The Distributive ENote
A monthly e-newsletter from Distributive Management 
August 2009 Issue 116
 
"If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, 
you don't know what you are doing." 
 ~ W. Edwards Deming
In This Issue
enote0Turn 50 Excel Files into Centralized KPIs...In 30 Minutes
Triumph over the disorder of your Excel data by consolidating it into a one-stop metrics system
Join in on our lunchtime project data collection session!
Date:  Thursday, September 17, 2009
Register Now
Similar to a Hefty� bag, DataDrill can handle quantities of data of various shapes and sizes. Whether you have simple counts, complex analyses, data from 50 projects (or 500), none of it makes DataDrill unmanageable; it's strong and flexible and tough.
 
DataDrill is a complete measurement and analysis system packaged in easy-to-interpret dashboard software.  DataDrill likes to eat Excel files for lunch.  Join us this month for our free, 1-hour lunch-time webinar and follow along as we begin with raw data in 50 Excel files and generate user-friendly KPIs, alerts and dashboards for you.
When you attend the webinar you'll see DataDrill in action:
  • Quickly and accurately process a stack of Excel files stuffed with worksheets and data
  • Skim metrics results in a glance, instantly spotting problem areas and deviation from plan
  • Efficiently navigate status summaries, dashboards, drill-down analysis and more
  • Combine Excel data into metrics using data collected from other tools, like Microsoft Project
  • Collaborate in a multi-user environment that's also role-based and secure
  • Leverage decision-tools that provide measurement guidance and help you capitalize on lessons learned
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how DataDrill helps projects get useful information from their Excel-based data."
See it in Action! Join our live, complimentary webinar and demo session on Thursday, September 17th at 1pm EDT. Register Now
 
When:
Thursday, September 17, 2009 @ 1pm ET (GMT-5)
Cost: Free
Where: Online with Distributive Management
enote1Is IT Measurement and Process Improvement Surviving the Recession?
Last month DCG (David Consulting Group) University conducted an IT metrics and performance improvement practitioners survey to get a temperature check on the state of software development measurement activities in the current economic climate.  This short paper summarizes their interpretation of the 67 responses received. There is strong evidence that the respondent organizations care about and monitor actual project costs against estimates.  There is also strong evidence that money is being wasted through weak controls over application code quality.
enote2Distributive to Speak at September INCOSE Meeting
September 15, 2009
Central Virginia INCOSE
Measuring the Risk Management Process
Presented by Peter Baxter, Distributive Management
All projects have risks; no matter how hard you try, you can never eliminate all project risk. The goal of risk management is to develop information that supports informed decision-making throughout the project lifecycle. A typical risk management process allows managers to quantify the likelihood and impact of program issues.  It is the measurement process that delivers risk-related information needs to managers.

This presentation introduces both the risk management process and the measurement process, and details a framework for selecting risk-related measures.  The practical framework provides a simple technique for refining management's information needs into an actionable measurement process.  Following this technique results in effective measures that provide the information that managers want and ensure that you are not collecting data that no one wants. During the presentation, Mr. Baxter will demonstrate how three popular risk measures are refined into a measurement process.
enote4Are We Doing Well?  Or Not So Well?
Metrics dashboards don't solve problems - people solve problems. What dashboards can do is provide relevant information so that you can assess status and take corrective action. To avoid information overload and to help you save time, automated business rules are used along with dashboards to alert you to areas that could be underperforming. So you can solve the problem.

The fastest way for a metric to communicate with you, the decision-maker, is through the use of visual guides that either raise a red flag or let you know that all is well.  These guides are based on decision rules that help interpret the results of measurement.  Decision rules should be carefully defined to assist with problem recognition and encourage choices that are aligned with business goals.

Decision rules can be based on:
  • Contract requirements
  • Process targets
  • Control and confidence limits
  • Baseline references
  • Thresholds
  • Project estimates and plans
  • Benchmark values
  • Historical data
  • Trends
By expressing decision rules as graphical status and trend indicators, alarms, target lines or color-coded regions on a graph, even complex statistical charts, the you can quickly evaluate how well you're doing and make appropriate course corrections.
Decision Rules Poll
Take our 2-question poll to weigh in on the importance of decision criteria in your metrics and tell us about your most valuable decision rule.
enote6International Space and Defense Giant Triples Its Investment in DataDrill Software
A Fortune 500 company has completed a follow-on purchase of additional licenses of DataDrill EXPRESS, supporting the expansion of DataDrill for systems and software engineering management. Distributive Management's Peter Baxter says "We are pleased that the value of DataDrill EXPRESS is delivered quickly - this purchase shows that, using DataDrill, measurement can become an essential element in the manager's toolbox." The purchase included additional DataDrill server licenses as well as additional user licenses. By expanding the scale of their DataDrill installation, the site is able to deliver essential management information to a larger group of managers and stakeholders.
Read more ENotes on our web site at www.distributive.com/company_newsletter.html.  The Distributive ENote is a free, subscription-based electronic newsletter produced by Distributive Management as a service to the performance management community. The ENote provides insight and information on performance management and improvement processes, as well as Distributive Management product information.
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enote5Conundrum: Paintball Weekend
 
During a crazy weekend of paintball, four friends were having great fun.  The paint came in blue, green, yellow and red.  Coincidentally, the four friends had T-shirts in those same colors.  Brenda used blue paint balls.  The person in the green T-shirt used yellow paint balls.  James was not wearing a red T-shirt.  Diane used green paint balls and wore a blue T-shirt.  Simon was the only person who used paint which was the same color as his T-shirt.  Can you tell which color paint they each used and the color of their respective T-shirts?
THE ANSWER
Distributive Management