Rating: 
Summary: This is a keeper!
Review: In today's IT Shops one of the common failures is that managers and SW Engineers fail to properly select and implement the proper SPI method for the immediate job. I have seen 1st hand how many so called experts have tried to force the square peg into the round hole with little knowledge on why they recommend one method or another. Mr. Rico brings the complex tasks of selecting and manageing the SPI methods by clearly explaining the pro's and con's of each of the popular methods. PM's, SW Engineers and IT Managers can easily defend their decisions. The decisions on how to improve a IT project comes down to nothing more then dollars and cents. Reduce defects efficiently with proper SPI method and your project wins! There are many books on the subject, some focus on one method or another, but Mr. Rico's approach makes no illusion of a perfect model. He reviews the major methods and helps the reader walk through a decision based on metrics. Those metrics will deliver the Best Fit method for any project.Bottom line: David Rico's book is a must have in helping the reader choose the Best Fit SPI Method for maximum ROI! Without admitting my age; this new book deserves to sit next to my "C Programming Book" by Kernighan and Ritchie. I give accolades to Mr. Rico who has shared his excellent work on the subject with the SW Engineering community, which complements his many other technical / business contributions to the field of SW Project Process Improvements.
Rating:
Summary: ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Man
Review: It's a safe bet that most readers who are interested in determining the return on investment of a software process improvement initiative have stumbled upon the author's web site at one point. The material that comprises this excellent book is a distillation of Mr. Rico's extensive work in this area, and is one of the most useful and complete books on the subject. He begins by providing a context for both software process improvement and its associated ROI. The introduction answers the who, what, how and why of ROI of software process improvement (SPI), and the methods, principles and pitfalls of measuring it. The next chapter drills down into SPI itself in which he answers the who, what, why and how questions. This segues into a chapter that surveys the major SPI approaches (Software inspection process, Personal and Team Software Processes, CMM and CMMI, and ISO 9001). These establish the foundation for the heart of the book - three chapters, each dealing with a specific method (ROI analysis, benefit analysis, and cost analysis. After thoroughly covering each analysis method the subsequent chapters focus on how they are applied to the SPI models. Here he uses a set format that addresses the following methods:
- Cost Methodology
- Benefit Methodology
- B/CR Methodology
- ROI% Methodology
- NPV Methodology
- Breakeven Point Methodology Next are chapters that cross-reference the above by individually discussing in separate chapters costs, benefits, cost/benefit ratios, ROI, NPV and breakeven analysis. Here the format for each of these chapters is:
- Software Inspection Process
- Personal Software Process
- Team Software Process
- Software Capability Maturity Model®
- ISO 9001
- Capability Maturity Model Integration® Finally, the book provides yet another view by addressing analysis of return on investment, optimizing return on investment, and future of software process improvement, rounding out the dimensions. This book is more about how to examine the return on investment of SPI, using proven tools and techniques, and drawing your own conclusions that reflect your organization, constraints and opportunities. In addition to the exhaustive examination of all facets of SPI ROI, you can also download invaluable tools and artifacts from the publisher's web site, including: ROI high-level and detailed models, and ISO 9001 and SW-CMM cost model (all in Microsoft Excel format). You can also download an additional ROI article in MS Word format that augments this book. This book, plus these value-added artifacts, are invaluable to any practitioner who is examining the true benefits of SPI.
