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QWP01ECM111
W H I T E P A P E R
The Business Case for
Software Configuration
Management
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

Copyright 2001. MERANT. All rights reserved. PVCS is a registered trademark and PVCS
Dimensions, PVCS Version Manager, PVCS Configuration Builder, and PVCS Tracker are
trademarks of MERANT. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 5/01

QWP01ECM111
Abstract
MERANT provides a range of solutions for Enterprise Change Management (ECM)
for enterprise application development. ECM includes software configuration
management (SCM), change management in packaged applications, and
management of websites and their changing content. This paper will focus on the
business case for SCM with MERANT PVCS products.
We will show how SCM can reduce developer workload by 76 percent, increase
product quality by 80 percent and shave 38 percent off time to market. SCM can
increase developer satisfaction as wellmore time available for creative tasks, less
time spent in bug scrub meetings.
SCM can begin with an investment as simple as automated version control or issue
management. As needs grow and application complexity increases, version control
and issue management can be incrementally augmented with build and release
management, integration with requirements management, design, modeling and
testing. SCM can also be integrated with enterprise electronic distribution for end-to-
end control of software from development through to deployment. In addition, you
can define, implement and manage a custom process that keeps track of all your
SCM tasks and team workflow requirements.
Done well, an investment in SCM will continue to pay off for years to come. This
paper will show you the business caseboth qualitatively and quantitativelyfor
software configuration management.



T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T






Table Of Contents
M E R A N T

Development Means Business ........................................................1
The Cost of Development.................................................................1
Why Managing Change Can Save Time and Money.......................2
The Numbers.....................................................................................2
Process Maturity Payback......................................................................... 3
Version, Change and Build Management
Payback..................................................................................................... 4
Change and Issue Management Payback.................................................. 8
Automated Builds ................................................................................... 11
For More Information......................................................................14
Summary.........................................................................................14
A Change Management Glossary..................................................15


T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

M E R A N T 1
Development Means Business
Software is central to the way business is conducted in virtually every corporation.
Whether your company creates custom software for its own business, purchases
packaged applications or develops applications for others, software is critical to the
ultimate success of your business. Enterprise applications, especially e-business
software and web content, are the backbone of the majority of global corporations in
the new electronic marketplace.
The accelerating rate of change in business software has become so accepted that we
sometimes forget the impact this kind of change can have on the survival and success
of a business. The explosive growth of e-business is a perfect metaphor for this rate
of change. Internet traffic is doubling every six months and the number of web pages
is expected to increase by 1000% in the next two years. Moreover, e-business has
matured to require more than just a web frontend. The back offices of the business
legacy data and applicationsmust also be e-enabled.
The resultant increase in complexity and ongoing change mandate systematic change
management to stay competitive. Software assets and developer talent are mission
critical. By managing them and mastering the change process, you save time and
money and reduce the risk of software thats late or inadequate.
The Cost of Development
Development costs are often difficult to quantify beyond salaries of the team
members involved and technology applied to the task. This makes it easy to overlook
the real costs of poor development practices. However, consider the ultimate
financial impacts
of trends that began to emerge in the mid 1990s, according to a survey conducted by
The Standish Group:
Project Productivity
About 53% of projects have >50% cost overruns
Almost 68% of projects have >50% time overruns
Over 31% of projects are canceled before completion
Only 16% of projects are completed on-time and within budget
In large organizations, only 9% are completed on time and within budget!
Product Quality
Almost 54% of projects are missing 25% of specified features
About 32% of projects are missing 50% of specified features
Only 7.3% of projects have 100% of specified features!
Things didnt get better as enterprises approached the 21
st
century. According to a
1999 Gartner Group report, 75 percent of e-business initiatives are likely to end in
failure, in part because of inability to rapidly create the new applications required,
transform existing applications, integrate legacy data and manage them all in an e-
business system.
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

