25-Sep-2005

Juan Palacio in Navegapolis writes:

Metrica 3 defines itself as a methodology for the standardisation of the activities that support the software life-cycle. It is freely distributed by the Ministerio de Administraciones Públicas español (MAP) (Spanish Ministry of Public Administration) and free to use.

The standards cover communication, compatibility and quality in commercial and industrial activities and processes. The models provide a common language, shared criteria and guidelines to guarantee compatibility or quality levels.

Metrica 3 is offered to the software industry by the Spanish Administration for the improvement of processes or as a standard in the acquisition and supply of software systems. The Administration itself uses it to judge public tenders in its acquisition of software.

Standards in general are useful for the software industry when their numbers and quality are adequate. Although we have spent decades in the past without such standards, maybe now there are too many of them and in some cases their quality is not uniformly high.