The IBM® Rational® Unified Process® (RUP®) comprises a process framework of best practices for iterative software and systems development and delivery, based on many years of direct experience with clients. It encompasses both fundamental principles and detailed activities for various process disciplines, from requirements management to project management.
To supplement the measurement guidance in RUP so that organizations could quantify and track costs, schedules, and technical objectives for their increasingly complex projects, several years ago IBM Rational thought leaders joined forces with measurement professionals in the U.S. government and worldwide industry and academia to create the RUP for PSM Plug-in. Based on best practices of measurement professionals within the software and systems acquisition and engineering communities, it integrates measurement activities, artifacts, and concepts into the standard RUP framework. The result is an information-driven process flexible enough to address each organization's unique technical and business goals.
This initiative was part of an industry-wide effort to introduce a consistent set of standards and guidance for implementing project and process measurement. PSM guidelines are incorporated into the base document for the ISO/IEC 15939, Systems and Software Engineering -- Measurement Process 1 . In turn, this document now serves as input for the Measurement and Analysis (MA) process area of the Capability Maturity Model® IntegratedSM (CMMISM) 2 , for many other ISO/IEC standards, and for the measurement guidance produced by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). Those who use the RUP for PSM Plug-in 3.0 can be assured that their projects will align with measurement guidance embodied in the CMMI and ISO/IEC standards.
The new release of the RUP for PSM Plug-in (Version 3.0) incorporates measures vital to organizations involved with systems engineering. I will discuss these below.
Overview of the RUP for PSM Plug-in
NOTE: I explain some fundamentals about IBM Rational Method Composer, RUP, and the RUP for PSM Plug-in below, but if you are not familiar with the first two releases of the Plug-in, you may want to consult an earlier Rational Edge article, "Practical Measurement in the Rational Unified Process" 3 . It covers basic PSM process concepts and how they relate to RUP.
The RUP framework is itself a Plug-in for Rational Method Composer, which allows you to author your own process framework or extend an existing process framework by adding method elements (roles, tasks, work products, guidance). Rational Method Composer also allows you to integrate multiple Plug-ins, including the RUP for Model-Driven Systems Development (RUP for MDSD) Plug-in 4 . You can then generate a Web site for the fully integrated process framework.
Figure 1 shows the "Getting Started" page for the Web site that I generated in Rational Method Composer for the integrated RUP for PSM Plug-in. Clicking on any element in the left navigation menu brings up a detailed Web page in the right frame.
Figure 1: Web site generated in Rational Method Composer for the RUP for PSM Plug-in
The published content available with the RUP for PSM Plug-in includes:
- Getting Started with PSM. An overview of PSM and RUP, and how they are related.
- Practical Software & Systems Measurement (PSM) Roadmap. More detail on what content to browse within the Plug-in if you are new to PSM.
- PSM Key Concepts. Detail on PSM concepts such as the Measurement Process Model and the Measurement Information Model.
- PSM Guidelines. Practical information about specific PSM topics, including basic measurement principles, the Measurement Analysis Technique, the Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide, and how PSM relates to the ISO/IEC 15939 standard on measurement process 1 .
- PSM Measurement Specification Examples. Example specifications for project management indicators (measures), test indicators, and software design indicators. This section also documents measurement specifications outlined in the Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide that I will discuss below.
- PSM Work Products. A collection of work products produced or modified in the PSM process.
- PSM White Papers and Technical Reports. Artifacts that have been developed by the PSM 6 Technical Working Groups.
- Roles (Managers and Analysts). PSM content extends the RUP Project Manager role and defines a new Measurement Analyst role for RUP.
- Processes. Contains information about the Measurement Process, which encompasses PSM core activities (see Figure 4 below).
Using Rational Method Composer, the RUP for PSM Plug-in integrates this content into both RUP and the RUP for MDSD Plug-in.
An important component of the RUP for PSM Plug-in is the PSM Measurement Process Model (see Figure 2), which defines core tasks for a measurement process. These include:
- Establish and Sustain Commitment
- Plan Measurement
- Perform Measurement
- Evaluate Measurement
See "Practical Measurement in the Rational Unified Process" 3 for more complete explanations.
