To estimate a software project means to calculate the time & costs of the project completion. This practice helps the client establish the right scope of work, understand what timeline is needed, and whether it is feasible with regard to his/her business goals.
Projects that were not estimated beforehand can have overruns, be overdue, and cost more than the set budget of the client. And it’s counterproductive to let things go on their own. So, to plan future projects, gain experience in project development and receive the other benefits, we turn to project estimation. This is also a good tip in your knowledge pursuit of how to scale a startup.
There are two methods to estimate the project cost. These are:
The first method is more fixed and linear while the second belongs to the Agile approach and is more flexible.
These objectives are mostly theoretical. At practice, we can customize the process of evaluation. For example, you can use the following approaches:
The possibility to choose one method among the many shows that there is no solution to fit all into one size. It is almost impossible and quite challenging to make an estimate that covers all the issues that could come forward. Software development goes with a flow, where the team can discover and learn something new about the process of deployment and this new knowledge may impact the estimate drastically. If you want a perfect estimate, consider discovery phase services.
Different industries have the same core processes of software project estimation. Overruns are eliminated at the start with the help of accurate planning. So, if you want to know how to create a successful startup, use this checklist.
There are a number of software tools applicable to carry out an estimation easier:
Also, learn more about software development time estimation!