Why Productivity Matters

In today’s economy, software development is a great expense for most organizations, so lagging software development productivity can have a significant impact on the organization’s ability to compete and survive. Currently, most software development organizations are not optimized. The C-level still considers software development a cost center with poorly-understood processes and deliverables. There is an increasing demand for software—especially for embedded systems. However, without improved efficiency, it will be difficult to take advantage of these opportunities in a cost-effective manner.

This requires more than tools; it calls for a process that ensures quality software can be produced consistently and efficiently. Like the various automobile manufacturers, different development organizations today typically have access to roughly the same production tools and technologies. The organizations that have a process for leveraging them most successfully are the ones with the highest productivity and the lowest production costs—and the best poised to compete.

My next few posts will present one simple equation for assessing your team’s current efficiency level, then four equations you can apply to improve it:

• Having a clear, actionable plan of attack = Productivity
  
• Increasing code knowledge = Productivity
  
• Reducing rework = Productivity
  
• Reducing debugging = Productivity