bnfb@cs.washington.edu (Bjorn Freeman-Benson) (01/24/91)
--- Executive Summary --- Given a staffing level of N for a development cycle, what should the staffing level for maintainance and support be? --- More Details --- There are a number of books, etc., that give rules of thumb for allocating engineering resources to developing applications: 40% for design, 20% for coding, 40% for testing, etc. However, as was pointed out to me the other day, these rules are only for the initial product development. We have never seen rules for staffing the continuing development and support activities after a product has been released. Does anyone have any numbers like: 30% of original staff for support and 20% for maint. (for a total of 50% of original staff)? Thanks, Bjorn N. Freeman-Benson Jim Hawkins bnfb@cs.washington.edu jim_hawkins%m2@hp4700.desk.hp.com
wex@dali.pws.bull.com (Der Grouch) (01/29/91)
In article <14636@june.cs.washington.edu> bnfb@cs.washington.edu (Bjorn Freeman-Benson) writes:
--- Executive Summary ---
Given a staffing level of N for a development cycle, what
should the staffing level for maintainance and support be?
I don't think it's possible to generalize this much. Several things are key
to know - like what other support organization(s) will be involved? How
many (if any) of the support personnel were involved in the development?
How large is the customer base? How much change will be allowed as part of
"support?"
All these factors (and more) will be of far greater influence than the
simple N.
(Not to slam your proposal - I think such a rule of thumb would be
interesting; just that I think you're barking up the wrong tree.)
--
--Alan Wexelblat phone: (508)294-7485
Bull Worldwide Information Systems internet: wex@pws.bull.com
"Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people."locke@paradyne.com (Richard Locke) (01/30/91)
In article <14636@june.cs.washington.edu> bnfb@june.cs.washington.edu (Bjorn Freeman-Benson) writes: >Given a staffing level of N for a development cycle, what >should the staffing level for maintainance and support be? SPR's tools "SPQR/20" and "Checkpoint" estimate both development effort and maintenance effort. I don't know exactly what goes into the tool's estimates. -dick