MeTeaM—A method for characterizing mature software metrics teams

Abstract

Background:Metrics teams play an increasingly important role in handling data and information in modern software development organizations; they manage their companies’ measurement programs, collect and process data, and develop and distribute information products. Metrics teams can comprise several roles, and their set-up can differ between companies, as can the metrics maturity of host organizations. These differences impact the effectiveness and quality of a team’s measurement program. Objective:Our objective was to design and evaluate a model to describe the characteristics of a mature metrics team, which efficiently designs, develops, maintains, and evolves its organization’s measurement program. Method:We conducted an action research study on four metrics teams of four distinct companies. We designed and evaluated a domain-specific model for assessing the maturity of metrics teams – MeTeaM – and also assessed the four metrics teams per se. Results:Our results were two-fold: the creation of the metrics team maturity model MeTeaM and a template to assess metrics teams. Our evaluation showed that the model captures the characteristics of successful metrics teams and quantifies the maturity status of both the metrics teams and their host organizations. Conclusions:More mature metrics teams score higher in the MeTeaM model than less mature teams. The assessment provides less mature metrics teams with valuable insights on what factors to improve. Such insights can be shared with and acted upon successfully with their organizations.