Function Points And Application Outsourcing

Services buyers increasingly look for a standard, unambiguous way to evaluate the productivity of numerous outsourcing partners so that they can keep their suppliers "honest." Moreover, outsourcing consultants increasingly recommend using function points as the basis for multiple provider governance in application outsourcing engagements. However, using function points in the context of application outsourcing relationships raises sourcing and vendor management challenges. Why? Function point types — and methods of counting — still vary considerably across practitioners and cannot be easily implemented "off the shelf." The function point metric offers the most value in app development engagements. For apps maintenance, where activities will usually be small, the function point approach offers less value. Even in a development context, using function points will reveal its true value only over time, as the supplier and customer converge and calibrate counting methodologies between them. Sourcing and vendor management professionals should help structure apps outsourcing contracts to help reflect these realities.