Measurement automation: methodological background and practical solutions a multiple case study

Abstract

Continuous collection and analysis of measurement data is crucial in tracking and managing a software development process efficiently. However, practice has shown that setting up and carrying out a measurement programme requires a lot of effort. Despite their tight schedules, project managers and project personnel perform measurement activities in addition to their main daily duties. Furthermore, measurement tasks may be perceived as secondary work for a software development project, which, as such, may harm the success of the measurement programme. Thus, all measurement activities that are reasonable to automate should be automated. In this paper, we propose a measurement automation process that is based on the principles of goal-driven measurement. We give two industrial examples to demonstrate what measurement automation means in practice. We also discuss tool requirements and, as an example, we present a software measurement management tool enhanced by measurement automation.