Course Overview
9h 03m | 65 Videos | 81998 Views | 
All Levels Software Project Estimation
Project budgets, time, and resources form crucial parts within project management and can surely be the deciding factors for the success or failure of your project. You may have an excellent idea and you may consider yourself an amazing project manager but the truth lies in how your project fares in the long run and how much of that is based on your estimates towards your software projects.
The entire purpose of software development came as a competitive alternative to many hardware utilities and products. With the use of software, costs were always kept at bay as compared to hardware and that brought out a new outlook to the industrial sector. With increasing amounts of software being designed for different systems and computers, it became necessary for software development to adopt the ways of project management, which were restricted to manufacturing and production in the early days. As timelines, scopes, and costs were key components within the entire scope of developing software, soon project managers realized at how inversely proportionate these components were. If there was a tighter timeline associated, the cost of getting this done was incredibly increased and the scope was widened, and all the different permutations and combinations.
Cost, Scope, and Time became the centers of control and manipulation for project managers and they made it a best practice to indulge in software project estimation, looking through each and every aspect and having figures associated with them that should maintain a balanced output for the project. This became an effectively challenging job to do and also critical to business. Project planning and control were soon based on the estimates given and project managers were slapped with two situations:
- Underestimation of the project – in this situation, you are mostly going to under-staff your project, scope it too little around the quality aspect, and even keep a tight schedule as you don’t expect it to be a huge project.
- Overestimation of the project – in this situation, you are mostly going to over-stuff your project, scope it beyond its actual worth and quality requirements, and keep a flexible and amply large schedule.
In both these scenarios, you will be running into losses and spending more money on your projects: first, to make up for the shortage of resources and second, for absolutely nothing at all.
In order for you to dodge these situations and have a fair estimation of your entire project, it’s very important that you understand your project completely before entering into the software project estimation part. The basics of software project estimation involve the use of 4 steps. They are as follows:
- Project Size – Estimating the size of the development software in either Line of Code (LOC) or Function Points (FP)
- Resource – Estimating the effort in man-hours or months
- Schedule – Estimating the schedule in calendar months or calendar days
- Cost – Estimating the project cost in a relevant currency
In order to estimate these aspects of a project in the most accurate manner, it’s essential and beneficial for you to latch onto the different methods and tools available. These tools and methods can be either integrated to your project’s software and various tools or it can be a stand-alone tool that can help you yield out great estimations for you to base your project on. Some of these methods and tools include:
- Wideband Delphi Estimation Method – Used to estimate the efforts to be put into a software, the Wideband Delphi estimation method uses the principles of the Delphi method, which is a structured communication method used by project managers as a forecasting tool.
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – This technique enables the project manager to decompose a software project into smaller, manageable components that can be measured and estimated in the best way possible. The approach used here is based on the deliverables of each unit that the project targets at.
- Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) – This is a statistical tool and can be used by a project manager to analyze the various tasks that are involved into completing a software project in a successful manner. It identifies using Critical Path Method (CPM) the shortest route to complete a particular task or activity or a project and attaches the time used to complete it.
- COCOMO Model – This is an algorithmic-based cost estimation tool that uses the basic regression formula on the past history of project data.
- Use case Point Analysis (UPA) – Used specifically for software development projects, Use case Points is a software estimation technique that can help you forecast the size of the software project and accordingly take further decisions and steps.
- Function Point Analysis (FPA) – With the use of function points, this estimation technique looks into smaller components of the software project and establishes the functionality and the value that each function adds to the project and in turn to the product being developed.
Software Project Estimation Training Description
Introduction – Look into what your software project needs and how estimation is the right way to go.
Basic Concepts of Software Estimation – In this section, you will understand the need for software project estimation, the people involved in this process, and the different software estimation techniques used to get software project estimation up and running.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – Learn everything you need to know about WBS and learn how you can put this unique and structured tool into practice to find out the workflow that your tasks and activities are subjected to.
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) – Understand the concepts of Critical Path Method and how we can use the estimation power within numbers to determine the time needed for each task within the project and the amalgamation of these times for tasks into the time needed by your software project.
Effort, Schedule, and Cost Estimation, Project Tracking – Get to know about the different points of estimations and how you are to put to use software estimation techniques for the purpose of estimation. Learn about project tracking and how important is it when the project is on-going.
What are the prerequisites to online Software Project Estimation Training?
Project managers are always expected to present the best and most accurate estimation of the effort, the schedule, and the cost of their software projects. With project management in play, these concentrated efforts can be made with the help of methods and software estimation techniques to come to the closest estimation possible. For the purpose of this training, you don’t need to have exquisite knowledge or certification in your hand, but all you need are the following two things:
- Basic computer knowledge – most of the techniques now come as tools and are normally part of a system or are stand-alone systems. Computer knowledge will help you to understand these software estimation techniques and its internal workings better, should you later want to customize them as per your software project requirements.
