The Value Metrics Consortium is here!

Introducing the Value Metrics Consortium (VMC):

Bringing Transparency, Predictability, and Real Value to Software Delivery

Nesma launches the Value Metrics Consortium (VMC) — a major new initiative designed to help organizations move beyond subjective Agile metrics and gain objective, executive-level insight into the real value delivered by software development.

The Challenge: IT Remains a Black Box for Executives

Organizations invest heavily in software development, yet most executives still lack a clear, objective view of what value IT actually delivers. While Agile practices have improved delivery speed and frequency, they have not solved the transparency problem. Story points and velocity are team-specific, subjective, and non-comparable — making them unsuitable for portfolio-level governance, vendor management, or reliable forecasting. Functional Size Measurement (FSM) — based on established ISO/IEC standards such as Nesma and IFPUG Function Points — provides a stable, technology-independent measure of software functionality. However, FSM has traditionally been used mainly for project estimation. What has been missing is a practical governance layer that turns functional size into actionable, management-ready metrics.

The Solution: The Value Metrics Consortium (VMC)

The Value Metrics Consortium (VMC) fills this gap. It transforms Functional Size Measurement into clear, objective, and benchmarkable metrics that speak the language of business executives. VMC provides a single source of truth for the value created in relation to effort, cost, speed, and quality — enabling fact-based decision making at all levels. We use ISO/IEC standards for functional size measurement (Nesma and IFPUG) as a proxy for value. The underlying principle is that more (well prioritized) functionality delivered to the user should mean more value delivered. Core Value Metrics delivered by the VMC framework:

• Productivity — Hours spent per Value Unit (Function Point) delivered

• Cost Efficiency — Cost per Value Unit (Function Point) delivered

• Delivery Speed — Value Units (Function Points) delivered per calendar month

• Sprint Quality — Defects resolved per 1,000 Value Units (Function Point) delivered

• Value Delivered — Value Units (Function Points) delivered per $1,000 spent

These metrics are designed to be standardized, comparable across teams, departments, and vendors, and suitable for executive dashboards.The VMC Value Maturity Model (Levels 0–5)

To guide organizations on their improvement journey, VMC introduces the Value Maturity Model — a structured 6-level roadmap from chaos to optimized, value-driven IT governance.

This model helps organizations understand their current maturity and provides a clear path forward. A Value Maturity Scan will be made available to support self-assessment and guided improvement.

The Old Way (chaotic velocity charts) vs The VMC Way (clear executive KPIs and maturity level)

Why This Matters

VMC enables executives and senior leaders to:

• Replace the “velocity illusion” with objective output measurement

• Compare performance across teams and vendors fairly

• Make fact-based investment and prioritization decisions

• Improve forecasting accuracy and budget justification

• Drive real accountability in Agile and DevOps environments

By leveraging Nesma’s practical expertise and the rich benchmarking data from ISBSG (of which Nesma is a Gold Partner), VMC brings world-class standards directly into modern software delivery governance.

Get Involved

The VMC initiative is now open for participation. In the coming months we will release:

• Dashboard Prototype (Q2 2026)

• Full Metrics Framework & Benchmark Model

• Governance Playbook

• Value Maturity Scan tool

• Training and Certification programs

Are you ready to move from managing by effort to managing by value?

Stay tuned for more updates, or reach out if your organization is interested in piloting the framework or joining the working group. Mail us at office@nesma.org with a short motivation.