April 2015

April 2015

Trend Based Solutions Generate Reasonable Estimates Fast

Beginning with the release of SLIM-Suite v8.1, two new SLIM-Estimate solution methods were added to let you see what a “typical” project would look like: that is, the resources it would require, based upon historical projects from either the QSM database or your own.  The two methods are:

  • Solve from Trends Wizard
  • Trend Based Solution

SLIM-Estimate provides several different ways to solve the software production equation and produce an estimate.  The solution method you select depends upon the information you have available.  The traditional methods, known as Quick Estimate Wizard and Detailed Method, take inputs of Size and Productivity (PI), and calculate Effort and Time.  The Solve for Size Wizard, perfect for time-boxed estimates, takes inputs of Time, Effort, and PI, and determines the amount of functionality that combination of resources can produce.

The trend solutions require only one input – Size.  Using the specified Primary Trend Group, Time and Effort are read from the average trend line and productivity (PI) is calculated.  These methods extend the capabilities of producing a defensible project estimates very early in the life cycle.  You can determine the feasibility of project goals, assess risk, and manage stakeholder expectations even if all you can estimate is a relative application size, expressed as a “T-shirt” or bin size, as shown in the figure below.

Software T-Shirt Sizing

Blog Post Categories 
Estimation

New Article: Failing with the Best Intentions

Failing with the Best Intentions

Enterprise application capacity planning is a difficult juggling act. On one side of the equation you have business demand, looking for innovative technology to help improve business performance and increase profitability. The IT organization stands on the other side of the equation, responsible for satisfying these demands. The capacity of this team is limited by the organization’s facilities, the number of developers and their specific skills, and the infrastructure and tools they use. This leaves the business and technology executives in the unenviable position of trying to balance the demand for IT development with the current capacity levels. In this article for Software Magazine, Doug Putnam and Taylor Putnam-Majarian demonstrate how top-down parametric estimation can be leveraged by organizations to manage capacity and demand effectively.

Read the full article!

New Webinar Series - Agile Estimation: Beyond the Myths

When it comes to agile, there are common myths and misconceptions about estimation.  In the first of this two-part webinar series (which can be viewed independently or together), presented on April 22 at 1:00 PM EDTQSM’s Andy Berner will offer corrections to these, such as:

  • Why we still need to estimate duration on agile projects
  • Why setting expectations based on scope is still important, even as we “embrace change”
  • Why you still need to plan for work on requirements, even though it’s not all “upfront”

While some longstanding principles about software estimation still apply, agile methods require some significant changes to how we estimate.  This webinar will show you how to tailor the SLIM estimation tools and methods specifically to an agile development environment to estimate, measure, and analyze your agile software development projects. Andy Berner will demonstrate how SLIM fits with the principles of agile development, and will discuss what needs to be estimated, how size factors in, and how to accommodate different iteration lengths and types of work.  This will allow you to optimize the choices and plans for the work of your agile teams. 

Blog Post Categories 
Webinars Agile

Twin-SPIN Presentation: Does Agile Scale? - A Short Case Study

On Thursday, April 9, QSM's Pam Simonovich will present Does Agile Scale? - A Short Case Study, hosted at the University of Minnesota.

This presentation uses completed project data as an example to show that when organizations make a conscious decision to adopt Agile methods in conjunction with other traditional development methodologies, these approaches can be effectively scaled and implemented for larger projects and enterprises – to a point.

Blog Post Categories 
QSM News Agile

Webinar Replay - QSM's Software Sizing Infographic: A Visual Aid for Understanding Software Size

Software Sizing Infographic Webinar

If you were unable to attend our recent webinar, QSM's Software Sizing Infographic: A Visual Aid for Understanding Software Size, a replay is now available.

Software size, the amount of functionality in a given software release, is arguably the most critical of the five core metrics of software estimation. There is little point in tracking effort, duration, productivity and quality if you are unable to quantify what you are building. Yet, despite its critical importance, software sizing is often a difficult concept for many to understand and use properly in the estimation process. In this webinar, Joe Madden gives an overview of QSM's Software Size Matters Infographic, which addresses the challenges of measuring software size and identifies the most popular sizing methods and when to use them. With over 17 years of software sizing experience, Joe provides case studies and best practices for real world application.

Watch the replay!

Blog Post Categories 
Sizing Webinars