R Systems International Ltd.

C-40, Sector 59
Noida 201 307
(U.P.), India
http://www.rsystems.com/

Quantitative Project
Management
Document Id.: Qproc044A

Version No.: 2.5

Released on: 03/10/16

This document of R Systems International Ltd. is for internal circulation. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – recording,
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 DOCUMENT CONTROL SHEET

Document History
Ver. Release DCR Description of Change Authore Review Approve
No. Date Ref d/ ed By d By
Revised
By
1.0 17/12/10 DCR Release Version Prabhas Metrics NK Garg
/318 Dash Council
2.0 01/02/11 DCR Updated to include Sanjay Prabhas NK Garg
/323 Quantitative Project Rana Dash
Management flowchart
and modified section
“Tasks” and name
changed to “Quantitative
Project Management”
2.1 28/08/12 DCR Reclassification of QMS QA SEPG NK Garg
/351 documents- changed from Group
‘restricted’ to ‘internal’
2.2 16/01/13 DCR Updated References to QA SEPG NK Garg
/356 include Agile Goal Group
Tracking Sheet
2.3 16/12/13 DCR Updated Section 7.7 to QA SEPG NK Garg
/371 elaborate composition Group
2.4 01/01/14 DCR RSI Logo Updated QA SEPG NK Garg
/373 Group
2.5 03/10/16 DCR Reviewed as per ISO QA SEPG NK Garg
/390 9001:2015 requirements Group
and Risk Matrix (Section 6)
added.
2.5 03/10/16 NA Yearly review on 10/11/17 QA SEPG NA
and no changes made Group
2.5 03/10/16 NA Yearly review on 03/12/18 QA SEPG NA
and no changes made Group

Notes:
 Only controlled hardcopies of the document shall have signatures on them.
 This is an internal document. Unauthorized access or copying is prohibited.
 Uncontrolled when printed unless signed by approving authority.

© R Systems International Limited 2018

 Table of Contents

1 Purpose ....................................................................................................................................... 4
2 Scope .......................................................................................................................................... 4
3 Acronyms and Definitions ............................................................................................................ 4
3.1 Acronyms ............................................................................................................................ 4
3.2 Definitions............................................................................................................................ 4
4 References .................................................................................................................................. 5
5 Responsibilities............................................................................................................................ 6
6 Risk Matrix................................................................................................................................... 6
7 Entry Criteria ............................................................................................................................... 6
8 Inputs .......................................................................................................................................... 7
9 Tasks........................................................................................................................................... 8
9.1 Set a Goal for the Project Objectives ................................................................................... 9
9.2 Select or Build a PPM .......................................................................................................... 9
9.3 Run the POS for the Y metric (For the project having historical data for Y) .......................... 9
9.4 Select Applicable Processes, Sub-processes and suitable Metrics ...................................... 9
9.5 Identify critical sub-process................................................................................................ 10
9.6 Set Goal for the Critical Sub-processes ............................................................................. 10
9.7 Compose the Sub-process ................................................................................................ 10
9.8 Monitor the Sub-process using XmR chart......................................................................... 11
9.9 Perform CAR ..................................................................................................................... 11
9.10 Validate/Calibrate PPM...................................................................................................... 11
10 Exit Criteria ................................................................................................................................ 11
11 Measurements ........................................................................................................................... 11
12 Outputs ...................................................................................................................................... 11
©R Systems International Limited. Internal Quantitative Project Management

1 Purpose

The purpose of this document is to establish procedural steps for implementing

Quantitative Project Management along with Process Performance Model at Project
level.

2 Scope

This process is applicable for development, maintenance and testing projects

executed at RSI

3 Acronyms and Definitions

3.1 Acronyms

Abbreviation Description
ANOVA Analysis of Variance
CSAT Customer Satisfaction
GQM Goal Question Metric
LSL Lower Specification Limit
MC Metrics Council
PCB /MBR Process Capability Baseline/Metrics Baseline Report
PPM Process Performance Model
RSI R Systems International Ltd.
SD Standard Deviation
SEPG Software Engineering Process Group
SPC Statistical process Control
USL Upper Specification Limit

3.2 Definitions

Process
A set of activities performed to achieve a given purpose.

In the CMMI Product Suite, it is defined as activities that can be recognized as

implementations of practices in a CMMI model. These activities can be mapped to
one or more practices in CMMI process areas to allow a model to be useful for
process improvement and process appraisal.

Sub Process
A process that is part of a larger process. A sub-process can be decomposed into
sub processes and/or process elements.

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Process Elements
The fundamental unit of a process. A process can be defined in terms of sub
processes or process elements. A sub process can be further decomposed into sub
processes or process elements; a process element cannot. (See also “process” and
“sub process.”)