Rating:
Summary: Provides tools/techniques to assess SPI value
Review: It's a safe bet that most readers who are interested in determining the return on investment of a software process improvement initiative have stumbled upon the author's web site at one point. The material that comprises this excellent book is a distillation of Mr. Rico's extensive work in this area, and is one of the most useful and complete books on the subject. He begins by providing a context for both software process improvement and its associated ROI. The introduction answers the who, what, how and why of ROI of software process improvement (SPI), and the methods, principles and pitfalls of measuring it. The next chapter drills down into SPI itself in which he answers the who, what, why and how questions. This segues into a chapter that surveys the major SPI approaches (Software inspection process, Personal and Team Software Processes, CMM and CMMI, and ISO 9001). These establish the foundation for the heart of the book - three chapters, each dealing with a specific method (ROI analysis, benefit analysis, and cost analysis. After thoroughly covering each analysis method the subsequent chapters focus on how they are applied to the SPI models. Here he uses a set format that addresses the following methods:
- Cost Methodology
- Benefit Methodology
- B/CR Methodology
- ROI% Methodology
- NPV Methodology
- Breakeven Point Methodology Next are chapters that cross-reference the above by individually discussing in separate chapters costs, benefits, cost/benefit ratios, ROI, NPV and breakeven analysis. Here the format for each of these chapters is:
- Software Inspection Process
- Personal Software Process
- Team Software Process
- Software Capability Maturity Model®
- ISO 9001
- Capability Maturity Model Integration® Finally, the book provides yet another view by addressing analysis of return on investment, optimizing return on investment, and future of software process improvement, rounding out the dimensions. This book is more about how to examine the return on investment of SPI, using proven tools and techniques, and drawing your own conclusions that reflect your organization, constraints and opportunities. In addition to the exhaustive examination of all facets of SPI ROI, you can also download invaluable tools and artifacts from the publisher's web site, including: ROI high-level and detailed models, and ISO 9001 and SW-CMM cost model (all in Microsoft Excel format). You can also download an additional ROI article in MS Word format that augments this book. This book, plus these value-added artifacts, are invaluable to any practitioner who is examining the true benefits of SPI.
Rating:
Summary: A new software engineering college course in the works?
Review: Long known for his website and for giving free SPI consulting advice, Mr. Rico finally delivers his wealth of knowledge to the masses via a hardback. From first-timers discovering the meaning of SPI to longtime project managers looking to improve the bottom line, this book is a must have for anyone involved in the field. With the availability for follow-up questions and advice from the author, this book really is like having a college course and easy access to the professor.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to Recommend
Review: Not a good book. No index. No bibliography. The book begins with some poor overviews of what we mean by ROI and what we mean by Software Process Improvement. It then goes on to give very detailed descriptions of how the author chooses to measure ROI for several major SPI approaches. He then goes on to cite cost and benefit numbers coming out of his calculations. Based on these numbers, he makes some pretty strong conclusions about the relatively high cost and relatively low benefits of most of the major SPI approaches in use today. His overall agenda seems to be to convince people that most SPI efforts are too expensive and not worthwhile (which is in stark contrast to the claims made for the book in the foreword by Roger Pressman, where he says the book will help you justify continued funding for SPI). His final conclusion is that we should minimize the costs of SPI and maximize the benefits -- not something I needed a $50 book to help figure out.
Rating:
Summary: ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Man
Review: ROI of Software Process Improvement: Metrics for Project Managers and Software Engineers, by David F. Rico, clearly discusses how to best capture ROI for a projects using different
software methodologies. The chapter addressing how to determine the ROI for software projects using the "Team Software Process" was most useful for me, since I develop software with relatively small teams (3-7 developers).
Rating:
Summary: A must have for software business managers
Review: Software Process Improvement has often only been considered from the technical perspective. You could find hundreds of books on how to improve the quality of your reviews but very few on how much it would cost you. Whether you hold a MBA, MSc, or just need to find out more on the economical aspects of SPI this book is for you.
I have successfully used many of Mr. Rico's concepts and models to calculate ROIs for different implementations of a project assessment methodology.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for software business managers
Review: Software Process Improvement has often only been considered from the technical perspective. You could find hundreds of books on how to improve the quality of your reviews but very few on how much it would cost you. Whether you hold a MBA, MSc, or just need to find out more on the economical aspects of SPI this book is for you.
I have successfully used many of Mr. Rico's concepts and models to calculate ROIs for different implementations of a project assessment methodology.
Rating:
Summary: A first of a kind ...
Review: The world of software process improvement (SPI) was in great need for a book like this. This book will pay for itself by saving you the effort to develop your own return on investment (ROI) case for to convince your management to invest in SPI. It will open your eyes to the value of SPI. David has been working on this book for several years. So I recommend you buy the book to benefit from his research and effort.
Rating:
Summary: Not very realistic
Review: This book is full of assumptions and not very realistic. SPI requires awareness and commitment, training and a long breath. Putting numbers together has done in this book is not what we are looking for.
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