrics and to provide support to specific activities such as collection and analysis of data. However, measuring the software development process is itself a (quite complex) process. Accordingly, methodologies, process models, and tools have been proposed and developed.

This paper illustrates the automation of the most expensive phases of a measurement process conformant with the Goal Question Metrics (GQM) method. In particular, the paper describes a tool for the definition, collection, analysis and feedback of measures, and a technique to interface such a tool with a configuration management system, in order to automate the extraction of reliable and process-conformant data.

Although focused on the GQM methodology, the paper also provides some general indications which are applicable in other contexts as well.