Contrary to many other industrial processes, software production is characterized by an unusually high variance. This directly results from the significant role of the human factor in all the phases of its realization, and this will likely remain the case for a long time to come. As a result, measurements, modeling and techniques, which are predicated on the homogeneous nature of software, do not necessarily provide dependable and economical means of process control and analysis. They do not provide for economical realtime dependability techniques as well.