Estimation - TCS course 5474

Estimation is required as the software industry faces challenges when it comes to costing and pricing.

Components in TCS framework :

1. Size
2. Effort
3. Effort Adjustment
4. Schedule/Full Time Equivalent(FTE)
5. Price

Size

Work volume of the software being developed.

Guidelines vary, based on the framework provider. Some providers are :

1. International Functional Point User Group(IFPUG) - Functional Point Analysis
2. Use Case Points
3. Common Software Measurement International Consortium(COSMIC)
4. Finnish Software Measurement Association(FISMA)
5. Netherlands Software Metrics Association(NESMA)

IFPUG - FPA is recommended for greenfield development projects.

Effort

It is the quantifiable amount of manpower/labour required to arrive at the desired outcome.

It is normally expressed as a product of number of people and the duration for which they would be working for. Models for this are productivity based approach, Work Breakdown Structure, Wide Band Delphi, Estimation by Analogy.

TCS uses Productivity base Approach.

Effort adjustment

Adjustments may be required based on certain project factors :

1. Project Specific Characteristics(Ex : SME availability)
2. Common Factors : Characteristics of a type of a project that may be absent(Ex : Security Testing Activity)
3. Static Factors : Factors that are scheduled/daily/one time activities and are independent of size of project.(Ex : System Monitoring Activity)
4. Risks : Risk factors that may require a mitigation effort(Ex : End-User Unavailability during holiday season)

Schedule/FTE

Schedule is the duration required to complete a project. TCS uses the COCOMO model. FTE is the number of resources estimated in a support project instead of a schedule.

Special Notes

1. Resource Rate is not calculated in Development projects
2. Schedule is not estimated in Support/Operations projects
3. Only Certified Estimators can review the estimations