Estimation - A science not an art

Experience level: 
Beginner
Session Track: 

Business and Strategy

The purpose of this track is two-fold - one angle helps you to understand the advantages of Drupal from an organizational leadership angle and the other is to highlight the great Drupal sites and projects you're working on and to show what's possible. These sessions are business focused, and will be non-technical.

Speaker(s): 
Jsnoles49

Everyone has been given a 2 paragraph document listing the "scope of services" for a potential project.  The client would like an estimate in 48 hours and there are no more details to help you deliver that required fixed bid contract.  At the same time, many teams have also been given (or created) a detailed PRD or backlog document and still had a project budget balloon out of control.  

In this session I would like to discuss the not only the problems associated with estimation and how to avoid them, but more importantly how we can plan for them, turning our estimation process into a science more than an art. 

 

The problem with software estimation

  • The morale

  • The metrics

  • The reality - an estimation metaphor

Avoiding Risk

  • Project entry point of sale

    • At what point of the project lifecycle is your first sale?

  • Risk association with point of sale

  • Products in the front, estimations in the back

The Elusive Discovery phase

  • How to estimate a discovery

  • How to sell a discovery

  • How to include discovery in a full fixed bid RFP

Planning for Risk

  • Estimation types

    • Gut - An art form

    • Comparables - An art/science

    • Factors/formula - A science

  • Contingency

    • Rating systems

    • Formulas

    • Granularity

Covering your bases

  • Giving more than just a number

    • Inputs

    • Activities

    • Deliverables

    • Assumptions

  • Tooling/Team

    • Stock Assembly

    • Estimator - you’re going to pay for it one way or another