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2005 Spring School - Estimating
One of the perennial complaints in the field of Project Management
is that it is difficult to estimate the size of a project. With continuous
pressure from project sponsors, and personal success being
judged on delivery to scope, time and budget, the challenge to
provide realistic estimates is increasing. In this School we will be
looking at the topic of estimating from basics to advanced, with a
specialist 'flavour' added for good measure.
This PROMS-G school is designed to refresh Project Managers'
awareness of basic estimating techniques, to provide an overview of
developments in tool support and use of metrics, and to illustrate
usage in the specific field of package implementation.
The school should also appeal to anyone who is involved in estimating
work - planners, project managers, team leaders, project/programme
office staff, as well as people moving into these positions.
| Date |
Topics |
Speaker |
| Tue 22 Feb 2005 |
Introduction to Estimating Techniques
The School starts with an introductory overview of the subject of estimating, its difficulties, and
some hints and tips at overcoming them. The talk will cover a comparison of methods commonly
used (e.g. top-down, bottom-up, parametric models, etc) with their particular strengths and
weaknesses, and is backed up by an exercise.
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Don Southey started in both I.T. and projects work in the early 80's at Rank Xerox, winning
several 'Top Team' citations and presenting two innovative projects to international audiences. In
the 90's he worked contracts for a variety of firms including BNFL, finally joining Computacenter
plc as a Project Manager in 1998. He is a Chartered Engineer with the IEE, a registered
PRINCE-2 practitioner and an occasional international mime artist. |
| Tue 1 Mar 2005 |
Tools to Support Estimating Practices
The second session will look at the nature of software tools on the market to support estimating
practices, and how and when they can best be deployed to best advantage at salient points (start,
stage boundaries, project end) of a project's lifecycle.
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David Dunning is a managing consultant and director of Corporate
Project Solutions (CPS), with 14 years' experience implementing project, programme
and resource management solutions. David has designed implementations of PRINCE2 in
banking, to delivered methodologies, technology and management consulting to
multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical organizations. David is authoritative on
any aspect of project management and change management. |
| Tue 8 Mar 2004 |
Estimating for Package Implementation
This session will review the applicability of techniques commonly used for software estimating,
including those introduced in week 1, for how Oracle estimates a package implementation
project. It will include discussion and a detailed insight into what special factors need to be
considered surrounding package implementations, where things can go wrong, and how to
minimise the risk of wrong estimates. This session is intended to provide an opportunity for
project managers to share experience, and to reflect on the validity of many of their working
assumptions. |
Nigel Minett and Mark Reilly are Programme Managers working for the Project Management
Practice in Oracle's UK Applications Consulting Practice. Each has over twenty-five years
experience of systems development and IS consulting, including bespoke software development,
package selection and implementation. Mark's experience additionally covers risk management
of high value projects in sectors including public sector, post and telecommunications, media,
energy and retail. Nigel's experience centres in addition on IT management, complex programme
management and overall engagement management. His experience covers financial services, air
express document delivery, manufacturing, utilities and public sector, and he is also the leader of
the UK Project Management Professional Community in Oracle.
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| Tue 15 Mar 2004 |
Improving the Delivery of Business Value using Functional Size Measures
Software developers classically measure the inputs to the creative process, typically recording
task durations and effort expended. But the majority fail to measure the amount of functionality
created or changed, the degree to which requirements are fulfilled, the number of defects injected
into the product, and the value delivered to the customer. From the customer's perspective,
existing measures are of little interest. The work performed across projects and organisations is
sufficiently similar that we can learn from our experiences and those of others. By normalising
with respect to parameters such as size and platform, organisations can compare the progress,
productivity, defect density, speed of delivery, etc, achieved by distinct suppliers using varying
methods. They can then prioritise accordingly.
Measures of a software product's functional size can enable understanding of the predictability
and performance of development and service management processes. This talk describes the
current status of sizing techniques such as FPA and COSMIC-FFP, and suggests how these can
be instrumental for improved decision-making and process performance.
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Grant Rule is a founder of Software Measurement Services Ltd and the Guild of Independent
Function Point Analysts, specialising in project and process appraisal, performance measurement,
benchmarking and continuous improvement. His expertise ranges through requirements and
estimating to statistical process control and software development methods. Grant has worked
variously as programmer, department manager, consultant and CEO, in domains from aerospace,
banking and telecommunications, to retail, manufacturing and the utilities. He has contributed to
ISO standards and is a member of the UK Software Metrics Association. Grant is a Certified
Function Point Analyst and a member of COSMIC, the international consortium developing
functional sizing methods relevant to modern projects and agile lifecycles. |
Event logistics:
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Dates: |
Four Tuesdays as above |
Time: |
19:00 (registration and refreshments available from 18:30) |
| Venue: |
Royal Bank of Scotland
Trinity Quay
Avon Street
Bristol
BS99 5LJ
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| Cost: |
BCS members |
£130 (£110.64 + VAT) |
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Non members |
£175 (£148.94 + VAT) |
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Unwaged/Students |
£ 25 (£21.28 + VAT) |
| Bookings: |
Please reserve a place using the online reservation form,
then do one of the following (please note that your place will not
be guaranteed until we receive your payment):
- Please send a copy of the paper booking form
with your cheque for the school fee (see above) to the address specified.
- if your organisation requires a proforma
invoice in order to generate the payment, please indicate on
the on-line form and we will post it. Please make sure you give
us contact details for both you and the paying authority in your
organisation!
If you have any subsequent queries about your
reservation, please contact promsg.admin@bcs.org.uk,
or telephone our administrator, Sue McGowan, on 07866 329391.
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