Nesma homepage Forums Sizing Sizing – FPA Developers don't need Function Points

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  • #3530
    Ian Alyss
    Participant

    From the discussion on Automated function point counting I came across a blog from Jean-Pierre Fayolle in which he referred to a few blogs he had written on Qualilogy.

    There he discusses why so few developers use Function Points. I think that that’s the wrong question to answer, because developers don’t need function points. Since Nesma has a large Function Point community, I think it’s interesting to hear what you have to say about this.

    How many of you call themselves developer?

    I believe that developers should not be the target group for Function Points. Function Points are used to describe value of the software in the sense that you can put a number on the amount of functionality it offers, the amount of time the development team has or will put into it to build the software or the amount of money you have to pay the supplier to get the software you want. Those types of value are usually not the things a developer is interested in. Those types of value are in the interest of Business Owners, Business Analysts, Information Managers, Project Managers and the like. We should ask ourselves the question why they don’t “buy” Function Points.

    I think the problem with Function Points is that it needs “technical” input (from a business perspective) that Business Analysts, Information Managers or Project Managers do not have or understand. If they don’t have or understand the input for Function Points, they will not buy the number that should display the value of the software they are interested in.

    #3564
    Frank Vogelezang
    Keymaster

    Ian,

    I’m not developer, but I have a similar experience with regard to developers who are not interested in function points. It’s not a technical thing, so not interesting. I don’t agree that people don’t buy function points, because it’s too technical. People who are responsible for the money (the information manager on the client side and the project manager on the vendor side) are quite keen on function points, when that’s part of the contract. The problem is that a level up there is no “buy in” for function points, so it’s not a part of the contract.

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