Case Study
Making Sense of a Mess of Data
Organizations often use their own projects as a basis of estimation and for analogies along with industry trends and knowledge bases. However historical data can be messy! This webinar will discuss our experience delving into project records and culling information from them that is useful for estimating using SEER for Software (SEER-SEM.).
This webinar addresses:
- Where you can get usable information
- What are the sniff tests
- How you fill in the blanks
- What types of records are meaningful
- Normalizing data for use
- How SEER for Software can interact with your data
Reduce the Risk of Software Project Failures: Project Surveillance using SEER SEM
Too many software projects spiral out of control along the way, causing overruns or project failures. Traditional earned value metrics can help, analyzing effort versus progress. However, for software projects earned value alone is insufficient to discover problems while there is time to do something about them. Undiscovered defects and requirements growth both impact software projects, yet are often ignored. Using these metrics in combination with traditional earned value effort and progress metrics, and combining them with parametric analysis can yield a more robust project status and flag issues early when they are more likely recoverable.
This webinar presents this four-dimensional, parametric approach to project status using SEER for Software’s Project Monitoring and Control Features
Project Monitoring & Control (PMC) provides:
- A method to accurately use earned value metrics to forecast project completion based on actual project performance to date
- How forecasted and actual defect insertion & removal rates interact with earned value
- Methods of forecasting and dealing with requirements growth during project execution
- A way to identify risk areas and potential management changes that will improve performance
- A method to select between alternative management actions to yield the best results
Mainframe Migration Estimating: Successes from the Trenches
Increasingly, mainframes are being replaced with more modern technologies. Migrating software from the mainframe to a new environment is fraught with issues. A viable estimate of the effort and schedule are essential to an achievable plan and a successful project.
This presentation describes the use of a parametric estimation tool to produce a series of estimates for a project to migrate software to a new environment. The objective of the estimate is to provide information on the effort and schedule duration required to migrate this critical application. That information has to be developed in such a way that it can be used in a variety of planning and evaluation scenarios.
The webinar explains:
- Estimating best practices for the problem
- Planning scenarios
- Evaluation scenarios
- Tips and techniques supporting all of these
Estimate Early: Estimate Faster with SEER Estimate by Comparison
This presentation will provide an insight into the SEER Estimate by Comparison application, its use in concert with the SEER solutions, and some applications which center around common project management issues.
The Estimate by Comparison application has traditionally been used to empower users to develop an understanding of software size; the single most significant driver of development cost, effort, and schedule for software projects. However, SEER Estimate by Comparison has evolved and can be utilized with all of the SEER solutions to provide an insight into effective definition of scope through a series of project analogies and/or comparisons to a user’s repository of past projects, thus helping users to develop a reliable estimate on a project’s scope even when information is scarce.
SEER Estimate by Comparison further adds capability to the project team when used in a more contemporary manner. It can be manipulated in such a manner that a wide realm of subjective, qualitative alternatives can be evaluated in context of the project as a whole in a robust, repeatable and ultimately measureable manner.
We will explore its use in two major Project Management areas, namely, Risk Management and Requirements Management.
The possibilities and the opportunities to better quantify qualitative conjecture are virtually limitless.
Estimate More with Less: Cost IQ
Imagine being able to produce comprehensive estimates derived from just a few requirements . . . Now you can.
The CostIQ system has been designed to rapidly produce full projects in any SEER model, with little more needed from the user than a few requirements.
