The following formula is a first pass at measuring the benefit of investment of performing peer reviews. The variables are straightforward and emphasize the down-stream impact when defects are not found early in the requirements or design phases. The ROI may be calculated as the total cost to the project if defects were not identified, less the total cost of those defects that evaded the peer review, divided by the actual cost of doing the peer review. This allows for the monitoring of the peer review process at the organizational level, and provides input to causal analysis. Causal analysis will be performed to identify areas where the process needs improving.
Peer reviews are necessary in order to identify defects early in the software product life cycle.
Peer reviews can be costly and time consuming and as a result are often not properly done or are sometimes omitted completely. However, if the appropriate peer review technique is selected, the investment will result in measurable pay back. Depending on the scope and size of the software product under development, the appropriate technique to perform peer reviews should be selected in order to locate defects in a cost effective manner. Motorola Inc. Presentation given to Texas Instruments, Dallas, Texas. 1995. Paulk, Mark C., Bill Curtis, Mary Beth Chrissis, Charles V. Weber, Capability Maturity Model for Software, Version 1.1, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.