Software Estimation Without Guessing

Software Estimation Without Guessing PDF Author: George Dinwiddie
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
ISBN: 1680507419
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book

Book Description
Estimating software development often produces more angst than value, but it doesn't have to. Identify the needs behind estimate requests and determine how to meet those needs simply and easily. Choose estimation techniques based on current needs and available information, gaining benefit while reducing cost and effort. Detect bad assumptions that might sink your project if you don't adjust your plans. Discover what to do when an estimate is wrong, how to recover, and how to use that knowledge for future planning. Learn to communicate about estimates in a healthy and productive way, maximizing advantage to the organization and minimizing damage to the people. In a world where most developers hate estimation and most managers fear disappointment with the results, there is hope for both. It requires giving up some widely held misconceptions. Let go of the notion that "an estimate is an estimate" and estimate for the particular need you, and your organization, have. Realize that estimates have a limited shelf-life, and reestimate frequently if it's important. When reality differs from your estimate, don't lament; mine that disappointment for the gold that can be the longer-term jackpot. Estimate in comparison to past experience, by modeling the work mathematically, or a hybrid of both. Learn strategies for effective decomposition of work and aspects of the work that likely affect your estimates. Hedge your bets by comparing the results of different approaches. Find out what to do when an estimate proves wrong. And they will. They're estimates, after all. You'll discover that you can use estimates to warn you of danger so you can take appropriate action in time. Learn some crucial techniques to understand and communicate with those who need to understand. Address both the technical and sociological aspects of estimation, and you'll help your organization achieve its desired goals with less drama and more benefit. What You Need: No software needed, just your past experience and concern for the outcomes.

Software Estimation Without Guessing

Software Estimation Without Guessing PDF Author: George Dinwiddie
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
ISBN: 1680507419
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book

Book Description
Estimating software development often produces more angst than value, but it doesn't have to. Identify the needs behind estimate requests and determine how to meet those needs simply and easily. Choose estimation techniques based on current needs and available information, gaining benefit while reducing cost and effort. Detect bad assumptions that might sink your project if you don't adjust your plans. Discover what to do when an estimate is wrong, how to recover, and how to use that knowledge for future planning. Learn to communicate about estimates in a healthy and productive way, maximizing advantage to the organization and minimizing damage to the people. In a world where most developers hate estimation and most managers fear disappointment with the results, there is hope for both. It requires giving up some widely held misconceptions. Let go of the notion that "an estimate is an estimate" and estimate for the particular need you, and your organization, have. Realize that estimates have a limited shelf-life, and reestimate frequently if it's important. When reality differs from your estimate, don't lament; mine that disappointment for the gold that can be the longer-term jackpot. Estimate in comparison to past experience, by modeling the work mathematically, or a hybrid of both. Learn strategies for effective decomposition of work and aspects of the work that likely affect your estimates. Hedge your bets by comparing the results of different approaches. Find out what to do when an estimate proves wrong. And they will. They're estimates, after all. You'll discover that you can use estimates to warn you of danger so you can take appropriate action in time. Learn some crucial techniques to understand and communicate with those who need to understand. Address both the technical and sociological aspects of estimation, and you'll help your organization achieve its desired goals with less drama and more benefit. What You Need: No software needed, just your past experience and concern for the outcomes.

Estimating Software Costs

Estimating Software Costs PDF Author: Capers Jones
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071776796
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 673

Get Book

Book Description
Deliver bug-free software projects on schedule and within budget Get a clear, complete understanding of how to estimate software costs, schedules, and quality using the real-world information contained in this comprehensive volume. Find out how to choose the correct hardware and software tools, develop an appraisal strategy, deploy tests and prototypes, and produce accurate software cost estimates. Plus, you'll get full coverage of cutting-edge estimating approaches using Java, object-oriented methods, and reusable components. Plan for and execute project-, phase-, and activity-level cost estimations Estimate regression, component, integration, and stress tests Compensate for inaccuracies in data collection, calculation, and analysis Assess software deliverables and data complexity Test design principles and operational characteristics using software prototyping Handle configuration change, research, quality control, and documentation costs "Capers Jones' work offers a unique contribution to the understanding of the economics of software production. It provides deep insights into why our advances in computing are not matched with corresponding improvements in the software that drives it. This book is absolutely required reading for an understanding of the limitations of our technological advances." --Paul A. Strassmann, former CIO of Xerox, the Department of Defense, and NASA

