Estimating software costs

Are your software costs spiraling out of control'

Do your projects chronically run late, exceed budget, and go out the door bugladen, if at all'

Have you discovered a commercial software cost estimating tool that works for your situation'

Are you even familiar with how these increasingly sophisticated tools operate?

Capers Jones, a pioneer and innovator in the field, probes the fundamental issues involved with the notoriously tough task of software cost estimation. Rather than provide simplistic manual formulas that lack the accuracy needed for contracts and serous business purposes, he explores in great detail the multifaceted variables that cause estimates to be higher or lower than average. The result for you: A clear, complete understanding of how to estimate software costs, schedules, and quality for more effectively than you many have thought possible.

You'll learn the technical details ho how software cost estimates are produced ... what kinds of commercial tools are available ... how these tools work within various project management suites ... and how to troubleshoot and solve typical problems, such as:

• Sizing the project before requirements are firm
  
• Dealing with creeping requirements
  
• Handling excessive schedule pressure
  
• Taking international factors into account
  
• Planning for contractual and legal concerns

Table of contents :

Section I: Introduction to Software Cost Estimation

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: The Origins of Software Cost Estimation

Chapter 3: Features of Commercial Software Cost Estimating Tools

Chapter 4: Six Forms of Software Cost Estimation

Chapter 5: Software Cost Estimating and Other Project Management Tools

Chapter 6: Patterns of Project Management Tool Usage by Industry and Project Size

Chapter 7: Software Cost Estimating Tools and Project Success and Failure Rates

Chapter 8: Investment Costs and Return on investment (ROI) for Software Project Management Tools

Chapter 9: Sources of Error in Software Cost Estimation

Chapter 10: Software Project Management in the Twenty-First Century

Section II: Preliminary Estimation Methods

Chapter 11: Manual Software Estimating Methods

Chapter 12: Automated Estimates from Minimal Data

Section III: Sizing Software Deliverables

Chapter 13: Sizing Software Deliverables

Section IV: Cost Estimating Adjustment Factors

Chapter 14: Compensation and Work Pattern Adjustments

Chapter 15: Activity Pattern Adjustment Factors

Chapter 16: Software Technology Adjustment Factors

Section V: Activity-Based Software Cost Estimating

Chapter 17: Estimating Software Requirements

Chapter 18: Estimating Software Prototypes

Chapter 19: Estimating Software Specifications and Design

Chapter 20: Estimating Design Inspections

Chapter 21: Estimating Programming or Coding

Chapter 22: Estimating Code Inspections

Chapter 23: Estimating Software Configuration Control and Change Management

Chapter 24: Estimating Software Testing

Chapter 25: Estimating User and Project Management

Chapter 26: Estimating Software Project Management

Section VI: Maintenance and Enhancement Cost Estimating

Chapter 27: Maintenance and Enhancement Estimating

Appendix A: Biographies of Software Estimation Pioneers

Appendix B: Software Cost Estimating Vendors and Associations

Appendix C: Annotated Bibliography of Software Estimation

Index