Figure 2: RUP for PSM Plug-in measurement process model
Along with these tasks, the Plug-in also defines:
- Roles (the project role performing the task)
- Work products to be produced and consumed by the tasks
- Additional guidance and supporting material
Rational Method Composer allows you to create both a process model and the content/guidance to support it, in the form of activity and flow diagrams.
The table in Figure 3 shows the flow detail for one task in Figure 2: Plan Measurement as defined in the Plug-in.
Figure 3: Plan Measurement task description in the RUP for PSM Plug-in
The RUP for PSM Plug-in has an activity diagram that defines PSM core activities (Figure 4) as well as detailed activity diagrams (Figure 5) showing relationships -- who (role) is performing the tasks and what the work product inputs and outputs are.
Figure 4: Measurement activity diagram in the RUP for PSM Plug-in
Figure 5: Detailed measurement activity diagram in the RUP for PSM Plug-in
Users can easily obtain more detail about each of the tasks in Figure 5 by clicking on them. A context sensitive hyperlink will take you to a page showing more details about the task, such as the one shown in Figure 3.
In addition to outlining tasks in a measurement process, the RUP for PSM Plug-in provides indicators and measurements documented in a Measurement Specification, like the one for Test Procedure Status shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: RUP for PSM Plug-in Measurement Specification: Test Procedure Status
New Systems Engineering (SE) leading indicators in the RUP for PSM Plug-in V3.0
The key addition to the latest release of the RUP for PSM Plug-in is content from the Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide V1.0 5 . The Guide resulted from a collaborative Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) that included the LAI Consortium, PSM, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, INCOSE, and other industry groups. The Initiative's intention was to assemble a set of leading indicators or measures for evaluating the effectiveness of systems engineering efforts, particularly elements that are likely to affect system performance objectives. Leading indicators may be individual measures, or a collection of measures, that predict future system performance. They help leaders take interventions and actions to avoid rework and wasted effort, and ultimately to deliver greater value to customers and end users.
This set is not exhaustive; rather, it is a subset of indicators that the initiative team deemed to be highest priority. It includes:
- Requirements Trends: Rate of system definition maturity against the plan. Also characterizes the stability and completeness of system requirements that might impact design and production.
- System Definition Change Backlog Trend: Volume of the change request backlog. A pileup could adversely impact technical, cost, and schedule baselines.
- Interface Trends: Interface specification closure against plan. Lack of timely closure could adversely impact system architecture, design, implementation, and/or verification and validation and pose technical, cost, and schedule risks.
- Requirements Validation Trends: Progress against plan in assuring that customer requirements are valid and properly understood. Adverse trends might impact system design activity with corresponding risks to technical, cost, and schedule baselines, as well as to customer satisfaction.
- Requirements Verification Trends: Progress against plan in verifying that the design meets specified requirements. Adverse trends would indicate inadequate design and a need for rework, with negative impact on technical, cost, and schedule baselines -- and potentially on the system's operational effectiveness.
- Work Product Approval Trends: Adequacy of internal processes for the work being performed, including both internal and external document reviews. High rejection counts would suggest either poor quality of work or a poor document review process; either could adversely impact cost, schedule, and customer satisfaction.
- Review Action Closure Trends: Organizational ability to close post-review actions. Adverse trends could indicate potential technical, cost, and schedule baseline issues.
- Risk Exposure Trends: Effectiveness of risk management process in anticipating/managing technical, cost, and schedule risks. Adverse trends could indicate a need for better risk analysis and/or quality management practices.
- Risk Handing Trend: Effectiveness of the organization in implementing risk mitigation activities. If the organization is not retiring risk in a timely manner, it can allocate additional resources before additional problems arise.
- Technology Maturity Trend: Risk associated with incorporation of new (especially immature) technology or failure to refresh dated technology. The former can adversely affect development; the latter can reduce operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
- Technical Measurement Trends: Progress toward meeting Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs)/Performance (MOPs)/Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) and Technical Performance Measures (TPMs). Lack of timely closure indicates deficiencies in product design and/or the project team's performance.
- Systems Engineering Staffing and Skills Trends: Ability of organization to execute the program defined in the Systems Engineering Plan (SEP)/Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) with available staff. Includes quantity of personnel assigned, skill and seniority mix, and personnel time required for each phase of the program lifecycle.
- Process Compliance Trends: Quality and consistency of the program process documented in the SEP/SEMP. A poor process -- or failure to adhere to the defined process -- can greatly increase program risk.
