Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
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Challenges
Even when the most complete documentation is provided before the start of the
project, it is very difficult to precisely estimate effort required. But as the project
progresses, many unknown aspects of the project become clearer. More understand-
ing is also developed among the team members over time. So the initial estimation
may be wrong, and you may need to update this value and report it to stakeholders.
At this time you may need to explain why some of the initial estimates were wrong.
The guideline is that if a value is within 10% tolerance of the initial estimate, then it
is OK. In cases when something drastic happens, your estimates can become totally
wrong. In such cases you need to immediately report the discrepancy to stakehold-
ers. Of course, it is real life and bizarre things can happen at any time.
There is one more aspect to effort estimation. For billing purpose or effort esti-
mate for the project fixed time - fixed budget), when you present your effort esti-
mate to the customer, it makes sense if a standard approach is adopted to make that
estimate. The standard estimates are derived from acceptable formulas like the ones
used in TPA estimates. Even though some elements of these techniques are still
subjective and vary from one estimate to another, customers will be more willing
to accept them.
In any case, never commit more than you can deliver in time. Your motto
should be “commit less and deliver more.” It never should be “commit more and
deliver less.” This is the secret of successful test managers!
