Unlike its Checkpoint predecessor, KnowledgePlan requires no expert knowledge of how software function points relate to programmer productivity. KnowledgePlan has templates for four types of work structures, including those of iterative and maintenance projects. But it lacks a prebuilt template or task listing for year 2000 projects. It estimates programmer productivity, compares it to industry averages and suggests ways to to raise it.
Buyers can test the tool by running an estimate against a finished project.
The program has interfaces for Microsoft Project 98 and other project management tools, Microsoft Access and Seagate Software's Crystal Reports. Contractors could use it to determine project lifecycle estimates. Acqua 2.0, from Centerline Software of Cambridge, Mass., integrates software testing results into lifecycle management. Results are captured, displayed and stored in a common repository. The knowledge base incorporates industry software metrics, including those from Software Productivity Research.