The QSM database is the cornerstone of our business. We use validated metrics collected from over 7,000 completed software projects to keep our products current with the latest tools and methods, to support our benchmarking business, to keep our customers informed as they move into new areas, and to develop better predictive algorithms.

QSM began building its database in 1978. Since that time, we have collected project data continuously, updating the database every 12 to 18 months. We have added 200-400 validated projects each year during the last 5 years.

Our primary source of data is our clients, some of whom allow us to include their project data in the database. We also collect data by permission through our ongoing consulting work in the areas of productivity assessments, estimates, and cost-to-completes.

This chart shows Construction & Test effort for completed IT, Engineering, and Real Time systems as System Size increases. QSM stratifies project data into homogenous subsets to reduce variation and study the behavioral characteristics of different software application domains.

Over the past 25 years, QSM has analyzed software developments from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. The projects span all size regimes, application types, and development methodologies. Incoming project data is examined for accuracy and completeness before it is included in the database. After inspection and validation, approximately 7,000 projects have been integrated into the QSM database.

Because we treat all contributed data as confidential, we do not sell or release project data directly to our customers. Instead, we use industry trend lines for comparison and analysis. Due to the enormous variability in schedule, effort, and defects at any given size, project data is separated into nine application categories:

Stratifying the data by application type reduces the variability at each size range and allows for more accurate curve fitting. One application type, the Business IT projects, has been further stratified into several sub-groupings:

QSMA clients have several methods of access to the QSM database:

• Current industry productivity trend lines on the desktop for each of the nine application types are included with QSM tools. Only the most recent 2-3 years of industry data is used to calculate current trend lines.
   
• Basic queries on the QSMA database are included with your license. Let us do the research to answer your estimating and benchmarking questions. We can provide graphs and summaries that allow you to compare your projects against both industry trend lines and actual projects that are similar in size, application type, and complexity. Note: more extensive query analysis is available through our Basic Measurement Service.
   
• Our Basic Measurement Service can help you assess your current position against your competitors by cost, cycle time, and quality. Based on your present productivity and quality, we can help you set realistic goals for process improvement.
   
Research papers and articles from our database analysis are available for download in the Resources section.