Each process element covers a closely related set of activities (e.g., estimating
element and peer review element). Process elements can be portrayed using
templates to be completed, abstractions to be refined, or descriptions to be modified
or used. A process element can be an activity or task.

PPM
PPM stands for Process Performance Model. It is a statistical model that can be
used to statistically monitor and control the corresponding process. It provides insight
into the effect of process changes on process capability and performance .It can also
provide a basis for analyzing possible effects of changes to controllable and non-
controllable process elements

Controllable
“Controllable” implies that a project has direct or indirect influence over the factor
prior to or during the project execution. Controllable can be factors that can be
selected or changed for a given project and controlled by Project Manager during
planning and execution of the projects – (i.e. - Competency skills & Average
experience of resources, Review & testing Efforts etc.)

Un-Controllable
“Uncontrollable” implies that a project has no direct or indirect influence over the
factor prior to or during the project execution. In can include factors that are
unchanging for a given project but can be changed for future projects (i.e. - Project
Size, Requirement Volatility etc.)

Statistically managed process

Processes that are managed through statistical tools and techniques. Such
processes are analyzed for variations and both common and special causes of
process variation are identified and used to control the process to ensure
performance is contained within well-defined limits.

4 References

Document Document Title Document Reference

Category No.

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On-line Project Tracking and Reporting (PTR)

http://psuite.india.rsystems.
systems com/psuite
Bug Tracking Tool and Reporting http://zerod.india.rsystems.
(BTR) com/zerod/
Procedures Software Metrics Qproc008
Guidelines PPM Guidelines Qguide036
Forms / MBR /PCBs Reports Format001
Formats/
Reports Goal Tracking Sheet (Development
Form129
Projects)
Goal Tracking Sheet (Maintenance
Form130
Projects)

Goal Tracking Sheet (Testing Projects) Form132

Goal Tracking Sheet (Agile Projects) Form155

5 Responsibilities
The responsible authorities for identifying, process /sub-process, building process
performance model at organization and account /project level with respect to business
needs are indicated below:
S. No. Task Responsibility
1 Identify Project goals PM
2 Prepare PPM at the Project Level/Adopt Org level MC along with PM
PPM
3 Do What if Analysis PM
4 Validate Project PPM PM
5 Validate/Calibrate Project PPM MC along with PM

The authorities are defined in the task section of this procedure.

6 Risk Matrix

Identified Risk Controls Determined Procedure Remarks

Reference
Project may not Use Process Performance Section 9.2,
achieve its critical Model and take action 9.3,9.4 of this
objectives based on that procedure

7 Entry Criteria

Organization’s set of standard processes defined & established

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8 Inputs

 Organization goals
 Customer objectives
 Metrics Procedure
 Project database repository/Measurement Data
 Metrics Baseline Reports

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9 Tasks

STEP 1: SET A GOAL FOR PROJECT (Eg. Rework%)

Inputs:
 Current goals (Refer Goals/MBR)
 Past Project Performance
 Client inputs
 PM’s own decision for new type of work

STEP 2: SELECT (OR BUILD) A PPM CORRESPONDING TO THE

GOAL
Update Appendix
C in SQAP
STEP 3: SELECT APPLICABLE PROCESSES, SUB-PROCESSES AND
THE METRICS

STEP 4: IDENTIFY MOST CRITICAL SUB-PROCESS (X)

using Criteria:
 Controllable
 Critical in nature.
 Early in the lifecycle

Project has historical data

for the goal (Y)?

No
Yes

Is POS of Y > 80%

No Yes
(POS: Probability of Success)

SET THE GOAL OF THE X

PERFORM WHAT IF ANALYSIS: by hit n trial
(Note: Use the best fit X based on What if
for a best fit from Simulation such that
analysis else take Control limits of X from
POS for Y can be met
latest MBR as the case may be)

CAR Report
DECOMPOSE THE SUB-PROCESS No Is Sub-Process Capable?

Yes

STEP 1: MONITOR X USING XMR CHART

STEP 2: PERFORM CAR FOR A SPECIAL CAR Report
CAUSE (UNSTABLE SUB-PROCESS) OR
INCAPABLE SUB-PROCESS

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9.1 Set a Goal for the Project Objectives

PM decides the specification limit for the project objective (Y’s) with the help of
following inputs:

 Look for clients input (an objective and a goal for it).
 Look for Organizational current performance baseline at Organizational level.
 If the project has historical data, consider those.
 PM can decide a new objective and a goal for it if the project type is new.
Neither customer has provided any input nor does the organization have a
suitable objective and a goal for that.

