Metrics in Risk Determination for Large-Scale Distributed Systems Maintenance

This paper presents a comparison of management metrics used in the development and maintenance of large-scale government systems dependent on information sharing through computer networking. The paper suggests that the correct choice and use of metrics increases the likelihood of project success and, further, that a more rigorous means of analyzing feedback from project progress reports could reduce the amount of rework and difficulty encountered[1]. The paper draws on data from an inventory database recorded during the nationwide upgrade of a networked computer system to propose a framework for maintenancephase metrics, as well as suggesting a metrics suite. This paper proposes future work using entropy metrics for risk assessment validated against the results from the standard project metrics