2 M E R A N T
By 2001, Gartner began reporting that SCM has become more than just a concern of
development perfectionists, its become mandatory for the business bottom line. Bad
applications and late applications cost money and customer loyalty. Conversely,
SCM saves time, money and potentially, embarrassing web and application errors.
Can you afford not to improve how your teams manage development changes?
Why Managing Change Can Save Time and Money
Assimilating change while balancing critical business needs for stability and
dependability requires both control and agility in software engineering processes.
Organizations that achieve a balance among these issues will thrive, those who
fail will not.
Heres how enterprise change management can tilt the equation in your favor:
Make project schedules more reliable because there is less rework and more reuse
Speed development and provide new releases, faster
Improve code quality to improve customer satisfaction and reduce support calls
Ensure better use of scarce development resourcesdevelopers spend less time in
mundane administrative tasks or searching for lost code and objects
Make the most of existing software assets. Protected code is reusable code!
The Numbers
There are subjective and objective measurements for assessing the value of
managing development. For example, one way to measure the effectiveness of
development is with the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) from the Software
Engineering Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University. The CMM defines key process
areas for software configuration management and is similar to ISO9000, but it is
geared specifically to development and the process areas involved in creating,
changing and delivering software throughout a products lifecycle.
Level 1 is really not a level of maturity at all, but a state of ad hoc development
where few, if any, processes for change management are enforced. Frankly, it is a
state that many businesses have inadvertently found themselves in, as development
complexity and demands for new capabilities have overwhelmed development teams
and home-grown change tracking systems.
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T


M E R A N T 3
Table 1. Levels of the CMM with Key Process Areas
Level Key Process Areas
1. Initial
Ad hoc, even chaotic; success
depends solely on individual heroics
and efforts.
Not applicable
2. Repeatable
Basic project management to track
functionality of application and cost
and schedule of project.
Requirements management
Software project planning
Software project tracking and
oversight
Software subcontract
management
Software quality assurance
Software Configuration
Management
3. Defined
The process for management and
engineering is documented,
standardized and integrated. All
projects use an approved, tailored
version of the process.
Organization process focus
Organization process definition
Training program
Integrated software management
Software product engineering
Intergroup coordination
Peer reviews
4. Managed
Detailed measures of the software
process and software quality metrics
are collected. Process and software
products are understood and
controlled.
Quantitative process
management
Software quality management
5. Optimizing
Continuous process improvement is
enabled by use of metrics and from
piloting innovative ideas and
technologies.
Defect prevention
Technology change management
Process change management

Process Maturity Payback
The CMM can serve as an example of how process maturity translates to improved
software quality and lowered costs.
Simply moving from Level 1 of the CMM to Level 2 represents significant
improvements, which lead to bottomline benefits.
In an SEI report (SEI 92-TR-24), data were averaged over 1233 separate projects in
261 organizations spanning 10 countries, to gauge the benefits of reaching higher
maturity levels. The data were normalized to a 200K line-of-code project.
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

