Predictable Releases

Software bugs don't cost that much to fix!

Let's calculate the cost per "Pre-Release Software Defect " that is found and fixed during the "Integration through the Release Phases" of Product Development.

[Source: Jack Ward, Hewlett Packard Medical Products Group CBSU, Waltham MA, November 1990.]

Exhibit 1: Identify the bugs.

Exhibit 2: Determine the fix and approve resource requirements.

Exhibit 3: Calculate the cost to fix, and the opportunity cost (assuming that 33% of lifetime profit is lost because the bugs took six months to fix and the product was late to market.) Note that the opportunity cost dwarfs the cost to fix, which is not insignificant in and of itself - one person-year to fix the bugs.