Software Estimation

Software Estimation PDF Author: Steve McConnell
Publisher: Microsoft Press
ISBN: 0735637032
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 466

Get Book

Book Description
Often referred to as the “black art” because of its complexity and uncertainty, software estimation is not as difficult or puzzling as people think. In fact, generating accurate estimates is straightforward—once you understand the art of creating them. In his highly anticipated book, acclaimed author Steve McConnell unravels the mystery to successful software estimation—distilling academic information and real-world experience into a practical guide for working software professionals. Instead of arcane treatises and rigid modeling techniques, this guide highlights a proven set of procedures, understandable formulas, and heuristics that individuals and development teams can apply to their projects to help achieve estimation proficiency. Discover how to: Estimate schedule and cost—or estimate the functionality that can be delivered within a given time frame Avoid common software estimation mistakes Learn estimation techniques for you, your team, and your organization * Estimate specific project activities—including development, management, and defect correction Apply estimation approaches to any type of project—small or large, agile or traditional Navigate the shark-infested political waters that surround project estimates When many corporate software projects are failing, McConnell shows you what works for successful software estimation.

Cost Estimation for Software Development

Cost Estimation for Software Development PDF Author: Bernard Londeix
Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book

Book Description


Software Estimation Best Practices, Tools & Techniques

Software Estimation Best Practices, Tools & Techniques PDF Author: Murali Chemuturi
Publisher: J. Ross Publishing
ISBN: 1604270241
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book

Book Description
Almost every software project begins with the utterances, “What will this cost?” and “When will this project be done?” Once those words are spoken, project stakeholders begin to wrestle with how to produce an estimate. Accurately estimating the cost or time to complete a software project is a serious problem for many software engineers, developers and project managers who struggle with costs running double original estimates, putting their careers at risk. It is reported that nearly 50% of all software projects are shelved and that one of the major causes is poor estimation practices. If developing software for internal use, poor estimates can represent a significant drain on corporate profits. Worldwide growth in the number of companies specializing in the development of software for use by other companies is staggering. India alone has nearly 20,000 such companies. Intense competition has led to an increased demand for fixed-bid pricing in client/vendor relationships, and has made effective cost estimation even more important and, in many cases, critical to a firm's survival. There are many methods of estimation. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses, proponents and opponents. Knowing how and which one to use on a given project is key to developing acceptable estimates for either internal or external projects.Software Estimation Best Practices, Tools, & Techniques covers all facets of software estimation. It provides a detailed explanation of the various methods for estimating software size, development effort, cost, and schedule, including a comprehensive explanation of Test Effort Estimation. Emphasizing that software estimation should be based on a well-defined process, it presents software estimation best practices and shows how to avoid common pitfalls. This guide offers direction on which methods are most appropriate for each of the different project types commonly executed in the software development space and criteria for selecting software estimation tools. This comprehensive desk reference explains software estimation from scratch to help the beginner and features advanced techniques for more experienced estimators. It details project scheduling, including resource leveling and the concept of productivity, as applicable to software estimators, demonstrating the many benefits of moving from the current macro-productivity approach to a micro-productivity approach in software estimation. Software Estimation Best Practices, Tools, & Techniques: A Complete Guide for Software Project Estimators caters to the needs of all software project stakeholders, from novice to expert. It provides the valuable guidance needed to estimate the cost and time required to complete software projects within a reasonable margin of error for effective software development.

Software Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment

Software Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment PDF Author: Adam Trendowicz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642307647
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book

Book Description
Software effort estimation is a key element of software project planning and management. Yet, in industrial practice, the important role of effort estimation is often underestimated and/or misunderstood. In this book, Adam Trendowicz presents the CoBRA method (an abbreviation for Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment) for estimating the effort required to successfully complete a software development project, which uniquely combines human judgment and measurement data in order to systematically create a custom-specific effort estimation model. CoBRA goes far beyond simply predicting the development effort; it supports project decision-makers in negotiating the project scope, managing project risks, benchmarking productivity, and directing improvement activities. To illustrate the method’s practical use, the book reports several real-world cases where CoBRA was applied in various industrial contexts. These cases represent different estimation contexts in terms of software project environment, estimation objectives, and estimation constraints. This book is the result of a successful collaboration between the process management division of Fraunhofer IESE and many software companies in the field of software engineering technology transfer. It mainly addresses software practitioners who deal with planning and managing software development projects as part of their daily work, and is also of interest for students or courses specializing in software engineering or software project management.

