OMG Adopts Automated Function Point Specification

Key Player, CISQ, to Host Webinar to Discuss New Specification

NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Object Management Group (OMG^®) Board of Directors has adopted the Automated Function Point (AFP) specification. The push for adoption was led by the Consortium for IT Software Quality (CISQ^®), which is hosting a webinar to discuss the standard on February 14^th at 11am EST.

“By dramatically reducing the cost of counting and eliminating the problem of inconsistency among manual counters, automated Function Point measurement can become a standard component of the software development and maintenance process.”

AFP provides a standard for automating the popular Function Point measure according to the counting guidelines of the International Function Point User Group (IFPUG). While there are several automated counters available in the market, there has never been a standard that ensures they are all counting the same way.

“The announcement by OMG of a specification for [AFP] counting should dramatically expand the use of Function Points for sizing IT applications,” stated Dr. Bill Curtis, Director, CISQ. “By dramatically reducing the cost of counting and eliminating the problem of inconsistency among manual counters, automated Function Point measurement can become a standard component of the software development and maintenance process.”

“The arrival of automated high-speed function point counting...will elevate the importance of function point analysis from being a tool for mid-range applications to becoming a powerful tool for executive analysis of the largest and costliest software applications,” says Capers Jones, software industry measurement expert, VP and CTO, Namcook Analytics. “Both software productivity and software quality data based on function points will expand rapidly, as will reliable software benchmarks.”

Function Points measure the size of IT application software by measuring the business functionality the application provides to users. The Function Point count is a critical input for other parameters such as cost effectiveness and productivity.

AFP is available to the public for free download at www.omg.org. The CISQ webinar will be led by Dr. Curtis and David Herron, coauthor of Function Point Analysis, who led the international team that developed the specification. Visit www.it-cisq.org for more information and to register.

OMG is an international, open membership, not-for-profit computer industry standards consortium. OMG Task Forces develop enterprise integration standards for a wide range of technologies and an even wider range of industries. OMG’s modeling standards enable powerful visual design, execution and maintenance of software and other processes.

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