Posted by Organizing IT Project Information
Software & IT
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Abstract:
This paper describes a methodology for estimating IT projects. The span of knowledge required of an IT project estimator is much greater than just being able to characterize the software development. Having an understanding of the elements that comprise the organization infrastructure, deployment concepts, and security issues as well as the complex interactions within the environment are essential to preparing the estimate. The estimation methodology described here is composed of two parts: a formalized estimation structure, and a series of “catalogues” or mini-estimates that provide defaults to use as starting points for all critical estimation elements
Author:
Alan Williams
Mr. Williams is a Senior Consultant with Galorath Incorporated. As a Sen ior Consultant, Mr. Williams is responsible for is responsible for providing consulting services to Galorath clients in the area of software systems development and management. These engagements primarily consist of life cycle (development, production, and maintenance) estimates of effort, cost, schedule, and risk for large scale hardware and software systems. Tasks include the development of cost, schedule and risk estimations for hardware and software development projects using analogy and parametric methods. Other engagements include calibration projects where historical system data is used to formulate specific development & production profiles, and to calculate adjustment factors for use in SEER cost analysis models. His project management consulting responsibilities include assisting clients in the use of SEER products in controlling and managing the development of software systems. He is currently involved in implementing an estimation process for the Internal Revenue Service. Prior to joining Galorath, Mr. Williams was Manger of Mission Assurance on the NASA Space Station Freedom Launch Control program at Harris Space Systems. Mr. Williams’ previous professional experience includes more than 30 years of complex software systems development in Aerospace areas of Intelligence, Radar, Communications and Command and Control systems. He served on the Department of Defense Advisory Board for the update of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARs) and served on the Patent Review Committee for RCA Laboratories. Mr. Williams has a Bachelor Degree in Economics from California State University Long Beach and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School Of Law and is the author of 5 patents in the areas of strategic decision-making and game theory.