According to this website, the 16 Critical Software PracticesTM serve as the basis for implementing effective performance-based management of software-intensive projects. They are intended to be used by programs desiring to implement effective high-leverage practices to improve their bottom-line measures-time to fielding, quality, cost, predictability, and customer satisfaction-and are for CIOs, PMs, sponsoring agencies, software project managers, and others involved in software engineering.
The "16 Critical Software PracticesTM for Performance-based Management" and Templates contain the 16 practices (9 best and 7 sustaining) that are the key to avoiding significant problems for software development projects. These practices have been gathered from the crucible of real-world, large-scale, software development and maintenance projects. Together they constitute a set of high-leverage disciplines that are focused on improving a project's bottom line. This document is intended to define the essential ingredients of each best and sustaining practice. These practices are the starting point for structuring and deploying an effective process for managing large-scale software development and maintenance. They may be tailored to the particular culture, environment, and program phases of a program. Of course, these practices cannot help "death march" programs that are expected to deliver under impossible schedule deadlines with inadequate funding and without the required staffing with essential skills.