Learn:
- An in-depth introduction to the system
- Its use and configuration
- Its interface with the SEER applications
- How CostIQ can be customized to your own estimating challenges
How Can SEER Support Our Mission “Better Control Budget Spend” - by Christelle Delcourt
The objective of the presentation is to describe the evolution of the project estimation review process in Euroclear projects (from support to PL towards an independent assessment mission) and position SEER as supporting tool in this E2E process aiming at better controlling project budget:
- Independent budget review of application development projects
- Support to outsourcing contracts discussions
- Assessment of IT division productivity
Resource Catalogues: Credible, Consistent & Repeatable Estimates Using SEER - by Mitchell Bostelman
Over the past five years, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has established a centralized portfolio planning division which supports IRS Enterprise Governance, where all IT-related investment decisions are made. With centralization of IT portfolio development and decisioning, demand for investment analysis services (scope definition and resource estimation) far exceeds capacity. To facilitate very quick, consistent, and repeatable development of resource estimates, the IRS Estimation Program Office (EPO) developed an estimation approach based on a standardized WBS applicable to all IRS IT projects populated through extensive use of resource catalogs. Resource catalogs are predefined portions of scope that include labor and materials across the full life cycle. Catalogs are built and maintained using SEER for IT functional models and delivered to the WBS via SEER for IT’s scenario function. Additionally, catalog use reduces the effort and cost required to document a project’s technical baseline definition. This briefing begins to outline how the EPO develops, utilizes, and maintains resource catalogs.
What’s New in SEER - by Dan Galorath
Dan Galorath's talk consists of two parts:
- Hot topics in estimating from his blog - covers current issues and trends in estimation, planning and control
- What’s new and what’s coming with SEER - covers each of the SEER products, some of the best new items and the roadmap.
The Virtual Composites Company – A Tool for Composites Education - by Kevin Potter
University level education in composites has tended to focus on classical lamination theory, material performance, failure processes and detailed design, with less emphasis on processing and manufacture and little or no attention paid to the operational and financial elements that drive the revenue stream and profitability. It is not really possible to get operating businesses to reveal enough detail to generate good case study data to enable these critical elements of the aerospace composites business to be successfully incorporated into an educational setting; and in any case there will be significant differences between, say, a multinational company and an SME. It is useful, then, to develop a flexible model of the operations of a composites engineering company, and this paper describes the process of generating such a model as an educational tool. The tool is based on a set of interlinked spread sheets for (a) unit manufacturing cost, (b) non-recurring cost, (c) capital and long-term investments, and (d) the breakdown of various functions within the company with regard to labour and other revenue costs. Having generated the tool, it can be used as a teaching aid; as a research tool to study the impact of changes in materials, processes and overheads on the operations and profitability of a company; as a research tool to study how best to organise a composites company under different sets of conditions such as changes in turnover, risk sharing design vs. subcontract manufacture and so on; and to assist SMEs in understanding what they need to put in place to become suppliers of composite parts in aerospace.
Whole Life Cost Estimation of Future Unmanned Air Systems - by Graham Potter
The Ministry of Defense's (MoD) Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) is engaged in studies for the MoD to explore the cost-capability trade space for future Unmanned Air Systems. This work involves the estimation of Whole Life Cost for a range of conceptual air vehicle designs. This presentation describes the cost modeling approach used by DSTL, including the assessment of alternative costing tools and methods and their suitability for both validation efforts and collaborative working with industry partners.
The Complexities of Rolling Out an Estimation Service in a Large Corporation - by James Mankin
This presentation seeks to share the complexities of rolling out a common, consistent IT estimation process across a highly complex and very global company - Ford Motor Company.
Over the past 6 months, James Mankin has had responsibility for moving Ford's entire European IT organisation (including software, hardware and IT consulting organisations) from their existing local estimation processes into a joined-up, centralised global estimation process.
People working for large, multinational companies will recognise the challenges - the resistance to change, the lack of trust in centrally-provided services, and the sheer energy invested by teams to avoid "the estimators"!
Over the course of the presentation, Mankin will explain the complexities of the organisation, the approach taken to ensure success and some early results. Illustrations will be given on the approach to managing an application portfolio, the different types of estimates offered as services, and how to engage application and hardware teams and earned their trust.
Is Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) The Silver Bullet? Project Estimation for SOA Projects
This Webinar will provide a discussion of effort and schedule estimation for SOA projects utilizing SEER for Software. The characteristics of SOA will be discussed to establish an understanding of issues which can impact the estimates. With the understanding of the characteristics of SOA we will consider project specific parameter settings for the SEER estimate. A project plan methodology will be introduced using the confidence based estimate to establish a confidence based plan.
