(Pekka Forselius and Erkki Savioja, FiSMA, Finland)
Functional size of software is one of the most important cost drivers of software development projects. However, function points are very rarely used in the industry, although they are the only internationally standardized way to measure size of software. Sometimes decision makers have heard about function points, but their knowledge of them is old, or they have been misguided to believe that the methods are difficult to use, extremely time consuming, and that the counting results may vary significantly between two measurement experts.
Finnish Software Measurement Association (FiSMA) arranged a speed test for software size estimation and project effort estimation in summer 2013. The results are impressive and very promising.