Software Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment
Subtitle: The Software Decision-Makers' Guide to Predictable Software Development
By: by Adam Trendowicz
Contributors: SpringerLink (Online service)
Series: Fraunhofer IESE Series on Software and Systems Engineering
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Imprint: Springer
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Berlin, Heidelberg
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 322
ISBN-13: 9783642307645
Subjects: Software engineering; Information Systems; Management of Computing and Information Systems; Project management; Computer science
Description: <p>Software effort estimation is a key element of software project planning and management. Yet, in industrial practice, the important role of effort estimation is often underestimated and/or misunderstood.</p><p>In this book, Adam Trendowicz presents the CoBRA method  (an abbreviation for Cost Estimation, Benchmarking, and Risk Assessment) for estimating the effort required to successfully complete a software development project, which uniquely combines human judgment and measurement data in order to systematically create a custom-specific effort estimation model. CoBRA goes far beyond simply predicting the development effort; it supports project decision-makers in negotiating the project scope, managing project risks, benchmarking productivity, and directing improvement activities. To illustrate the method’s practical use, the book reports several real-world cases where CoBRA was applied in various industrial contexts. These cases represent different estimation contexts in terms of software project environment, estimation objectives, and estimation constraints.</p><p>This book is the result of a successful collaboration between the process management division of Fraunhofer IESE and many software companies in the field of software engineering technology transfer. It mainly addresses software practitioners who deal with planning and managing software development projects as part of their daily work, and is also of interest for students or courses specializing in software engineering or software project management.</p>
Table of contents: title: Part I Predictable Software Development.-Why Software Effort Estimation?; title: What is a Good Estimate?; title: Why the CoBRA Method?; title: Part II The CoBRA Method; title: Principles of the CoBRA Method; title: Model Development and Validation; title: Model Application; title: Usage Scenarios of a CoBRA Model; title: Part III Industrial Applications; title: Software design & management, Germany; title: Allette Systems, Australia; title: Oki Electric, Japan; title: Siemens Information Systems, India; title: Japan Manned Space Systems, Japan; title: Bibliography.