4 M E R A N T
Table 2. Observed CMM Benefits
Maturity
Level
Calendar
Months
Effort
(Work Months)
Defects
Found
***
Defects
Shipped
Total Cost
1 29.8 593.5 1348 61 $5,440,000
2 18.5 143.0 328 12 $1,311,000
3 15.2 79.5 182 7 $728,000
4 12.5 42.8 97 5 $392,000
5 9.0 16.0 37 1 $146,000
(*** Defects found during development process.)
The results are dramatic. A maturity improvement from Level 1 to Level 2 alone
speeds time to market by 38 percent, eases the workload by 76 percent, and improves
product quality by 80 percent (in terms of number of defects shipped). The cost at
Level 2 is only 25 percent of the costs at Level 1. Note that for a fully mature
process, the cost savings is nearly 98 percent compared to doing a similar project
without process maturity.
MERANT provides several products for software configuration management,
including PVCS Professional (consisting of integrated PVCS Version Manager,
PVCS Tracker and PVCS Configuration Builder) and process-centric suites such
as PVCS Dimensions. When you combine development changes and development
processes under a single, automated system such as PVCS Dimensions, it virtually
guarantees a jump from CMM Level 1 to Level 2.
Depending on your business requirements, you then can continue to mature your
process at your rate of speed, and according to the framework that best suites your
approach to managing change.
The business case for a MERANT solution for your organization will depend on
many interrelated some highly subjective factors. For example, the value of
smooth-running best practices, developers freed of mundane tasks, and the relief
from change-related stress is priceless. However, it is possible to perform a return on
investment (ROI) calculation for what each incremental capability can do for your
business, particularly for version control, issue and change tracking, and automated
builds.
Version, Change and BuiId Management Payback
The following example analysis illustrates the annual costs and payback period
associated with three of the key process areas in software configuration management:
version control, issue and change tracking, and automated software builds.
The example numbers we use are averages gathered in interviews with product
managers, software developers and product marketers. They are based on the
individual license pricing for PVCS Version Manager, PVCS Tracker and PVCS
Configuration Builder (The prices are for illustrative purposes only, and the actual
prices may vary.) PVCS Version Manager and Tracker are also available in an I-Net
version from MERANT ASaP, a hosted development provider, which would alter the
ROI. In addition, our ROI calculations do not reflect the cost of consulting,
installation and SupportNet services, which customers will purchase on a
customized basis as part of a complete MERANT solution for SCM.

T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T


M E R A N T 5
ExampIe Payback AnaIysis

Average personnel cost per month $6,000
Average personnel cost per hour $35***
A B C D E
Avg
hrs/month w/
current
system
% Workload
decrease w/
Version
Manager
Avg annual savings w/
Version Manager***
(A*B*avg personnel
cost/hr*12) # of users
Total annual
savings w/ Version
Manager (C*D)
Version Management Task
1 Create versions
19 hours per
developer
20%
(19*.20*$35*12) =
$1596 per developer
5 $7,980
2 Tracking multiple versions
29 hours per
developer
25%
(29*.25*$35*12) =
$3045 per developer
20 $60,900
3 Record changes
14 hours per
developer
35%
(14*.35*$35*12) =
$2058 per developer
20 $41,160
4 Merge files
9 hours per
developer
25%
(9*.25*$35*12) =
$945 per developer
10 $9,450
5 Version history
11 hours per
developer
30%
(11*.30*$35*12) =
$1386 per developer
20 $27,720
6 Promotion management
14 hours per
developer
20%
(14*.2*$35*12) =
$1176 per developer
1 $1,176
7 Recreate versions
17 hours per
developer
35%
(17*.35*$35*12) =
$2499 per developer
20 $49,980
8 Managing security
14 hours per
developer
20%
(14*.20*$35*12) =
$1176 per developer
1 $1,176
9 Limiting access
8 hours per
developer
25%
(8*.25*$35*12) =
$840 per developer
1 $840
10
Subtotal = (Rows
1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9)
$200,382
Cost to Maintain Current System
11 Time cost to maintain
60 hours per
month
60%
(60*.6*$35*12) =
$15,120 (yearly cost)
$15,120
Version Management Investment
12 License
$649 per user (one-
time charge)
20 users $12,980
13
Maintenance (1 year) 21% of
licensing price
$136 per user (yearly
renewal)
20 users $2,720
14 Total Cost of version management = (Rows 12+13) $15,700
Payback Period When Investing in version management:
Payback Period = (Cost/Savings) x 52 weeks =
(License + Maintenance)/(Subtotal + Time Cost to Maintain) x 52 weeks =
($12,980+2,720)/($200,382+15,120) X 52 =
3.8 weeks


***Salary per year based industry averages, provided as an example. To customize, this number can be replaced by your
own.
Numbers rounded to the nearest dollar.
Based on 2080 work hours per year - 173 work hours per month (rounded to the nearest hour)
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

