When I was working with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) on Building Process Improvement Business Cases, I wanted to get a deeper understanding of the value of software quality, and how to include value in a software performance measurement model. Knowing that Barry Boehm was doing significant research in this area I came across the book “Value Based Software Engineering“.
The book is a collection of papers which provides an overview of the area of value based software engineering, making clear what we know and what we don’t know (which is unfortunately still a lot). It takes an economic view on software engineering, with the focus on results. Aspects like cost-benefit, decision taking, risk management and the value of testing are covered, making this a valuable book for anybody who want’s to learn more about measuring the benefits in software development.
Be warned however that this is not a typical management book which tell you what to and how to do it. Instead it helps you to deepen your understanding in measuring the value of software development, which is useful in any measurement program or balanced scorecard for a software development organization.
The book Value-Based Software Engineering is published by Springer. The introduction paper by Barry Boehm is available on-line: Value-Based Software Engineering: Overview and Agenda.
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