Learn about:
- Concepts and differences for SOA and SAAS projects
- Concerns for planning both projects to develop SOA services and applications that will utilize SOA services
- Establishing an effort (budget) and schedule estimate
SEER Solutions: Estimation News from Galorath Incorporated (November 2009)
Included in this issue:
- Calculate Your Confidence Level Using SEER
- Early Software Project Estimation with Use Case Points
- DoD CIO Approves Open Source Software.. But Beware of Low Cost Assumptions
- FPGA Growth and Costing
- Did You Know?
- Discover our Developer's Blog
- Dan on Estimating Blog
- Previews from the Development Lab
- In The News
- Upcoming SEER Workshops
- Consult our Archived SEER Webinars
SEER Solutions: Estimation News from Galorath Incorporated (April 2009)
Included in this issue:
- Estimating the Cost of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
- Seeking SEER for Hardware, Electronics & Systems 7.1 Beta Test Participants
- SEER for Software Browser Edition: Available for Trial Use
- Fifth Annual International SEER Users Conference a Success
- Did You Know?
- Notice: Windows 2000 No Longer Supported
- Discover our Developer's Blog
- How to Count a Big Database Using ILFs
- Dan on Estimating Blog
- Previews from the Development Lab
- In The News
- Upcoming SEER Workshops
- Consult our Archived SEER Webinars
SEER Solutions: Estimation News from Galorath Incorporated (April 2010)
Included in this issue:
- SEER for Software Beta Testing
- SEER Cost IQ Beta Testing
- SEER User Conference in the UK
- SEER Survey Participants Benefit SEER for Software and the American Red Cross
- Galorath Incorporated Goes for the Gold and is Now a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner
- Recent Tradeshows and Conference Engagements
- Upcoming Tradeshows and Conferences
- Introducing the Information Systems Risk Management Consortium Charter
- SEER Products Are Now Windows 7 Compatible
- Did You Know?
- Discover Our Developer's Blog
- Dan on Estimating Blog
- Previews from the Development Lab
- In The News
- Upcoming SEER Workshops
- Consult our Archived SEER Webinars
- Upcoming Webinars
Paying too much? “Should Cost” Assessments with SEER
Discover how to make finite decisions with a “should cost” model based on the manufacturing options you have available.
“Should cost” modeling should be the cornerstone for any company that outsources manufacturing, or wants to evaluate outsourcing options vs. in-house manufacturing capabilities.
A capable “should cost” model ought to:
- Provide credible and defendable estimates of manufacturing and assembly costs
- Allow for the evaluation of alternatives that directly impact the cost to manufacture
- Facilitate proactive, real time cost impact assessments of design alternatives for today’s global sourcing environment
- Facilitate vendor negotiations for outsourced fabrication
- Allow you to determine what is the right price you should be paying for any given outsourced commodity? And what is the total cost of that commodity in real terms?
Debbie Wilson of Gartner may have said it best. “When price negotiations are conducted with accurate cost models in hand, I firmly believe that they yield superior results. That’s because fact-based discussions support joint problem-solving and relationship building with key suppliers far better than just using a heavier hammer or an alternative supplier’s hard luck…”
Learn how the SEER for Manufacturing cost model can be utilized to provide these functions, performing in-depth cost analysis at the manufacturing process level so the user can make the necessary finite decisions.
Managing Software Project Risk for More Successful Projects
A sound estimate and sound defect containment strategy are critical to project management success.
Join us and learn why:
- Manual methods are totally inadequate for any significant project.
- The "3 Minute Mile" kills projects and careers.
- Realistic assessment of status requires quality metrics.
- Quality must be planned.
- "Productivity" means increasing value-added.
Take advantage of this opportunity to hear from leaders in the field: Dan Galorath and Gary Gack.
Design and Cost Optimization with SEER for Hardware and PHX ModelCenter
ModelCenter® 9.0 by Phoenix Integration is a graphical environment for process integration and design automation that empowers engineers to explore a design space and find the best solutions that meet all specified design requirements. SEER® for Hardware (SEER-H) by Galorath, a decision-support tool that reliably and accurately estimates the total cost of ownership for new product development projects, can be easily integrated into PHX ModelCenter 9.0 to determine the best design while meeting all specified design and cost requirements. The problem of designing a potential wind farm at lowest possible cost to meet a specific wind profile will be presented to demonstrate how SEER® can be used to explore a wide array of cost-related variables while Data Visualizer in PHX ModelCenter® 9.0 can be used to understand the cost impact of design changes.
