Posted by Estimating Issues Associated with Agile Development
Estimating Track
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Abstract:
New software development methodologies with combinations of old and new ideas are getting increasing public attention. These ideas all emphasized close collaboration between the programmer and business experts; face-to-face communication; frequent delivery of software units; and tight, self-organizing teams. Agile is a frequently used developmental process that follows this paradigm. As the use of Agile Development expands, the cost analyst is faced how this process affects the basic estimating fundamentals. This paper will discuss the best estimating practices that should be applied to agile programs and will recommend a set of techniques for agile estimation including:
• Mapping Agile principles into automated models
• Selecting appropriate Agile Knowledge Bases
• Modifying Activity Naming Schemes
• Adjusting Labor Categories
• Building Proxies
Author:
Bob Hunt
Galorath Incorporated
Bob Hunt is Vice President, Services of Galorath Incorporated. He is responsible for the management and quality of the Services staff and Services products. Galorath’s professional services staff is defined by expert analysts and consultants with broad experience in cost estimating, acquisition management, program control, and project management, as well as deep knowledge of the capabilities, features and limitations of SEER tools. Mr. Hunt has provided information technology systems and software program assessments, SEI Checklist program evaluations, software sizing analyses, and IT and software cost estimating for commercial and federal clients including the Customs and Border Patrol, the Department of Defense, NASA, and various commercial clients. Prior to joining Galorath, Mr. Hunt was a Corporate Officer and member of the Board of Directors of CALIBRE Systems, and President of CALIBRE Services. Prior to joining CALIBRE, he was a Vice President of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) responsible for the Cost and Acquisition Management Operation. In this position, Mr. Hunt was the principal author of the initial Army Cost Analysis Manual. As a civil servant, Mr Hunt was Deputy Director of Cost Analysis for Automation and Modeling, Cost Analysis Division, U.S. Army, The Pentagon. Mr. Hunt has held leadership positions and made technical presentations for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Society of Cost Estimating and Analysis (SCEA), and the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP), and the IEEE.
Mr. Hunt received his Masters Degree from Virginia State University and his Bachelors of Science degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Mathematics Education. Mr. Hunt is a certified cost estimator/analyst for the Society of Cost Estimating and Analysis and was a member of the SCEA and ISPA He also served as the Chairman of the Economics Technical Subcommittee of the AIAA.