Earned Value Project Management of Model-Centric Software Development

Abstract

The paper describes an approach to managing software projects with earned value (EV) combining with function point. We improve function point count rules for software models to calculate EV parameters and indexes, and use function point as software project baselines and performance measurement in the software project. We propose an evolutionary work breakdown structure (WBS) that is able to flexibly orient to software development processes instead of premature and stiff software design. Both the project plan and WBS are made and refined iteratively as more information available from the project development. The method of controlling model-driven software projects is presented. A controlled experiment shows the usefulness and effectiveness of the method for monitoring schedule and costs in software projects.