6 M E R A N T

CaIcuIating your payback with version management------Instructions
Complete this worksheet to help calculate your payback for version management.
1. Enter average personnel cost per year on appropriate line
2. Divide personnel cost per year by 12 and put number on average personnel cost per month
3. Divide personnel cost per year by 2080 and put number on average personnel cost per hour
4. Enter total number of developers on appropriate line
5. In the Version Management Task section, determine the following:
(a) Average hours per month spent on task in current system (enter in column A)
(b) Percent workload decrease on task by using MERANT version management (enter in column B)
(c) In column C, multiply appropriate numbers
(d) Number of users for each task (enter in column D)
(e) To calculate column E, multiply the respective numbers in columns C and D
(f) Subtotal rows 1-9 and enter number in column E, row 10
6. In the Cost to Maintain Current System section, determine the following:
(a) Hours per month to maintain your current system (enter in column A)
(b) Percent workload decrease on task by using MERANT version management (enter in column B)
(c) Multiply column A by column B by average personnel cost per hour by 12. Enter number in
columns C and E
7. In the Version Management Investment section, fill in the following:
(a) License and maintenance costs (enter in column C)
(b) Number of users (enter in column D)
8. In the Payback Period When Investing in Version Management section:
(a) Add the subtotal line (column E, line 10) and the cost to maintain your current system (column E, line
11)
(b) Divide the total cost of version management by the subtotal just calculated
(c) Multiply that number by 52
(d) The result equals the payback period in weeks.


T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T


M E R A N T 7
CaIcuIating your payback with version management------Worksheet

Average personnel cost per month __________
Average personnel cost per hour __________
A B C D E
Avg hrs/month
w/ current
system
% Workload
decrease w/
Version Mgmt
Avg annual savings
w/ Version Mgmt
(A*B*avg personnel
cost per hour*12)
# of
users
Total annual
savings w/
Version Mgmt
(C*D)
Version Management Task
1 Create versions
2 Tracking multiple versions
3 Record changes
4 Merge files
5 Version history
6 Promotion management
7 Recreate versions
8 Managing security
9 Limiting access
10
Subtotal = (Rows
1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9)
Cost to Maintain Current System
11 Time cost to maintain
Version Management Investment
12 License
13 Maintenance (1 year)
14 Total Cost of version management = (Rows 12+13)
Payback period when investing inin Version Management
Payback Period = (Cost/Savings) x 52 weeks =
(License + Maintenance)/(Subtotal (E10) + Time Cost to Maintain (E11)) x 52 weeks
______weeks

Within four weeks after deployment, PVCS Version Manager was running in production mode and the payback in developer
productivity and responsiveness to end users came quickly. The Investment Management Product (IMP) team has realized a 30 to 40
percent decrease in the time required to respond to end-user requests and inquiries.
NationsBank
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

8 M E R A N T
Change and Issue Management Payback
ExampIe payback anaIysis
By automating your change management system, you can save time and money. This example payback analysis
calculates the ROI. It illustrates the annual costs associated with issue management tasks, the annual savings
from using an automated system and the payback period. The example numbers are industry average estimates.

