This article continues the focus from the previous article on determining size in a consistent enough manner across multiple products, projects, and agile teams so that you have good historical data on which to base an estimate. QSM's Andy Berner looks at other sizing units besides story points, in particular function points and source lines of code.
Part of QSM's Agile Round Table article series, the fourth article focuses on determining size in a consistent enough manner across multiple products, projects, and agile teams so that you have good historical data on which to base an estimate. It also shows how to apply these techniques with the SLIM Suite of products.
In this article for GCN, Doug Putnam takes a look at some of the common pitfalls that lead to project cost and schedule overruns and how parametric estimation can help government CIOs and their teams avoid these traps.
A recent initiative put forth by the DoD was to improve its estimation process by leveraging historical data collected from forensic analyses of recently completed software development efforts. This article by Taylor Putnam-Majarian and John Staiger, discusses (1) some of the challenges faced throughout this initiative, (2) the data collection process, and (3) how one can leverage data to improve cost estimates. This article was originally published in Crosstalk Magazine.
In this article for IFPUG's Metric Views, Carol Dekkers and Joe Madden suggest a new way to repurpose function points to achieve software project estimating successes today.
Here’s a little secret: No one got into software development to budget. Developers love to code and create. If they wanted to create budgets, they’d have become accountants.
Still, creating a development plan for 2017 will inevitably require budgeting and estimating, a process that should be done in partnership with business teams. This will ensure the creation of software that cost-effectively meets their needs.
This article for Projects at Work explains how the most effective project portfolio planning brings IT managers and business leaders together to prioritize, scope and staff initiatives as a single team with common goals.
Aaron Jeutter, a participant in the QSM Agile Round Table from Rockwell Automation, presents the technique of “Big Rock Sizing.” This technique is used at Rockwell Automation for early sizing and estimating based on high level requirements that will be refined using agile techniques as the work progresses.
This white paper describes best practices c-level executives can use to reduce risk in the annual IT budgeting process.
In the second article of QSM's Agile Round Table series, Andy Berner explains why setting goals for consumable value and estimating what it takes to reach those goals are both needed to guide the choices every organization needs to make about what to develop and how to allocate resources.