Enabling Comprehensive Use of Metrics

Although software measurements have been used in industry for several decades, it is still difficult for companies to make the most of them. An efficient use of measurements is a fundamental issue - without it, measurement is waste of time and effort. In this paper we present an approach to supporting and boosting the utilisation of measurements at both project and organisational levels. The underlying idea behind the approach is to create a practical measurement utilisation plan. We present how the utilisation plan can be developed and how this approach can motivate software developers and managers to collect and utilise metrics. We also describe the experiences and feedback gained from a case study. We consider our approach as a vital enhancement to existing measurement methods, one to be adopted when aiming at a comprehensive utilisation of measurements. Moreover, our approach prepares the ground for packaging the measurement results in an organisation.