The Backlog Management Index (BMI) is an important service quality metric for managing the backlog of open, unresolved problems in a software project. It is used in maintenance and support software projects to ensure that the project remains controlled.

The Backlog Management Index is calculated as follows:

(if there is no customer SLA exists)

(Number of requests closed during the month)

————————————————————————   * 100

(Opening Balance for the month + Number of requests opened

during the month )

If the customer SLA exists, the BMI is calculated as follows:

( Number of requests closed during the month )

—————————————————————————–   * 100

( Opening Balance for the month + Number of requests  scheduled

   to be closed during the month number of early closures in the month)

At the beginning of the month, a maintenance project had 15 requests that were either in the process of closing or needed to be analyzed. For the month, 12 more requests were received. During the same period, the project team managed to close 20 requests.

Calculate the BMI for the month of the project. (No SLA defined)

BMI  =  20 / (15+12) =  0.74

BMI and its trend indicate how effectively the queue of requests is managed and the adequacy of resources.