How to assess tools efficiently and quantitatively

A generic, yet tailorable, five-step method to select CASE tools is presented. The guide, developed by the Software Engineering Institute and Westinghouse, includes a tool taxonomy that captures information like the tool name and vendor, release date, what life-cycle phases and methods it supports, key features, and the objects it produces, and includes six categories of questions designed to determine how well a tool does what it was intended to do. The questionnaire comprises 140 questions divided into the categories: ease of use, power, robustness, functionality, ease of insertion, and quality of support.<>