International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2012) 97 Tracking Scrum projects Tools, Metrics and Myths About Agile Monika Agarwal 1 , Prof. Rana Majumdar 2 1 Department of Computer Science, Amity University, Noida, India 2 Department of Computer Science, Amity University, Noida, India 1 er.monika.silent@gmail.com 2 rmajumdar@amity.edu Abstract— Tracking the Software during development provide a way to measure the gap between estimation of project and actual implementation of the project. It helps the tem member to modify its work practices to complete the pending task in the right direction. This Research Paper focuses on different Scrum metrics, which provide a quantitative basis for tracking the progress of the project and individual performance of team members, so that we can control the quality of the software. This research paper will discuss about some myths across agile which are widely accepted and reality behind this. Keywords—Scrum metrics; Tracking Tools; Myths about Agile; Agile Metrics; Agile and CMMI; Bundown Chart; Progress Chart; Agile with Project Management tools. I. INTRODUCTION With the rapid development of the software business, in order to hurdle the incapacity of the traditional software development process in timely responding to the changes in requirements, agile development method is proposed in recent years. Agile development comprises several methodologies or frameworks, namely Scrum, XP, and Lean Software Development, Feature Driven Development, Crystal methods and others. The key feature of SCRUM lies in its iterative development strategy. In each iterative cycle called the Sprint, a chunk of the project is planned, developed, and delivered. In every Sprint, user stories within the scope of the Sprint are designed, developed, and tested. At the end of the Sprint, the set of stories that are tested and ready is delivered as a near-releasable product to the customer and the team receives early feedback from the customer. This feedback helps develop subsequent Sprints. A Sprint is completed on a set date whether or not the work is completed. If a team is unable to meet the set target at the end of a Sprint, then the team is expected to acknowledge that it did not achieve set goals. Incomplete tasks are then added to the product backlog. In this research paper, Section 2 and Section 3 discuss about the Scrum Estimation Techniques and Tracking Tools respectively, for finding out how much the actual implementation is going on different track from the estimation or planning. In Section 4, Scrum Tracking Metrics will be discussed, used to provide measurement for the software development. Section 5 briefly introduces the rumors and reality behind those in Agile Software development. II. SCRUM ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES For the successful and timely completion of any project, it is necessary to ensure that project begin with accurate estimates. While starting a Scrum project, the most difficult task is to arrive at approximate estimates. For the first little iteration, there is a gap in actual and estimated effort due to a lack of clarity about the estimation techniques. In case of Scrum, estimation transforms an individual activity to a group activity, with discussions forming an integral part of estimation. In Scrum, the estimates are created by a team who will actually be working on the project. The estimates will be accurate when they are derived from the team's domain knowledge and prior experience of working on similar tasks. Further, estimating in a discussion mode gives a global view of the task to be accomplished, such as the complexity of the task, and therefore, a better estimate. In Scrum, the effort to create a product is estimated by approximating the user stories for the product. Team member can estimate user stories using various techniques. The two most popular techniques are ideal days and story pointing.