Dr Betsy Clark

Dr Betsy Clark

Dr Betsy Clark is a Principal Consultant with RedBay Consulting. Betsy has over thirty years of experience in implementing measurement programs, estimating costs and schedules, and assessing risks to schedule compliance.

2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. From the University of Southern California’s Center for Systems and Software Engineering: “For major contributions across a wide variety of cost-related areas, particularly in COTS-based cost estimation and schedule estimation and risk management.”

System Compliance and Risk Assessment Methodology (SCRAM). One of the principal developers of a framework and process for assessing compliance risk and root causes of non-compliance. SCRAM has been funded by the Australian Defence Department and has been used to assess a number of their programs.

PSM: Practical Software and Systems Measurement. One of the principle authors of the PSM measurement process framework and book published by Addison-Wesley, 2001. This book has been translated into Japanese and Chinese as well as its original English version.

Cost and schedule feasibility analysis. Provided independent estimates to government program offices in support of acquisition decisions on numerous programs. Experience in estimating airborne defense platforms and related software (avionic, mission planning, radar, defensive systems, weapons delivery, test program sets, training and simulation).

Software schedule forecasting. Has conducted numerous schedule forecasts for software-intensive programs, most notably the world’s largest defense program, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. These forecasts were singled out by the former Program Executive Officer (PEO), Lt. Gen. Bogdan as the most accurate of all the estimates made by both government and contractor organizations.

COCOTS: Constructive COTS model. Collaborated with Drs. Barry Boehm and Chris Abts of USC to develop and calibrate COCOTS, a cost estimation model for COTS-based systems. Led data collection to calibrate the model. Collected data from more than 25 projects.

Industry Measurement Standards. Principle contributor to the Software Engineering Institute’s (SEI) work to define a core set of measures. The results of this work were presented by Dr. Clark at the 1992 SEI Symposium

Ongoing measurement and analysis support for acquisition program offices. Provided independent analysis of software development plans and status to government acquisition offices throughout the development lifecycle.

Measurement Consulting. Designed and implemented measurement programs for numerous clients in the U.S. as well as in Australia, and Europe. Scope of measures have ranged from individual projects to enterprise-wide initiatives. Most recently, supported the IT organization within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in implementing enterprise-wide measurement to support strategic management initiatives as well as project reporting.

Measurement Training. Instructor trainer and certifier for the Practical Software and Systems Measurement process. Taught numerous classes to managers and engineers in the US and Australia.

SAFETY Act Compliance Reviewer: The Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (the SAFETY Act) provides liability protections from the US Government for suppliers of qualifying anti-terrorism technologies and services. A supplier seeking liability protections must apply to the Department of Homeland Security and provide sufficient evidence of technology capability and effectiveness. Betsy has reviewed a number of technologies and provided recommendations to the Office of SAFETY Act Implementation.

Assessment Surveys: Developed, implemented and analyzed surveys to guage the effectiveness and efficiency of IT applications from the perspective of the end-user. Survey results were briefed to all levels of management within the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), from the CIO down. The results are currently being used as a management tool to justify and prioritize future applications development.

Outcome Measurement: Participated in identifying and implementing performance measures using OMB’s Performance Reference Model as a framework. The PRM ties measures of technology, business processes and mission outcomes to agency strategic goals for CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). ACE is a multi-billion dollar system, replacing the legacy cargo management system, currently the largest system in the world in terms of number of daily transactions.

Program Assessments: Participated in a number of program assessments for the US Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Australia’s Defence Materiel Organisation. These assessments identify program risks and problem areas as well as recommended remedial actions.

Measurement Professional Certification. Formerly a member of an International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) committee that has developed the first industry certification for software measurement professionals. Constructed the first exam for this certification.