Practical Software Project Estimation: A Toolkit for Estimating Software Development Effort & Duration

Practical Software Project Estimation: A Toolkit for Estimating Software Development Effort & Duration PDF Author: Peter Hill
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071717927
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book

Book Description
Product verifiable, defensible, and achievable software estimates Based on data collected by the International Software Benchmarking Standards Group (ISBSG), Practical Software Project Estimation explains how to accurately forecast the size, cost, and schedule of software projects. Get expert advice on generating accurate estimates, minimizing risks, and planning and managing projects. Valuable appendixes provide estimation equations, delivery rate tables, and the ISBSG Repository demographics. Verify project objectives and requirements Determine, validate, and refine software functional size Produce indicative estimates using regression equations Predict effect and duration through comparison and analogy Build estimation frameworks Perform benchmarks using the ISBSG Repository Compare IFPUG, COSMIC, and FiSMA sizing methods Peter Hill is the chief executive officer and a director of the ISBSG. He has been in the information services industry for more than 40 years and has compiled and edited five books for the ISBSG.

Software Project Effort Estimation

Software Project Effort Estimation PDF Author: Adam Trendowicz
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319036297
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 483

Get Book

Book Description
Software effort estimation is one of the oldest and most important problems in software project management, and thus today there are a large number of models, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses in general, and even more importantly, in relation to the environment and context in which it is to be applied. Trendowicz and Jeffery present a comprehensive look at the principles of software effort estimation and support software practitioners in systematically selecting and applying the most suitable effort estimation approach. Their book not only presents what approach to take and how to apply and improve it, but also explains why certain approaches should be used in specific project situations. Moreover, it explains popular estimation methods, summarizes estimation best-practices, and provides guidelines for continuously improving estimation capability. Additionally, the book offers invaluable insights into project management in general, discussing issues including project trade-offs, risk assessment, and organizational learning. Overall, the authors deliver an essential reference work for software practitioners responsible for software effort estimation and planning in their daily work and who want to improve their estimation skills. At the same time, for lecturers and students the book can serve as the basis of a course in software processes, software estimation, or project management.

Benefit/Cost-Driven Software Development

Benefit/Cost-Driven Software Development PDF Author: Jo Erskine Hannay
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783030742171
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 103

Get Book

Book Description
This open access book presents a set of basic techniques for estimating the benefit of IT development projects and portfolios. It also offers methods for monitoring how much of that estimated benefit is being achieved during projects. Readers can then use these benefit estimates together with cost estimates to create a benefit/cost index to help them decide which functionalities to send into construction and in what order. This allows them to focus on constructing the functionality that offers the best value for money at an early stage. Although benefits management involves a wide range of activities in addition to estimation and monitoring, the techniques in this book provides a clear guide to achieving what has always been the goal of project and portfolio stakeholders: developing systems that produce as much usefulness and value as possible for the money invested. The techniques can also help deal with vicarious motives and obstacles that prevent this happening. The book equips readers to recognize when a project budget should not be spent in full and resources be allocated elsewhere in a portfolio instead. It also provides development managers and upper management with common ground as a basis for making informed decisions.

Software Cost Estimation and Sizing Methods

Software Cost Estimation and Sizing Methods PDF Author: Shari Lawrence Pfleeger
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 9780833037138
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Get Book

Book Description
Recommends an approach to improving the utility and accuracy of software cost estimates by exposing uncertainty (in understanding the project) and reducing the risks associated with developing the estimates. The approach focuses on characteristics of the estimation process (such as which methods and models are most appropriate for a given situation) and the nature of the data used (such as software size), describing symptoms and warning signs of risk in each factor, and risk-mitigation strategies.