Average personnel cost per year $72000** Number of testers 10
Average personnel cost per month $6,000 Number of developers 20
Average personnel cost per hour $35*** Number of QA leaders 5
A B C D E
Avg hrs/month
w/ homegrown
system
% workload
decrease w/
change mgmt
Avg annual savings
with change mgmt
(A*B*avg personnel
cost/hr*12)
# of
users
Total annual
savings w/
change mgmt
(C*D)
Problem Tracking Task
1
Document problems and
change requests,
communicate status updates
and ownership (even over the
Internet)
100 hours per
tester
35%
(100*.35*$35*12) =
$14,700 per tester
10 tester $147,000
2
Recreate new problems,
document fixes
55 hours per
developer
35%
(55*.35*$35*12) =
$8085 per developer
20 devs $161,700
3 Produce reports
40 hours per
QA leader
50%
(40*.5*$35*12) =
$8400 per QA leader
5 QA $42,000
4 Subtotal = (Rows 1+2+3) 35 $350,700
Cost to Build Homegrown System
5
Hours spent building
homegrown system
6 person-
months
100%
(6*1*$6000) =
$36,000 (one-time
charge)
$36,000
Cost to Maintain Homegrown System
6 Time cost to maintain
50 hours per
month
80%
(50*.8*$35*12) =
$16,800 (yearly cost)
$16,800
Change Management Investment
7 License
$649 per user (one-
time charge)
35 users $22,715
8
Maintenance (1 year) 21% of
licensing price
$136 per user (yearly
renewal)
35 users $4,760
9 Total Cost of Change Management = (Rows 7+8) $27,475
Payback Period When Investing in Change Management:
Payback Period = (Cost/Savings) x 52 weeks =
(License + Maintenance)/(Subtotal + Cost of Homegrown System + Time Cost to Maintain) x 52 weeks =
($22,715+$4760)/($350,700+$36,000+$16,800) x 52
3.5 weeks

** Salary per year based industry averages, provided as an example. To customize, this number can be replaced by
your own.
***Numbers rounded to the nearest dollar.
Based on 2080 work hours per year - 173 work hours per month (rounded to the nearest hour)
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T


M E R A N T 9

CaIcuIating your payback with change management------Instructions
Complete this worksheet to help calculate your payback for change management.
1. Enter average personnel cost per year on appropriate line
2. Divide personnel cost per year by 12 and enter number on average personnel cost per month
3. Divide personnel cost per year by 2080 and enter number on average personnel cost per hour
4. Enter total number of testers, developers, and QA leaders on respective lines
5. In the Problem Tracking Task section, determine the following:
(a) Average hours per month spent on task in current system (enter in column A)
(b) Percent workload decrease on task by using automated system (enter in column B)
(c) Multiply column A by column B by average personnel cost per hour by 12 and enter result in column
C
(d) Number of users for each task (enter in column D)
(e) Multiply column C by column D and enter result in column E
(f) Subtotal column E, rows 1, 2, and 3 and enter result in column E row 4
6. In the Cost to Build Homegrown System section, determine:
(a) Hours spent building homegrown system (enter in column A)
(b) Percent workload decrease on task by using purchased, automated system (enter in column B)
(c) Multiply column A by B by average personnel cost per hour by 12 and enter result in columns C and E
7. In the Cost to Maintain Current System section, determine the following:
(a) Hours per month to maintain your current system (enter in column A)
(b) Percent workload decrease on task by using automated system (enter in column B)
(c) Multiply column A by B by average personnel cost per hour by 12
(d) Enter result in columns C and E
8. In the Change Tracking Investment section, calculate the following:
(a) Add the total number of testers, developers, and QA leaders and enter in column D,
rows 7 and 8
(b) Multiply this by the license investment in change management tool
(c) Enter result in column E row 7
(d) Multiply the total number of testers, developers, and QA leaders by the maintenance price
(e) Enter result in column E row 8
(f) Add column E rows 7 and 8 and enter result in row 9
9. In the Payback Period When Investing in Change Mgmt and Tracking section, calculate the following:
(a) Add the subtotal from column E row 4 plus cost to build homegrown system plus cost to maintain
homegrown system
(b) Divide the total cost of change management (column E row 9) by the number just calculated
(c) Multiply this result by 52. The result is the total payback period in weeks.
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

1 0 M E R A N T
CaIcuIating your payback using change and issue management------
Worksheet

