Distributive DataDrill
Distributive DataDrill
Welcome to Distributive Management
 
Greetings!

Hello and welcome to the Distributive ENote. Our monthly newsletter will provide events, news and information related to measuring and managing systems, software and IT projects.

This ENote will also provide information about Distributive's market leading solution, DataDrill. Distributive Management's DataDrill simplifies and speeds the use of measurement as a tool for getting to market sooner, raising product quality and reducing the risk associated with product development.
An Overview on Earned Value Measurement (EVM)Distributive DataDrill
 

The important attributes of an EVM (Earned Value Measurement) implementation include

  1. A full project plan identifying the work that needs to be accomplished
  2. An estimation of planned work (known as Planned Value or a Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled)
  3. Pre-defined metrics to determine the completion of work (Earned Value or Budgeted Cost of Work Performed).

EVM implementations for large or complex projects include many more features, such as indicators and forecasts of cost performance (over budget or under budget) and schedule performance (behind schedule or ahead of schedule). However, the most basic requirement of an EVM system is that it quantifies progress using planned value and earned value.

Consider a project, with a project plan including pre-defined methods of evaluating the accomplishment of the work. At the end of each week, the project manager identifies the elements of the work that have been completed, and totals the planned value for each of the completed elements. Earned value may be accumulated monthly, weekly, or as progress is made.

The foundational principles of EVM don't depend on the size or the complexity of the project. The implementations of EVM can, however, vary depending on the circumstances under which the project is performed.

To learn more about implementing earned value measurement into your projects, click here.
14th Annual PSM Users' Group Conference    
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
"Organizational Measurement - Not Just Addition", Pete Baxter (Distributive Management)
The use of measurement has become more and more common in systems engineering, especially software-intensive product development. Organizations implementing measurement for systems engineering invariably try to apply measurement at the organization level. They do this to gain valuable insight into their ability to satisfy customers, stockholders as well as to stay competitive in their industry. In this presentation, Mr. Baxter explains that using measurement for organizational purpose requires a clear understanding of goals. He presents four common organizational measurement uses:
 
         Structural or hierarchical measurement by aggregation  
     measurement data
         Build or validate estimation and planning models by 
     clustering and grouping measurement data
         Benchmarking and acquisition support
         Building or validating risk-based techniques and PPMs 
     by analyzing measurement data
 
For each approach, he explains how the PSM/ISO-15939 information model is augmented to support common analysis techniques required for each of the four organizational measurement uses. Finally, he describes each organizational use of measurement with specific examples, explaining the techniques and how it differs from process or performance measurement.
 
 
 
DoD Acquisition Reform - Using DataDrill for Technical Risk and Performance Measures
H.R. 5013, the IMPROVE Acquisition Act of 2010

In a recent DoD acquisition bill, H.R. 5013, the amount of management required to monitor and control program development was either clarified, or expanded, depending on how you look at it. The DoD found that requiring only earned value is not adequate to allow the government insight into their critical acquisitions. In this webinar, management practices now required by DoD acquisition reform are explained and demonstrated using the DataDrill measurement platform.
During the webinar, you will see demonstrated techniques encouraged in recent DoD acquisition reform and how they can be deployed coherently in a cost-effective fashion, as demonstrated using DataDrill. The webinar will focus on these techniques:
  • Technical performance measures
  • Systems engineering leading indicators
  • Risk-based program assesment including cost and schedule risk assessment
  • Acquisition assumptions and basis of estimate tracking
  • Prediction and forecasting
This webinar is presented by Peter Baxter, who is the DataDrill product manager and a measurement professional.  Mr. Baxter regularly contributes to measurement working groups, standards and guidance, including ISO-15939 Measurement Process Standard, the Systems Engineering Leading Indicator Guide, the INCOSE Measurement Primer and Practical Software and Systems Measurement (PSM).
 
If you would like to request a team or corporate specific event, please email us at [email protected]

Date:  July 08, 2010
Time:  1:00 pm ET (GMT-5)
Duration:  45 minutes
Location:  Your Desktop
Cost:  Free 
 
DataDrill 4.0 - Faster Integration, New User Interface and New Graphing Engine 

Fredericksburg, VA, June 4, 2010 - Distributive Management announces a new release of its leading web-based performance management and measurement software application, DataDrill.  This release, DataDrill v4.0, focuses on enhanced usability, information sharing and visual flexibility in its reporting function.

DataDrill software provides ready-to-use and completely customizable best practice measures that address common management needs in IT, software engineering and systems engineering.  The solutions provided by DataDrill are specifically designed to speed implementation, automate much of the measurement process, producing accurate forecasting, detailed reports and alerts.  The capabilities of DataDrill scale from small, team-based deployments to large enterprise programs with multiple sites.

"We believe the value of DataDrill lies in its ability to support decision-making during all project and business activities, from demand management and planning, to estimation, to project preparation and then through to execution and monitoring, portfolio management and eventual capitalization and process improvement.", as stated by Peter Baxter, President of Distributive Management.

Distributive Management continues to increase DataDrill functionality and ease of deployment, distancing it far from Excel's limited spreadsheet capabilities.  Specifically designed for quantitatively managing software projects and programs, DataDrill reaches into key business and engineering processes - like scheduling, requirements and quality - to give project, program and executive managers unprecedented visibility into status, progress and trouble areas.

DataDrill v4.0 highlights include:

   Redesigned Portal User Interface Layout
Enhanced usability of navigation bar, with added new color scheme

   New Graphing Types and Options
DataDrill as integrated DevExpress graphing engine as an alternate t the standard internal graph engine.  The new functionality provides multiple new graph types, to include funnel, radar, box lot and bubble chart.  The highlight of this addition is the 3 dimensional capability of reporting.

   DataDrill EXPRESS Exchanger

Increased ability to import and export metrics base definition information, specific to organizations that share or transfer information across multiple locations.

   Web-Based File Manger
Now provided to simplify the uploading and updating of files on the server, such as PowerPoint templates, Crystal Report design files, viewer templates and CSS files.

   Enhanced Capture Wizard
The DataDrill Collector capture wizard is now capable of supporting the capture of Microsoft and Oracle SQL databases, in addition to CSV, Excel and Access files.  In addition, users have the option to select, deselect and modify, even after data has been saved.

   Defect Escape/Containment Grid
The addition of a new snapshot viewer for defect containment will offer a better glimpse into the injected and detected phases

   Query Test Page
Overall usability has been upgraded to improve speed and usability.

 

DataDrill v4.0 is available now. To learn more about DataDrill, please visit Distributive Management at www.distributive.com.

June 2010
In This Issue
An Overview on Earned Value Measurement (EVM)
14th Annual PSM Users' Group Conference
July Webinar: DoD Acquisition Reform
DataDrill Integrates DevExpress, Advanced New Graphic Engine
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Distributive Management, 107 Olde Greenwich Drive, Suite 101
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
888-514-6537