ICS2003-10-01: The Hackystat-JPL Configuration: Overview and Initial Results - P. Johnson

This report presents selected initial results from Hackystat-baseddescriptive analysesof Harvest workflow data gathered from the Mission Data System softwaredevelopment project from January, 2003 to August, 2003. We present themotivation for this work, the methods used, examples of the analyses, andquestions raised by the results. Our major findings include: (a) workflowtransitions not documented in the "official" process; (b) significantnumbers of packages with unexpected transitionsequences; (c) cyclical levels of development "intensity" asrepresented by levels of promotion/demotion; (d) a possible approach tocalculating the proportion of "new" scheduled work versus rework/unscheduled workalong with baseline values; and (e) a possible approach to calculating the distribution of package "ages" and days spent in thevarious workflow states, along with potential issues with the representation of"package age" based upon the current approach to packagepromotion.The report illustrates how our current approach to analysis can yielddescriptive perspectives on the MDS development process. It provides a firststep toward more prescriptive, analytic models of the MDS software developmentprocess by providing insights into the potential uses and limitations of MDSproduct and process data.

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