Average personnel cost per year __________ Number of testers ______
Average personnel cost per month __________ Number of developers ______
Average personnel cost per hour __________ Number of QA leaders ______
A B C D E
Avg hrs/month
w/ homegrown
system
% workload
decrease
w/change
mgmt
Avg annual savings
w/ change mgmt
(A*B*average
personnel cost per
hour*12)
# of
users
Total annual
savings w/
change mgmt
(C*D)
Problem Tracking Task
1
Document problems and change
requests, communicate status
updates and ownership
2
Recreate new problems, document
fixes
3 Produce reports
4 Subtotal = (Rows 1+2+3)
Cost to Build Homegrown System
5
Hours spent building homegrown
system
Cost to Maintain Homegrown System
6 Time cost to maintain
Change Management Investment
7 License
8 Maintenance (1 year)
9 Total Cost of Automated Change Mgmt System = (Rows 7+8)
Payback Period When Investing in Change Management:
Payback Period = (Cost/Savings) x 52 weeks =
(License + Maintenance)/(Subtotal (E4) + Cost of Homegrown System (E5) + Time Cost to Maintain (E6)) x 52 weeks =
______weeks


Our organization has been able to accelerate our Web development operations on an NT platform and time to market by
approximately 25 percent by adopting PVCS Tracker.
Roger Watts, manager of quality assurance for the Internet Solution Center at OneSoft
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T


M E R A N T 1 1
Automated BuiIds
ExampIe payback anaIysis
Automated build procedures can save time and money. This example payback analysis calculates the ROI for
automated builds using software configuration management tools from MERANT. It illustrates the annual costs
associated with build management tasks, the annual savings from build automation and the payback period.
Example numbers are industry average estimates.

Average personnel cost per year $72,000** Number of developers 5
Average personnel cost per month $6,000 Build team 1
Average personnel cost per hour $35*** Number of modules 200
A B C D E
Avg Hrs/Month
w/ Current
System
% Workload
Decrease w/
Build
Automation
Avg Annual Savings w/
Build Automation
(A*B*avg personnel
cost/hr*12)
# of
Users
Total Annual
Savings w/
Build
Automation
(C*D)
Build Management Task
1 Development Build
20 hours per
developer
20%
(20*.20*$35*12) = $1680
per developer
5 $8,400
2 Integration Build
40 hours per
team
20%
(40*.20*$35*12) = $3360
per team
1 $3,360
3 System Build
40 hours per
team
12%
(40*.12*$35*12) =
$2016 per team
1 $2,016
4 Reproducible Builds
5*(Integration +
System Builds)
25%
[5*(40+40)*.25*$35*12)] =
$42,000 per team
1 $42,000
5 Reliable Incremental Builds 2*(Dev Build) 23%
[2*20*.23*$35*12) =
$3864 per team
1 $3,864
6 Porting of Build Systems
32 hours per
platform
40%
(32*.40*$35*12) = $5376
per platform****
1 $32,256
7
Subtotal = (Rows
1+2+3+4+5+6)
$91,896
Cost to Maintain Current System
8 Time cost to maintain
24 hours per
month
50% (24*.5*$35*12) = $5040 $5,040
Build System Investment
9 License
$299 per user (one-time
charge)
6 users $1,794
10
Maintenance (1 year) 21% of
licensing price
$63 per user (yearly
renewal)
6 users $378
11 Total Cost of Automated Build System = (Rows 9+10) $2,172
Payback Period With Automated Build System:
Payback Period = (Cost/Savings) x 52 weeks =
(License + Maintenance)/(Time Cost to Maintain + Maintenance) x 52 weeks =
($1,794+$378)/($91,896+$5040) X 52
1.2 weeks
** Salary per year based industry averages, provided as an example. To customize, this number can be replaced by your
own.
***Numbers rounded to the nearest dollar.
****Sample based on the use of six operating systems: NT, HPUX, AIX, WIN95, OS/2, and SUN
Based on 2080 work hours per year - 173 work hours per month (rounded to the nearest hour)
Development Builda build done by an engineer that is never released to QA
Integration Builda higher level build that pulls together multiple component builds into a larger build
System Builda formal build that is deliverable to QA and may eventually be seen by customers
Reproducible Builda build that is known to be reproducible at any future point in time
Incremental Builda build in which only those components which have been updated are rebuilt
(Note: A development build would never be a system build. A development or system build could have any or all of the
integration, reproducible, or incremental build attributes.)
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1 2 M E R A N T

