SLIM-Estimate
How do the uncertainty ranges in SLIM-Estimate relate to Control Bounds in SLIM-Control?
I am often asked this question during SLIM Training classes. I remember wondering about that myself. It is a logical question since SLIM-Estimate workbooks are often imported into SLIM-Control to create the baseline project plan. The answer is ‐‐ they are not directly related, because uncertainty ranges, probability curves, and control bounds are designed to perform different tasks. This post is the first in a series looking at risk associated with an estimate, risk of your project plan, and handling deviations from the plan.
Part III: The Caveats
In Part 1 of How Much Estimation? we noted that there is an optimal amount of time and effort that should be spent in producing an estimate based on the target cost of a project and business practice being supported.
In Part 2: Estimate the Estimate, we saw that the formula to calculate this optimal time (as measured at NASA) calculates the Cost of Estimate as the Target_Cost raised to the power 0.35 (approximately the cube root of the Target Cost). The factor that defines the business practice (either by early lifecycle phase or perhaps by the “expected precision” of the estimate) is a linear factor ranging from a value of 24 to a value of 115.
Tuning Effort for Best in Class Analysis and Design
After reading Best Projects/Worst Projects in the QSM IT Almanac, a SLIM-Estimate® user noted that the Best in Class Projects expended around 28% of their total project effort in analysis and design (SLIM Phase II) compared to 10% for the Worst in Class Projects. She wanted to know how she could tune her SLIM-Estimate templates to build in the typical best in class standard for Analysis and Design.
In SLIM-Estimate, effort and duration for phases I and II are calculated as a percentage of Phase III time and effort. To create a template for estimating phases II and III that will automatically allocate 28% of total project effort to analysis and design (Phase II), follow these simple steps.
What If? The Power of the Question
After being away from QSM and the software world for three years, I was blown away by SLIM v8.0's dynamic product integration. I knew it was coming, yet I was still impressed by the simplicity and power of analysis promoted by real-time data and tool links across the SLIM Suite that frees managers to focus on the important program issues.
SLIM-MasterPlan is the center of the SLIM Suite product integration. It improves upon previously existing program management features of aggregating multiple SLIM-Estimate projects and ancillary tasks with two new capabilities:
New SLIM Product Tour
We are pleased to announce that QSM has a new SLIM product tour. This online demo shows you how to quickly and easily use SLIM-Estimate to create an estimate validated by industry benchmarks or your own project history. The demo then demonstrates how to negotiate trade-offs and highlights some of the new features of the tool. The product tour also includes SLIM-MasterPlan, which allows you to roll-up multiple estimates and is ideal for iterative and non-iterative developments.
View the new SLIM demo here and tell us what you think!
Introducing the SLIM-Estimate Certification Program
QSM is pleased to announce the SLIM-Estimate® Certification Program. Specifically designed to help our customers ensure the technical excellence of their SLIM users, this program increases the business value of our software project estimation tools to your organization.
How Certification Is Achieved:
In order to be awarded certification, a user must demonstrate competence in the following areas:
SLIM Suite 8.0g2 Is Now Available for Download
As our clients expand into new design disciplines, QSM recognizes their need for estimation, tracking, and benchmarking tools for domains outside of just software. Our goal with SLIM 8.0 has been to increase configurability within our tools so our clients can model any type of system quickly and easily. With SLIM Suite 8.0g2, QSM continues to expand our offerings to support different design processes and increase ease of use.
SLIM Suite. An auto-update notification feature has been added to detect when a newer version of the SLIM Suite exists and is available for download. Enhancements have also been added so Export to PowerPoint now defaults to .pptx file format and Export to Word now defaults to .docx file format where appropriate.
Deploying Estimation the Right Way - a SLIM Customer Success Story
Two common questions we receive are “how quickly can we get SLIM deployed within our organization?” and “how accurate will our estimates be?” On the accuracy question, our answer is usually that “it depends”. Like most things, accuracy and success in estimating are directly correlated to the effort put into the task. If you buy a commercial estimating tool and try to use it “out of the box” with no tailoring and calibration, accuracy usually suffers. One of the most efficient ways to achieve both of these goals is to use your own historical data. This was an excellent example of how one of our global systems integration clients was able to get almost immediate value by calibrating SLIM-Estimate to their historical data.
SLIM 8.0f1: Estimating Beyond Software
In recent years, we have seen our client base become increasingly diverse, expressing the need for our estimation, tracking, and benchmarking tools for design processes outside of just software. While clients have customized SLIM to other design disciplines in the past, our goal with SLIM 8.0 was to increase configurability within our tools so our users can model any type of system quickly and easily. Now users can forecast and benchmark Agile, infrastructure, offshore/multi-shore, ERP/package implementation projects, and more. In addition to updated trendlines from 10,000 completed software and systems projects, SLIM comes pre-packaged with trend groups, such as Agile, ERP, Financial, Web, and Government.
Read the full press release with detailed product upgrades here.
SLIM-Estimate and IBM Rational Focal Point Integration Now Available
QSM and IBM Rational are pleased to announce yet another point of integration between SLIM and Rational tools. Most projects overrun their schedules and budgets because of the lack of good estimates at the time commitments are made. Project and portfolio management tools like Rational Focal Point are useful to analyze proposals and help build a solid business case on which to base project approvals. These products focus primarily on justifying the project through the business benefits and/or savings derived from the implementation of the proposal’s business requirements. They do not assess the risk of failing to meet a business stakeholder’s desired project schedule and budget in a proposal. QSM’s integration to Rational Focal Point brings this powerful capability to market and helps identify high risk proposals before they enter an organization’s project stream. This capability can significantly reduce schedule s
