Validation of a generic GQM based measurement framework for software projects from industry practitioners

Software projects today are often characterized by poor quality, schedule overruns and high costs. One of the reasons for this failure is the lack of management visibility or metrics for making the right decisions at the right time for corrective actions. But most of the software metrics proposed are theoretical and have little relevance in real-world projects. Given that software engineering is essentially a cognitive activity, an effective measurement framework which is validated empirically is needed to control the project and give directions to accomplish the project goals of the stakeholders. However, defining and implementing the right measurement framework is extremely challenging requiring a cross pollination of systems development and project management streams. This paper examines how a stakeholder driven Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) measurement framework was derived and empirically validated with a survey from seasoned software professionals.