CaIcuIating your payback------Instructions
Complete this worksheet to help calculate your payback for automated builds
1. Enter average personnel cost per year on appropriate line
2. Divide personnel cost per year by 12 and enter number on average personnel cost per month
3. Divide personnel cost per year by 2080 and enter number on average personnel cost per hour
4. Enter total number of developers, build team members and modules on appropriate lines
5. In the Build Management Task section, determine the following:
(a) Average hours per month spent on task in current system for development, integration and system
build and porting of build systems (enter in column A, rows 1, 2, 3, and 6 respectively)
(b) For average hours per month with current system for reproducible builds, add the number of hours
spent on integration and system builds and then multiply this number by 5 and enter in column A row
4
(c) For average hours per month with current system for reliable incremental builds, multiply the hours for
the development build by 2 and enter in column A row 5
(d) Percent workload decrease on each task by using an automated build system (enter in column B)
(e) Calculate the average annual savings with an automated build system by multiplying column A by
column B by average personnel cost per hour by 12
(f) Number of users for each task (enter in column D)
(g) Multiply average annual savings with an automated build system (column C) by number of users for
each task (column D) and enter in total annual savings (column E)
(h) Subtotal column E rows 1-6 and place result in column E row 7
5. In Cost to Maintain Current System section, determine the following:
(a) Hours per month to maintain your current system (enter in column A)
(b) Percent workload decrease on task by using Configuration Builder (enter in column B)
(c) Multiply column A by column B by average personnel cost per hour by 12 and enter result in
columns C and E
6. In Automated Build System Investment section,
(a) Add total number of developers and build team and place result in column D rows 9 and 10
(b) Multiply this number by the license investment and enter result in column E for license
(c) Multiply this number by the maintenance price and enter result in column E for maintenance
(d) Total the license and maintenance costs and enter in column E row 11
7. To calculate Payback Period:
(a) Add cost of all build management tasks (column E row 7) to cost to maintain current system
(column E, row 8)
(b) Divide the total cost of an automated build system (column E row 11) into the number just calculated
(c) Multiply the result by 52. The result is the payback period
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M E R A N T 1 3
CaIcuIating your payback for an automated buiId system------Worksheet

Average personnel cost per year Number of developers ____________
Average personnel cost per month Build team ____________
Average personnel cost per hour Number of modules ____________
A B C D E
Avg hrs/month
w/ current
system
% workload
decrease w/
automated builds
Avg annual savings
w/ automated builds
(A*B*average
personnel cost per
hour*12)
# of
users
Total annual
savings w/
automated
builds (C*D)
Build Management Task
1 Development Build
2 Integration Build
3 System Build
4 Reproducible Builds
5 Reliable Incremental Builds
6 Porting of Build Systems
7 Subtotal = (Rows 1+2+3+4+5+6)
Cost to Maintain Current System
8 Time cost to maintain
Automated Build System I nvestment
9 License
10 Maintenance (1 year)
11 Total Cost of Automated Build System = (Rows 9+10)
Payback Period When I nvesting in Automated Build System:
Payback Period = (Cost/Savings) x 52 weeks =
(License + Maintenance)/(Subtotal (E7) + Time Cost to Maintain (E8)) x 52 weeks =
____weeks

"If we tried updating dozens of custom application versions concurrently without PVCS, we simply would fail."
Phil Long, director of the IS Field Systems Group at Paul Revere Insurance Group
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

