A framework for integrated tool support within measurement programs

Any Software Process Improvement (SPI) initiative that wants to demonstrate its improvements requires measurement. Different abstraction levels and view-points on the models and data that are used in a measurement program are necessary, because different people performing different roles need optimal support for their point of view. An important observation is the fact that models and plans naturally evolve during the course of a measurement program. They are typically reused when rolling out or in follow-up projects, causing additional effort for change management. We present a framework in this paper, which identifies the main activities needed for measurement and the products forming their interfaces. Based on practical experience, we identified activity-specific requirements for the input products and characterized the output products to specify the interfaces. We applied our framework within several industrial projects gaining practical experience