Method of Software Development Project Duration Estimation for Scrum Teams with Differentiated Specializations

Abstract

Estimation is an essential step of software development project planning that has a significant impact on project success—underestimation often leads to problems with the delivery or even causes project failure. An important aspect that the classical estimation methods are usually missing is the Agile nature of development processes in the implementation phase. The estimation method proposed in this article aims at software development projects implemented by Scrum teams with differentiated specializations. The method is based on the authors’ system of working-time balance equations and the approach to measuring project scope with time-based units—normalized development estimates. In order to reduce efforts spent on the estimation itself, an analysis of dependencies among project tasks is not mandatory. The outputs of the methods are not recommended to be treated as commitments; instead, they are supposed to be used to inform project stakeholders about the forecasted duration of a potential project. The method is simple enough to allow even an inexpensive spreadsheet-based implementation.

Agile Methodologies Applied to the Development of Internet of Things (IoT)-Based Systems: A Review

“…These methodologies split the system to be developed into deliverable products, which in turn are organised into tasks that last from 2 to 4 weeks (called sprint in Scrum) [ 92 , 93 ]. This way of organising the work contrasts with other development methodologies, such as Waterfall, Spiral, RP, etc., that take the problem to be solved in its entirety.…”

Preliminary Estimation for Software Development Projects Empowered with a Method of Recommending Optimal Duration and Team Composition

“…To fill in this gap, the authors propose the concept of the estimation life cycle (ELC), tailoring estimation activities to the software development life cycle (SDLC) stages. According to the ELC, early project stages are accompanied by introductory, preliminary, and intermediate [9] estimations (listed in the order of increasing levels of details, reliability, and accuracy). The commonality of these estimations is that their outputs are not definitive enough to take on obligations.…”

“…The main outputs of the preliminary estimation are project scope (represented as an estimable-item breakdown structure, defined below), team composition, and project duration. Obviously, due to the quite high level of uncertainty, these outcomes are not supposed to be used for making commitments; instead, they will be elaborated on in the following stages: the intermediate and precise estimations [9,10].…”

“…The method of preliminary estimation proposed in this study is based on a simplified version of a system of working-time balance equations [9,10]. This applied simplification (in comparison with the intermediate estimation) aims, first of all, at the minimization of efforts spent on the estimation, intentionally sacrificing its accuracy.…”

“…The current study is a logical continuation of the authors' past works-the preliminary estimation method is based on their estimation framework [9,10]. This section is devoted to the basic terms and concepts introduced previously, in particular, the concept of the estimation life cycle, the structure of software developer working time, and the "normalization" approach to measure development efforts.…”