1 4 M E R A N T

For More Information
Your MERANT field sales representative works with you to develop your own ROI
worksheets and help you fill them out. In addition, your MERANT consultant
specializes in customizing and estimating cost/payback of the MERANT products
you choose.
Summary
The ratio of development costs to application complexity is not absolute: Costs can
go down, even as complexity increases, if you make the investment in software
configuration management. Managing the software lifecycle is a key step toward
controlling development cost overruns, late releases and inadequate releases, while
gaining repeatability and predictability in your development efforts.
Why choose MERANT as your partner for software configuration management?
MERANT provides complete solutions for reducing your development costs and
improving the quality of your software. We combine our expertise, proven best
practices, PVCS products and industry partnerships to provide a unique, business-
issues driven solution for development.
With MERANT PVCS products at work for you, the business case for managing
change is clear: higher quality development, faster paybacks and lowered costs of
doing business.
T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E F O R S O F T W A R E C O N F I G U R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T


M E R A N T 1 5
A Change Management Glossary
Application change management. The discipline of identifying, assessing and
processing changes and customizations to packaged application suites. Typically, a
subset or extension of an enterprises overall approach to change management,
including software configuration management and web content management.
Build management. Automated, repeatable procedures that speed the build process,
improve build accuracy and make it easier to create and maintain multiple versions
of an application.
Build. The code files, compilers, development tools and other components needed to
create an application. An official product build or official build is one which
depends only on source files that have been checked into the source library, and
which promotes the products deliverables into the project directory. Official builds
never include any local or unofficial components.
Configuration. A product build that includes all the files, objects, components, and
other deliverables, of the correct revision number, needed to create an executable
application release.
Enterprise change management (ECM). The ability to effectively manage e-
business assets, business practices and change processes, from the individual
developer to the entire enterprise, to protect software, web content and ERP
applications. Software configuration management is a subset of ECM.
Lifecycle. The process of designing, developing, configuring, building, testing and
releasing a software product.
Packaged applications. Purchased suites of enterprise resource planning (ERP)
software which are then customized and extended to meet the needs of a particular
enterprise. Oracle Applications and SAP are packaged applications, for example.
Product. A configuration consisting of all deliverable product items. This includes
executables, setup procedures, documentation, etc.
Project. The special configuration consisting of all product items (see above) plus all
non-deliverable items. Source code is the principal non-deliverable, but test suites,
test reports, specification documents, etc., are also project items and are not
delivered
to the customer.
Promotion management. Whether formal or informal, there are usually milestones
or promotion levels in a product lifecycle, such as DEVELOPMENT-TEST-
ALPHA-BETA-RELEASE. Managing how software passes through them is one of
the benefits of software configuration management versus ad hoc development.
Promotion. The evolution of software along a lifecycle.
Revision management. The storage of multiple images of the development files
that comprise an application, which can be shared by multiple developers. With
revision management, you can get an imagea snapshot in time of the
development processand can re-create any file to the way it was at any point in
time.
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1 6 M E R A N T
Revision. The state of a project or product file at some point in time.
Software configuration management (SCM). The discipline of keeping track of all
aspects of an application (versions, builds, releases) and the development process.
Version. A particular instance of an entire development project. A version is usually
thought of as all the functions, features and complete builds you can use right now.
Files managed, version-labeled and promoted by the revision management system
are used to build the version.
Version. A specific state of a software configuration.
Web content management. The creation, organization, delivery and maintenance of
website content, including graphics, copy, links, interactive applications and forms.
Ideally, web content management is an integrated subset of an enterprises larger
approach to change management, including project task workflow, documentation
changes, compliance with standards and software warranties, software configuration
management and packaged application change management.

MERANT is the leading provider of
software solutions for enterprise
change management; development,
transformation and integration
of legacy applications; and data
connectivity. More than 5 million
professionals use MERANT technology
at 60,000 customer sites, including
the entire Fortune 100 and the majority
of the Global 500. Founded in 1976,
MERANT has 1,700 employees and
more than 600 technology partners.
MERANT Worldwide
Asia/Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (+65) 834 9880
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Melbourne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (+61) 3 9522 4466
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Also available at authorized resellers.
800-547-7827
pvcsinfo@merant.com
merant.com
QWP01ECM111
W H I T E P A P E R
The Business Case for
Software Configuration
Management