6 research outputs found
On the Economies of Scale and Budget Allocations in Information Technology Services Provision
This study reexamines some fundamental questions in the network era of computing using the data after 1995 when firms have made significant investments in newer types of IT systems. Our findings suggest that firms realize some economies of scale in IT services as they grow in size. We also find that the personnel-hardware ratio is not independent of IT budget. Finally, we find that personnel-hardware ratio was declining during 1999-2003 period in response to changes in factor prices of hardware and personnel. We discuss implications of these results for academic research and for managerial practice
TRACKING THE 'LIFE CYCLE TRAJECTORY': METRICS AND MEASURES FOR CONTROLLING PRODUCTIVITY OF COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) DEVELOPMENT
This paper proposes a new vision for the measurement and
management of development productivity related to computer aided
software engineering (CASE) technology. We propose that
productivity be monitored and controlled in each phase of
software development life cycle, a measurement approach we have
termed life cycle trajectory measurement. Recent advances in
CASE technology that make low cost automated measurement possible
have made it feasible to collect life cycle trajectory measures.
We suggest that current approaches for productivity management
involve the use of static metrics that are available only at the
beginning and end of the project. Yet the depth of the insights
needed to make proactive adjustments in the software development
process requires monitoring the range of activities across the
entire software development life cycle. This can only be
accomplished with metrics that can measure performance parameters
in each phase of the life cycle. We develop metrics that have
the ability to measure and estimate software outputs from each
intermediate phase of the development life cycle. These metrics
are based on a count of the objects and modules that are used as
building blocks for application development in repository object-based
CASE environments. The viability of such object-based
metrics for life cycle trajectory measurement has been
empirically tested for the software construction phase using
project data generated in Integrated CASE development
environments.Information Systems Working Papers Serie
MANAGING DEVELOPMENT PRODUCTIVITY OF THE COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) PROCESS WITH DYNAMIC LIFE CYCLE TRAJECTORY METRICS
This paper proposes a new vision for the measurement and
management of development productivity related to computer aided
software engineering (CASE) technology. We propose that they be
monitored and controlled via the application of dynamic software
development "life cycle trajectory metrics." This view develops
out of management accounting approaches for process control and
recent advances in CASE technology that make automated
measurement possible. We suggest that current approaches involve
the use of "static metricsâ for estimation and evaluation, with
the result that the depth of the insights they can provide to
management is necessarily limited. They only provide "point
estimatesâ of output or productivity at the beginning and end of
the project. Yet to manage software development proactively for
improved efficiency and effectiveness, management needs to track
the range of activities and effort across the entire software
development life cycle. This can only be accomplished when
timely and relevant information is obtained about the software
size output, as well as costs, via âdynamic metrics,â which
provide a richer phase-by-phase view.Information Systems Working Papers Serie
The U.S. software industry : an analysis and interpretative history
Abstract not availablebusiness administration and economics