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About the ISBSG

The ISBSG is a not-for-profit organisation that established and now grows, maintains and exploits three repositories of IT history data (software metrics) to help improve the management of IT globally.

The ISBSG mission

“To improve the management of IT resources by both business and government, through the provision and exploitation of public repositories of software engineering knowledge that are standardised, verified, recent and representative of current technologies”.

The ISBSG's formation in 1997 was built upon several years of previous cooperation by a group of national software metrics associations with the common aim of developing and promoting the use of IT industry history data to improve software processes and products, for the benefit of both businesses and governments worldwide. Current members of the ISBSG represent IT and Metrics Associations from thirteen countries (Australia, Finland, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, UK, USA ).

Three independent repositories of IT industry data

  1. Software Development and Enhancement – over 5,100 projects
  2. Software Maintenance and Support – over 370 applications
  3. Software Package Acquisition and Implementation – fledgling repository with over 150 projects to date.

The data in these repositories can be used for estimation, benchmarking, project management, infrastructure planning, bid planning, outsource management, standards compliance and budget support.

The ISBSG offers free Data Collection Questionnaires (DCQs) to enable the collection of relevant metrics pertaining to IT projects and applications. Using the DCQs, submitters can e-mail their project or application details to the ISBSG to be included in one of the three international repositories. A free Benchmark Report will be provided which compares the submitted projects to similar ones in the repository. The DCQs can also be used to help establish an in-house metrics programme.

The ISBSG is unique

  • It has the only international data repositories that are accessible to all (including students, small businesses, large corporates) for a modest fee.
  • All ISBSG data is
    • validated and rated in accordance with its quality guidelines,
    • current, representative of the industry,
    • independent and trusted,
    • captured from a range of organisation sizes and industries
  • Industry leaders around the world contribute to the ISBSG’s development, offering the highest metrics expertise worldwide.

A range of products and services

The ISBSG provides a range of products and services to allow users to:

  • Benchmark performance against the world's best (both individual projects/applications against similar ones, and organisations against the industry)
  • More accurately estimate size, effort, time and cost
  • Verify completeness of requirements
  • Lower development risk - check reality of estimates
  • Reduce "time to market"
  • Increase productivity
  • Build an experience database of their organisation’s productivity
  • Acquire custom built software on a price per functional unit basis
  • Meet standards' requirements.

Find out more about ISBSG products and services.

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"For many years the lack of readily available benchmark data blinded software developers and managers to the real economics of software.  Now that ISBSG is making data on thousands of projects available to the software industry, it is becoming possible to make solid business decisions about software development practices and their results in terms of productivity and quality.  ISBSG data is a valuable asset for the software industry and for all companies that produce software."

Capers Jones

 

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