Monitoring Software Projects with Earned Value Analysis and Use Case Point

Abstract

The earned value analysis (EVA) is a project management method for controlling project progress. Two problems cause the difficulty in applying the method on software projects. The first problem is how to consistently express project baselines and to measure technical progress of software projects. The second is due to the conventional Work Breakdown Structure that is prematurely structured around the product cannot reflect the software changes in the development. After discussing the issues and solutions for using EVA on software projects, the paper presents an evolutionary WBS focusing on the elements of software processes, and describes the adoption of use case points as software project baselines and performance measurement. An approach to monitoring software project progress with EVA and use case points is presented. A controlled experiment is described which shows the usefulness and effectiveness of the EVA method for tracking and controlling schedule and costs in software projects.