Method and System for Auditing Processes and Projects for Process Improvement

Abstract

The present invention provides for tracking time spent on various activities in a software development project by one or more users working on the project. The present invention also stores this data to derive metrics and best practices. The metrics and best practices are compared with project data to analyze the current status of the project and to estimate the completion timeframe for the current project.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing software development lifecycle best practices comprising steps of:
 providing at least one software development tool at each of at least a first and a second company;   at least one server for each company communicating over a network with at least one system server;   the company server collecting and updating at least one dataset for each company, each dataset including company attributes and usage time of each software development tool;   the system server aggregating each of the datasets into an aggregated dataset;   the system server periodically comparing at least two of the datasets to each other and storing comparison data in the aggregated dataset;   the system server periodically deriving best practices from the aggregated dataset;   the company server or the system server providing the best practices to at least one of the companies.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the company attributes include location, specialization, employee size and/or revenue. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the best practices including a total time for completion of a project, a time to complete at least one portion of the project, and/or a timeline of important tasks and phases of the project. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dataset further includes tool activity data including coding activity, testing activity, and/or bug fixing activity, and wherein the usage time is subdivided by the tool activity data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of clam  1 , wherein each of the companies is prevented from viewing the dataset of any other company. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of periodically comparing and/or the step of periodically deriving is performed daily, weekly or monthly. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of periodically deriving best practices from the aggregated dataset further comprises a subset of the aggregated dataset relating to:
 a design stage, a development stage or an implementation stage;   a coding activity, a testing activity, or a bug fixing activity;   at least one of the company attributes; and/or   at least one project attribute including project type, phase, tasks, number of people required, completion time, programming language, and/or environment.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of collecting and updating is performed either continuously or periodically. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 wherein at least one company further includes at least two projects, and wherein the dataset for the at least one company includes project attributes; and   wherein the project attributes include project type, phase, tasks, number of people required, completion time, programming language, and/or environment.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a step estimating a completion time and a real-time status of a project. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising steps of:
 comparing a first dataset of the first company to the best practices to create best comparison data;   providing the best comparison data to at least one user of the first company; and   wherein the best comparison data includes a deviation of the first dataset from the best practices when the deviation exceeds a predetermined value.   
     
     
         12 . A method for providing software development lifecycle best practices comprising steps of:
 providing at least a first and a second company, each of the companies employing at least one software development tool;   providing at least one monitor module for each company, at least one aggregator module and at least one presentation module;   wherein each module resides on at least one server for each company or at least one system server, each of the server configured to communicate over a network with each other;   each of the monitor modules collecting and updating at least one dataset for each company, each dataset including company attributes and usage time of each software development tool;   the at least one aggregator module aggregating each of the datasets into an aggregated dataset;   the at least one system server storing the aggregated dataset, periodically comparing at least two of the datasets to each other, and storing comparison data in the aggregated dataset;   the at least one data presentation module periodically deriving best practices from the aggregated dataset and presenting the best practices to at least one of the computers.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 wherein the company attributes include location, specialization, employee size and/or revenue;   wherein the best practices including a total time for completion of a project, a time to complete at least one portion of the project, and/or a timeline of important tasks and phases of the project; and   wherein the dataset further includes tool activity data including coding activity, testing activity, and/or bug fixing activity, and wherein the usage time is subdivided by the tool activity data.   
     
     
         14 . The method of clam  12 , wherein each of the companies is prevented from viewing the dataset of any other company. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of periodically deriving best practices from the aggregated dataset further comprises a subset of the aggregated dataset relating to:
 a design stage, a development stage or an implementation stage;   a coding activity, a testing activity, or a bug fixing activity;   at least one of the company attributes; and/or   at least one project attribute including project type, phase, tasks, number of people required, completion time, programming language, and/or environment.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of collecting and updating is performed either continuously or periodically. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 wherein at least one company further includes at least two projects, and wherein the dataset for the at least one company includes project attributes; and   wherein the project attributes include project type, phase, tasks, number of people required, completion time, programming language, and/or environment.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising a step of estimating a completion time and a real-time status of a project. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising steps of:
 comparing a first dataset of the first company to the best practices to create best comparison data;   providing the best comparison data to at least one user of the first company; and   wherein the best comparison data includes a deviation of the first dataset from the best practices when the deviation exceeds a predetermined value.   
     
     
         20 . A system for providing software development lifecycle best practices comprising:
 at least a first and a second company, each of the companies including employing at least one software development tool;   at least one monitor module configured to collect and update at least one dataset for each company, each dataset including company attributes and usage time of each software development tool;   at least one aggregator module configured to aggregate each of the datasets into an aggregated dataset;   at least one comparison module configured to periodically compare at least two of the datasets to each other;   at least one system server configured to store the aggregated dataset and the comparison data in the aggregated dataset;   at least one data presentation module configured to periodically derive best practices from the aggregated dataset and present the best practices to at least one of the computers;   wherein each of the modules resides on at least one server for each company or the at least one system server;   wherein each of the servers is configured to communicate over a network with each other.