9.2 Select or Build a PPM

Once a project objective and a goal are decided, a PPM is finalized that satisfies
the objective.

Case I: If the project does not have historical data, adopt the Organization
PPM as Project PPM for the chosen objective. The Organizational PPM is
calibrated for the Probability of Success (POS) greater than the defined
threshold limit. The threshold limit for POS has been defined at 80%.

Case II: If the project has historical data, and the organization PPM is not
appropriate for the project, then the PM may build project level PPM by taking
help from Metrics Council.

9.3 Run the POS for the Y metric (For the project having historical data for Y)
If the project has at least 5 historical data points for Y, run the POS for the Y
metric and if it is above the organization threshold of 80% then select the critical
sub process and keep statistically monitoring the chosen sub process.

9.4 Select Applicable Processes, Sub-processes and suitable Metrics

Depending on the nature of the project and the applicable phases, select the
applicable processes, associated sub-processes and metrics. (Please refer to the
GQM to see a linkage between the process, sub process and metrics).

For example, if the project phases include Requirement Gathering, then

using the GQM sheet:
Process: Requirement Gathering
Sub-process: Requirements Gathering and Analysis, Review SRS/FS
Metrics: Requirement Volatility, Requirement Phase Rework Effort%,
Requirement Review Effort%
Similar selection of process, sub-process and metrics should be done for
all applicable phases in the project lifecycle.

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9.5 Identify critical sub-process

Project Manager along with MC member and other relevant stakeholders identifies
the most critical sub-process (X factors) which would impact the objective (Y). PM
refers the Process Performance Model available for the objective (Y) for choosing
the sub-process (X).The sub-processes that are identified as critical will be
statistically managed during its project lifecycle. Use following criteria while
selecting the critical sub-process:

 controllable in nature
 critical in nature
 early in the lifecycle
 sensitivity of the parameter or the coefficient of the sub process in the PPM

9.6 Set Goal for the Critical Sub-processes

Case, if the project does not have historical data then the project will rely on
the Performance baseline report (MBR) for setting goal for sub-processes
which will be statistically managed. The Control limits of the sub-processes (X
factors) provided in the MBR will be taken as the Specification limit of X factors
for the project. (Note: It is assumed that the Organizational PPM will be used
in this case which is calibrated for POS>80%)

Case, if the project has historical data then it is assumed that the project will
use its historical data for setting the goal for the critical sub-process. First of
all, POS will be checked using the project’s historical data.

 If the POS>80% (Organizational threshold limit), then the project will take
the control limits of the project’s historical data and set the goal. The goal
can be set tighter from the past performance also. The reason for setting
tighter goal should be documented.

 If the POS<80% (Organizational threshold limit), then the What-if analysis

will be performed using simulation tools. Based on the simulation results
the specification limits will be set for the critical sub process; on the basis
of the specification limits for the big Y.

 The specification limits for the critical sub process will be set with best fit
values resulted from the What-if analysis, with regards to the specification
limits of the Y.

9.7 Compose the Sub-process

If the specification limits for sub-process (X) as per What-If Analysis indicates that
the sub process is incapable then X will be composed using CAR. If the sub-
process cannot be composed, perform CAR.

While composing the sub process, the method wise performance should be used
for different sub processes. For e.g. If the composition of code review sub process
is done and there are three baselines available for code review efforts, one with
peer review, second one with group review and third one with peer plus group

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review, while doing composition project has to select one of these baselines and
do simulation to see the predictability of achieving objectives.

9.8 Monitor the Sub-process using XmR chart

Project will collect the data for the selected sub-process and will statistically
monitor using XmR chart. What-if analysis will be performed using actual data to
check if the project objective will be met with the desired POS. (For additional
details on What-if analysis, refer to PPM Guideline)

9.9 Perform CAR

CAR will be performed for the following:
 If any process/sub process becomes unstable/incapable
 There is any positive performance observed in any process performance
(proven through hypothesis testing)

For details refer to Section 8.1 of CAR procedure (Qproc033)

9.10 Validate/Calibrate PPM

PM tracks and compares predictions from PPM with project actual results to
validate and if required to calibrate the process-performance models. (run paired-t
test or sample t test). POS can also be used to validate the PPMs at regular
intervals, data outputs from POS run should be recorded in the projects. PPMs
shall be recalibrated (i.e. same variables with different data) or remodelled (new
variables, modified/deleted existing variables and data), if

 The project processes change

 The Project’s results change
 The Project’s needs change
 The project’s goals change

10 Exit Criteria

QPM implemented

11 Measurements

Project’s Critical Sub-process performance through SPC

Predictions with actual results at project level

12 Outputs

 PPMs
 What if results
 Actions based on What if
 PPM calibration and validation reports

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