SOFTWARE PRODUCT ASSURANCE COST ESTIMATING MODEL

TO MEET THE ARMY'S NEED FOR IMPROVED COST CONTROL AND PREDICTION OF RESOURCE USAGE IN THE INDEPENDENT PRODUCT ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES IN AS TIMELY A MANNER AS POSSIBLE, WE PROPOSE USING THE SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE DATABASE (SQUAD/20) MODEL, DEVELOPED BY CAPERS JONES AS A PROTOTYPE FOR ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IV&V COST ESTIMATING SYSTEM. THE MODEL CURRENTLY PREDICTS COST, EFFORT, AND DEFECT REMOVAL EFFICIENCIES FOR INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION AND A NUMBER OF OTHER DEFECT REMOVAL ACTIVITIES. THE OBJECTIVES IN PHASE I ARE TO VALIDATE THE MODEL WITHIN THE DOD AND ENLARGE THE DATABASE OF SQUAD/20, RECOMMEND AND INITIATE AN ONGOING PROJECT MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR IV&V PREDICTION PURPOSES, AND SPECIFY THE SUBSEQUENT VERSION OF THE MODEL. FUTURE VERSIONS WOULD HANDLE ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: MORE THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF FACTORS EFFECTING QA PRODUCTIVITY, A LARGER DATABASE OF HISTORICAL PROJECTS, FINER DETAIL ON ACTIVITY ESTIMATION AND MORE SOPHISTICATED PREDICTIVE ALGORITHMS.