Fundamentals of Software Estimating

This two day course is designed to provide you with essential metrics-based concepts and techniques for effective and efficient software project estimating.

Who Should Attend?

Anyone interested in software development project dynamics and the management of software development projects. If you are trying to find an objective and repeatable way to manage the cost and schedule of software development projects or would just like to know why some projects succeed while others fail, then this course is for you.

Purpose of the Workshop

Understand the key elements of the software project management process and how they relate to the software development process
Learn the core software project management metrics and their relationships
Learn how to estimate the volume, efficiency, and defect vulnerability of a software product and how to quantify the uncertainty of those estimates
Learn how to determine reasonable expectations for the schedule, effort, cost, staffing, and defects of a software development project and how various models and tools can help
Understand how the uncertainty about volume, efficiency, and defect vulnerability results affects risk (probability of success)

What You Will Learn?

Project Management is Important

How are we doing as an industry?

Why do some projects fail?

Measurement Objectifies Management

Software development is a process

Measurable process è predictable outcome

Time, effort, defects ç volume AND efficiency AND defect vulnerability

Estimating: judgment versus calculation

Software Projects Have Dynamic Properties

Laws of software project dynamics

Model types, strengths, and weaknesses

Projects Have Structure

Divide and conquer pattern

Software lifecycle paradigms

Size, Efficiency, and Defect Vulnerability are Uncertain

PERT triple

Jorgensen alternate framing

Uncertainty è Confidence (probability of success)

Project constraints

Using Ross charts