Software Development Project Checklist
"There are many, many ways to estimate a software project, ranging from formal models that can only be worked by a University professor through to a salesperson's hopeful guess.
Here We Present a simple, proven software project estimation method that produces reasonably accurate results and has been used estimate substantial fixed price work.
This method is based on a quick but robust initial design on the premise that later versions of the design will reduce the amount of work as developers come up with smart ideas for saving work.
This method also calls for participation by a substantial number of people, increasing buy-in and gaining accuracy....
Overview
This estimation method has three steps:
1. Design the System.
2. Estimate each Part of the System.
3. Schedule the Work.
The outputs are:
1. A project schedule with allowances for schedule risk, internal dependencies and known outages.
2. A list of other assumptions made during the estimation.
3. A list of the project's external dependencies.
4. A list of other risks to the project schedule. "