- Zeal to learn – As a project manager, it’s essential to know that you can never learn enough. Your learning graph should always continue its momentum and keep getting higher. Within a field like a project management, where there are updates and developments at almost every turn of the way, it’s important to keep yourself refreshed about the different methods and learn how to put the theory into practice. Learning can be your greatest tool in all your software project estimation endeavors.
Software Project Estimation Target Audience
While this course is targeted at individuals who play a key and important role in the decision-making aspect of the projects they are part of at different organizations, this training is specifically meant for you if you are:
- A Project Management Professional – you will need to understand the entire pretext this falls under and how estimations and forecasting, in the most accurate way, can enable your project to set course for success and can enhance your skill set opening many doors and opportunities for you.
- A Project Manager – you form the backbone of the project and the responsibility of handling the project from end to end lies on you. This training is targeted at you to enable you to be best suited if you’ve not done so well till date with your project estimations and need to crack this egg once and for all.
- Project management aspirants – students who won’t make the cut into project management teams and who later on aspire to become project management professionals or managers can take up this course.
- Project Sponsors and anyone interested in learning the Project Closure stage.
- Anyone who wants to make a name in the project management field and has the determination and leadership skills to lead a team and direct a software development project to a successful completion.
Software Project Estimation FAQs for the Training
- How accurate will my estimations be once I attend this training course and complete it successfully?
Your estimations for your software project post this online training course depend on two things:
- Your level of application of the concepts to the real-life scenarios
- Your caliber as a project manager and your relativity to the team and stakeholders
This course will be able to lead you down the correct path where you will be able to understand the concepts of estimation in detail and in logic. It thoroughly depends on your level of dedication and application that the teachings go on to become practical examples of accurate estimations. Estimation cannot always be spot-on but we’re looking at closest-to-accurate estimations that can help your project.
- Are these proven techniques? Can they be used separately or all the software estimation techniques described need to be implemented on a single project?
These are very much tried-and-tested software estimation techniques and have never failed in any type of software projects when implemented correctly. Each estimation technique addresses a different section of the project: time, scope, efforts, or cost. It’s your understanding of your software project and the training that will help you decide which technique to use where.
- Do these techniques and explanation only work on software projects? Can this knowledge be transferred to other types of projects as well?
Absolutely! These software estimation techniques aren’t restricted to an only software project and can be used in the diverse types of projects that are conducted within the project management paradigm.
Software Project Estimation Course Testimonials
Sophie Bibiana
I love eduCBA and the offered courses. Especially, Online Software Projects Estimation Training course. Very informative and simple to understand. My language is not native English, but this course help me very much to understand. Video tutorials are basic to understand and help me to estimate my projects very well. Thank you eduCBA for your help.
Gayle Young
My name is Gayle Young and I would like to write about EDUCBA and the role it has played in my project management career. I am a self-learned project manager and it is through EDUCBA that I got the opportunity to learn so much and in such great depth. The course on software project estimation helped me make two successful mini projects that were handed over to me and now I’ll be working on the 3rd one because of my excellent work on the estimation and execution on the first 2 projects. It’s a great experience and worth every penny. Keep up the good work.
Candida Varghese
A great online software estimation training offered by EDUCBA is worth the time and effort. The explanations are clear and you don’t need to pause anywhere during the lectures as the speed is comfortable. I had read about the software estimation techniques used here before but couldn’t quite understand them until I enrolled for this course. Brilliant work and extremely simple to understand.
Career benefits of Software Project Estimation Training
Becoming a proficient estimator won’t happen overnight or just with the completion of this course, you will have to work and strive for it to make it work for you.
Whether you’re a project manager or a project professional or even a student aspiring to join the ranks within the world of project management, the implication this online training course can have on your project management career can be immense. You will be better at putting tools and techniques to use and understanding the project definition more in detail.
Apart from understanding software project estimation and learning to implement the various software estimation techniques, you will be able to advance to the next pedestal of your project management career and if you’re eyeing that promotion, you will stand a good chance at extending your capabilities to grab the top spot.
| Where do our learners come from? |
| Professionals from around the world have benefited from eduCBA’s Software Estimation – online Software Estimation Techniques Courses. Some of the top places that our learners come from include New York, Dubai, San Francisco, Bay Area, New Jersey, Houston, Seattle, Toronto, London, Berlin, UAE, Chicago, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, India, Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Gurgaon among many. |
