[OpenLayers-Dev] Spending Sponsorship Money

[Cameron Shorter]

I think John is right on track here.
Rephrasing his statements, developer priorities need to be converted to 
sponsor terminology so that the sponsor can justify it in their budget. 
Usually, this involves converting development goals to financial statements.

Instead of "We want to introduce automated testing", say "we wish to 
improve product quality which will increase sales of derivative products 
and reduce time and effort required to add new features".

This is my "top of the head" list of high level goals, noting that these 
goals would break down into lower goals and then specific funded activities.

* Increase the size of the developer community

* Make the developer community more effective

* Increase product quality

* Increase features

* Attract sponsors

All these goals can be measured. Measurement can help make effective 
management decisions. (Should I fund this or that?)
But as suggested, does value gained from the measure cover the cost of 
measurement? This needs to be determined on a case by case basis.

 

John R. Frank wrote:
>> quantifying results may only serve to divert rather than focus
>>     
>
> Yes, metrics tend to steer groups, so they should only be used if that 
> kind of steering is desired.
>
>
>   
>> Good point, though: T-shirts? Cute, yes, but maybe not the best use of 
>> our time or money. Code sprints, on the other hand? If we can come up 
>> with a compelling agenda and use a code sprint to deliver on that 
>> agenda, that's another thing entirely.
>>     
>
> Whether it is an "agenda" or "over arching goal" or "metric" or "purpose", 
> my point is simply that there should be a clear _end_ stated for the 
> funds.  T-shirts and such are not an end in themselves. :-)
>
>
> jrf
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-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Systems Architect
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

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