In other ISO news…. having just returned last
week (Nov. 4-8, 2002) from Cape Town, South Africa where Working
Group 12 (Functional Size Measurement) had its interim meetings,
I have fresh items to report to you:
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The function point community worldwide will soon have three
Functional Size Measurement Methods to boast about as ISO standards.
Besides our own IFPUG 4.1 unadjusted method becoming ISO 20926,
both Mark II (the variation of function point counting used
primarily in the UK) and the NESMA FP method (the Netherlands
FP method which is >95% the same as IFPUG 4.1 unadjusted)
are soon to be published as ISO standards. This is outstanding
news for the Function Point community --- especially since function
points has only been a part of the ISO vocabulary for less than
5 years with the publication of ISO/IEC 14143-1:1998 Definition
of Concepts. |
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Did you know that an ISO standard only has an untouched lifespan
of 5 years? As soon as a standard is 5 years old, it must be
reviewed to ensure that its content remains current with the
thinking of the industry. The first ISO standard pertaining
to Functional Size Measurement, ISO/IEC 14143-1:1998 will have
its 5th birthday in 2003, and WG12 has already started planning
for its "revision". One of the foremost considerations
for this standard is to ensure that it will not inject new criteria
in the standard that would make existing published ISO standards
of Function Size Measurement Methods (as described above) non-conformant.
We had some interesting discussion about the direction this
review/revision should/could take in the coming months. Stay
tuned for more details. |
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The remaining parts of the suite of Functional Size Measurement
standards are coming to a close with the publication of Part
2 (Conformity Assessment) as an IS (International Standard),
and Parts 3, 4 and 5 (as Technical Reports which will need to
be transformed into International Standards in the next 3 years). |
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There are two new work items undergoing development at this
time. The first is COSMIC FFP which is the functional sizing
proposal that builds on the original Full Function Point methodology
introduced by Alain Abran at the University of Quebec. While
the method is still undergoing change, the changes are stabilizing
as the method proceeds through the ISO standardization process.
The second new work item is intended to form Part 6 of the suite
of FSM standards as a Guide to (the Use of) the 14143 suite
of standards and Related Software Standards (such as the methods
published by ISO including IFPUG 4.1 unadjusted, Mark II, and
NESMA). It is not yet clear who the audience for this part 6
document will be, nor for what specific purpose the standard
will address, rather that it be a guide to direct new practitioners
and method developers to navigate through the existing 14143
suite of standards at a minimum. |
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The next meeting where the IFPUG ISO committee must attend
is scheduled for April 2003 in Fredericksburg, VA, and the next
SC7 plenary is scheduled for May 2003 in Montreal, Canada. |
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We still need reviewers for upcoming document drafts - if
you are interested, send me an email to Dekkers@qualityplustech.com. |
