Concept: Dimensions of Delivery Efficiency
Dimensions represent specific areas of software delivery efficiency that can be monitored for improvement.
Main Description

The five dimensions of Delivery Efficiency are:

  • Time to Delivery
  • Cost
  • Value
  • Quality
  • Predictability

Using metrics, improvement in each of the five dimensions can be monitored to steer project execution (tactical improvement) and capability improvement (systemic process improvement). 

Project Execution Metrics

Metrics for this usage answer the following questions for their associated dimension:

  • Time to Delivery - Are we producing the right capabilities according to the committed schedule?
  • Value - Are we delivering a valuable product?
  • Cost - How much are we spending to deliver the system?
  • Quality - Are we building a high quality system?
  • Predictability - How well are we dealing with uncertainty?

Capability Improvement Metrics

Metrics for this usage answer the following questions for their associated dimension:

  • Time to Delivery - Are we reducing the time it takes to deliver systems?
  • Value - Do the systems we build increase stakeholder business value?
  • Cost - Are we reducing costs in building systems? 
  • Quality - Are we building higher quality systems?
  • Predictability - Are we getting better at dealing with uncertainty?

The following chart illustrates an organization's current status for each of the five dimensions, as well as their three year goals for improvement.

                                       5 Dimensions of Delivery Efficiency