The guide provides a description of each leading indicator, and a Measurement Specification that supplies base measures or calculations required to fulfill the indicator. Measurement Specification tables provide additional insight into interpreting the indicator. Figure 7 shows an indicator description for Requirements Trend as incorporated in the Plug-in.
Figure 7: Requirements Trend, an SE leading indicator in the RUP for PSM Plug-in
Integrating PSM into RUP and other processes
You can integrate the RUP for PSM Plug-in into the RUP framework through the contributes option within the content variability feature of Rational Method Composer, which allows you to contribute new content and replace existing content with your own. In the Plug-in, we used this variability feature to replace standard RUP content with PSM content.
For example, the Project Manager role defined in RUP performs tasks such as reporting status and is also responsible for project measurement. You can extend these responsibilities by selecting the contributes option in Rational Method Composer and writing in what you want to include from the RUP for PSM Plug-in. Then, when you publish your Web site, it will contain your contribution along with the standard RUP pages. The Project Manager role responsibilities shown in Figure 8 include several items that were added from the RUP for PSM Plug-in: Develop Measurement Plan, Monitor Project Status, and Report Status tasks, as well as Measurement Plan and Project Measurements work products.
Figure 8: Project Manager role showing additional responsibilities from the RUP for PSM Plug-in
Note that even if your organization does not use RUP, you can still incorporate PSM concepts into your own process, using Rational Method Composer and a special standalone PSM Plug-in that is not RUP-dependent. For more information, click on the first link listed in the Resources section below.
There is much more to implementing a successful measurement program than just the measures themselves. Organizations need a viable process to ensure that they are applying the right measures at the right times, interpreting results accurately, and taking corrective action if necessary. The measures, activities, and artifacts contained in the RUP for PSM Plug-in are based on best practices for software and system measurement assembled by a team of government, industry, and academic experts. RUP offers a process framework of best practices for iterative, incremental software and systems development that can effectively support PSM measures, activities, and artifacts, including the new systems engineering leading indicators embodied in the RUP for PSM Plug-in v3.0. You will find more information about the products and resources discussed in this paper at the links below.
My thanks to all of the people who reviewed this paper for their insightful comments. I extend special thanks to:
- Cheryl Jones, U.S. Army, PSM Project Manager and co-author of the RUP for PSM Plug-in
- Garry Roedler, Lockheed Martin, co-author of the Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide
- Donna H. Rhodes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, co-author of the Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide
1 ISO/IEC 15939, Systems and Software Engineering, Measurement Process, 2007.
2 Software Engineering Institute, "Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) for Development -- Version 1.2." Carnegie Mellon University, August 2006.
3 Doug Ishigaki and Cheryl Jones, "Practical Measurement in the Rational Unified Process." The Rational Edge, January 2003. www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/content/RationalEdge/jan03/PracticalMeasurementInRUP_TheRationalEdge_Jan2003.pdf
4 IBM Rational Method Composer: RUP for Model-Driven Systems Development Plug-in. www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/downloads/07/rmc_v7.2/mdsd/index.html
5 Garry Roedler and Donna H. Rhodes, Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide, Version 1.0, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, INCOSE, and PSM, June 2007. INCOSE Technical Product Number: INCOSE-TP-2005-001-02.
6 The Practical Software and Systems Measurement. www.psmsc.com
Get products and technologies
-
RUP for PSM Plug-in and Standalone PSM Plug-in: www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/downloads/07/rmc_v7.2/#8
- Practical Software and Systems Measurement: www.psmsc.com
- IBM Rational Method Composer: www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/rmc/index.html
- IBM Rational Unified Process: www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/rup/
- RUP for Model-Driven Systems Development Plug-in: www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/downloads/07/rmc_v7.2/mdsd/index.html
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Doug Ishigaki joined Rational Software in 1996 and for the past several years has led IBM Rational participation in the Practical Software and Systems Measurement (PSM) effort. An initiative to standardize project and process measures for software development and delivery organizations, this effort spans US government, business, and education concerns. In addition to his work on the PSM, Doug has been chief contributor for the RUP for PSM Plug-in, which allows organizations to integrate measurement best practices into the RUP process framework. Prior to joining Rational, he was involved in all phases of development and deployment for a large, real-time distributed system as well as a commercial middleware product at TRW, Inc. He holds a degree in linguistics/computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
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