Software Effort Estimation
In software
engineering effort is used to denote a measure of use of the workforce and is defined
as the total time that takes members of a development team to perform a given task.
It is usually expressed in units such as man-day, man-month, man-year. This
value is important as it serves as a basis for estimating other values relevant
for software projects, like cost or the total time required to produce a software
product. Software Development effort estimation is
the process of predicting the most realistic amount of effort (expressed in
terms of person-hours) required to develop or maintain software-based
on incomplete, uncertain, and noisy input. Effort estimates may be used as input
to project plans, iteration plans, budgets, and investment analyses, pricing
processes and bidding rounds. Estimation is based on
- Past
Data/Past Experience
- Available
Documents/Knowledge
- Assumptions
- Identified
Risks
Need
for Software Effort Estimation
Effort estimation is essential for many
people and different departments in an organization. Reasons for effort
estimation vary, some of the most frequent being:
®
Project approval: There
must be a decision on a project launching on the part of an organization,
preceded by effort estimation required for successful completion of the
project.
® Project management: In order to plan a project and inform the project owners about deadlines and milestones you have to know how much effort the job requires.
®
Pricing
Product: Usually, software development is priced based on the
person-days multiplied by a daily person day rate. Without effort estimation
pricing is impossible.
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