Agilish

Estimating Software Projects is a Conundrum. co·nun·drum /kəˈnəndrəm/ noun — a confusing and difficult problem or question. The problem to solve is this: when you work at a company that has a Program Management Office (PMO) and/or is highly regulated, the business partners that sponsor and regulate projects expect accurate estimates for the work you are going to do. They also expect evidence that you are delivering on those estimates. At the same time, large projects tend to take a long time. It may not take long to deliver working software into production if your team is good, but to "finish" a project — such as a re-platform or a large scope of work — can take months if not years to complete. And over the course of that time, things change. Business priorities change. Technologies change. Your budget will change. The people on your project team will change. The longer a project needs to run, the bigger the challenge with estimating and delivering the software that...