NorthernSCOPE

Improve the management of your software development projects through NorthernSCOPE. Optimal project control can be achieved by strictly managing the scope, e.g. the features and size (and consequently costs), in the form of function points.

Introduction

NorthernSCOPE is a method for managing software development that focusses on controlling the scope, costs and duration of projects. Optimal project control can be achieved by strictly managing the scope, e.g. the features and size (and consequently costs), in the form of function points. At the same time this method still provides plenty of flexibility for changes in features during the project. This gives customers the opportunity to exert maximum control over the costs and scope of the development project. The method that is used for this is called SCOPE-management.

The benefits of NorthernSCOPE

NorthernSCOPE lifts scope management to a higher level. NorthernSCOPE creates a "win/win" cooperation between customer and supplier by applying professional scope management.

Flexibility for customers to enable needed "changes".
Supplier gets paid for delivered work controlled by the customer.
Customer pays for functionality they need.
Increased customer and supplier satisfaction.
Lessons-learned are collected in a knowledge database
Better software development project results

The method NorthernSCOPE

The method originated from Australia, where in the early 2000's the Australian government in coopration whit the International Software Benchmarking Standards Group (ISBSG) developed SouthernSCOPE. The Finnish Software Measurement Association (FiSMA) then embraced and extended it, which led to NorthernSCOPE. These two methods have been succesfully applied at both public and private enterprises, maily in Australia and Finland. The use of NorthernSCOPE in projects has shown to result in:

Succesfully completed projects.
High customer satisfaction, because they deliver functionality well focused on the primary business objectives.
Reduction of the average cost overruns for projects to less than 10%.
The value of the software is within the top 25 % of the sector best practice.

NorthernSCOPE and being in control of outsourcing

Outsourcing software development is surrounded by uncertainty. Uncertainty when it comes to specifications, the technology to be used, availability of the right resources, time contraints and budgets. Many organizations try to mitigate these costs by requiring "fixed price, fixed date" contracts. One of the main disadvantages of these contracts is that these limit the freedom for making changes to the feature specifications. Changes will be charged as additional work, which results in exceeding the budget - and often also passing the deadline. Research shows that the biggest cause of software development outsourcing failure resides in unclarities and discussions regading changes in the sepecifications, e.g. the scope of the project.

Projects that used NorthernSCOPE have completed with an average deviation from time and budget plans of + or - 3%. On top of that the projects experienced a significant improvement in the cooperation between client and supplier. NorthernSCOPE makes the developement process more transparent, improves communication between client and supplier and result in both parties perceiving the project process as 'fair'.

NorthernSCOPE manager course

BlinkLane periodically provides cources in cooperation with our partners 4SUMPartners and Onlvee Traning & Advies. These are programs for becoming a certified SCOPE manager. The SCOPE manager is the interface between the client and supplier for contracted software development projects, and manages the project scope in terms of requirements, scale, costs and duration.

For more information regarding NorthernSCOPE or the NorthernSCOPE management cources, please contact us.