The StoneHenge blog

For practitioners of Function Point Analysis, the International Function Point Users Group has published several topics of possible interest in the latest issue of "Metric Views." Below are a few that stood out for me;

• A New Counting Practice Manual (CPM), version 4.3, is published and takes effect 1/1/2010. An article by Janet Russac explains the changes. The bottom line is that the new CPM doesn't change the results of an unadjusted function point count, but it does present the methodology in a new format consistent with ISO requirements.
• International Software Measurement and Analysis (ISMA) annual fall conference update, listing all the presentations from this year's Chicago conference and providing an order form for purchasing a copy of the conference proceedings for $50 for members or $100 for non-members. The summary of my presentation on "10 Steps to Starting a Successful FPA Program" is mentioned on page 10 of the "Metric Views" . View it here.

Committee Updates:

• The New Environment Committee (NEC) has started four new Interest Groups for members to network and review ideas on applying Function Point Analysis within;
  • Service Oriented Architecture Environments (I joined this one)
  • Agile Environments
  • Unified Modeling Environments
  • Financial and Insurance Environments
• IT Performance Committee has been working on the SNAP project, a new methodology for Non-functional sizing, with plans for its release late next year.
• Membership Committee encourages every member to recruit a new member in 2010. As with any organization we need new members to thrive and grow. If you are reading this and you are not a member of IFPUG, please consider it now and click on a link to the online membership form. An individual one year membership is $185 plus a $75 fee for the first year for your copy of the Counting Practice manual.

Joining IFPUG has helped me and my company solve the age-old IT problem of software development projects being late and expensive. It can help you and your company, as well.

The best way to keep informed is to go to www.ifpug.org, the International Function Point Users Group website. Then click on "What's New" in the left nav and then click on the latest copy of the "Metric Views".