Technical writing/Cost and schedule estimating
back to Technical Writing Level 2
All projects cost time and money.
It is important to accurately estimate how much a project will cost.
Most projects are late and more expensive than planned.
Cost and Schedule Estimates for Documentation
[edit | edit source]According to a study on Estimating Software Costs, documentation accounts for 10% of the total cost of a project.
Automated Estimating Systems
[edit | edit source]The use of automated estimating tools can greatly improve the accuracy of cost and schedule estimates, when compared to their human equivalents.
In most projects with a Function Point score of more than 10,000 the costs of documentation and defect removal are greater than that of creating the project itself.
Function Point
[edit | edit source]Devised in the 1970s, function points are used to assess the amount of functionality available to an end user from an information system.
There are 5 types of function points:
- Outputs
- Inquiries
- Inputs
- Files
- Interfaces
Function Point Analysis is the amount of functionality which is relevant to and recognized by the user. As a rough estimate, there are 1000 Function Points per 125,000 lines of code.
Common Functions of Automated Estimating Tools
[edit | edit source]- Estimate time and cost at phase, activity and task level
- Make adjustments for work periods, holidays and overtime
- Consider local salaries and workload
- Adjust for project type
- Support Function Point, LOC metrics or both
- Handle conversions between Function Point and LOC
- Support new projects as well as maintenance and upgrade projects
Advanced Functions
[edit | edit source]- Estimates quality and reliability
- Analyses risk and value
- Estimates return on investment
- Shares data with other project management tools
- Assesses historical data according to measurement models
- Supports process assessments
- Provides statistical analysis for multiple projects
- Currency conversion for international projects
Variable Factors
[edit | edit source]As all projects are different, there are factors which change according to the project. A good automated estimating system will take these variables into account.
- Staff experience
- Client expectations
- Product type being developed
- Size of deliverables
- Project size
- Design method used
- Requirements method used
- Available re-usable materials
- Testing methods used
- Overtime status - paid/unpaid
back to Technical Writing Level 2