Live Demonstration Featuring:
- Overview of PHX ModelCenter® 9.0
- Overview of SEER® for Hardware by Galorath
- Phoenix Integration’s Data Visualizer
Smart Sourcing in the Global Environment
This paper discusses how process-based parametric cost models, SEER-H and SEER-MFG, are used to facilitate proactive real time cost impact assessments of commodity design alternatives in today's global sourcing environment. The main purpose is to show how model use in the sourcing process can produce a significant financial benefit to any organization that employs the use of the SEER-H and SEER-MFG modeling process. It will also introduce the SEER-H and SEER-MFG estimation cost models, their premise, and flexibility of use in the development of trade study "should be costing" estimates. This approach facilitates organizations to take full advantage of outsourcing cost reductions and profit increases made possible thru the use of parametric cost models. Readers are introduced to how commodity managers and engineers can use these models to obtain substantial cost savings through uses in a ‘real world' case study.
Discover Hardware Oriented Applications for SEER-IT
SEER-IT is a versatile application that enables you to estimate IT infrastructure deployment as well as operations. It is easy to see how SEER-IT can be used to estimate deployment and support of enterprise IT systems. However, SEER-IT can be very effective in estimating the deployment and operations of systems that use custom hardware interconnected by IT based technologies.
This presentation will show:
- How SEER-IT can be used to estimate the deployment and operations of the IT based technologies prevalent in network centric systems (NCS).
- How to estimate the required systems engineering needed to bring estimating
- Where and when to use SEER-SEM, SEER-H and SEER-IT for different components of a NCS
- Examples of a SEER-IT estimate for NCS and hardware oriented systems are included
Acquisition Reform (WSARA) And How It Impacts Your Estimations: Looking forward And Lessons Learned
Weapons systems acquisition reform has been a recurring topic within the Department of Defense for many years.
Mr. Bob Hunt, Galorath’s V.P. of Professional Services, was a Senior Pentagon official during the previous Acquisition Reform initiatives. He has since been active in the contractor community. Mr. Hunt will offer a unique perspective on how these acquisition reforms will impact both the Government and the contractor estimating communities.
This WebEx discusses the unique implication of the latest reform on the cost and schedule estimating process, including:
- Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation
- Directors of DT&E and Systems Engineering Performance Assessments & Root Cause Analysis
- Assessment of Technology Maturity
- Trade-Offs in Cost, Schedule and Performance
- Critical Cost Growth in MDAPs
- Earned Value Management
- Required Reports
- Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation
- How some of the SEER applications can be advantageously applied for Pre-milestone A estimates
- And much more!
Much (or some) of this has been tried before, e.g. Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986; also discussed in “The Cost Analysis Improvement Group: A History” by Srull, Margolis, and McNicol. WSARA is being driven by the continued and “sometimes surprising growth” in the cost and schedule of Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs).
Don’t Let Estimating Complex Custom ICs Intimidate You
Estimating Circuit Card development has become more challenging due to the increased presence of complex custom ICs like ASICs, FPGAs and RFICs. These critical components provide a dramatic increase in capability but are also a challenge to estimate due to the ever increasing performance of each new generation of chips.
Learn how the SEER-IC plug-in:
- Expands the capabilities of SEER-H to allow a deeper look into these custom components in order to more accurately estimate these significant costs.
- Performs tradeoffs between different technologies and assess possible cost impacts of various technical options.
- Can be used to estimate costs for ASICs, FPGAs and RFICs. We will show some common examples and tradeoffs done with the model.
Demystifying Agile Project Cost and Schedule Estimates
As more and more organizations embrace the many benefits of Agile software development, one problem still endures: How does one estimate an Agile project?
During this presentation the audience will be shown three kinds of Agile estimates:
- The Planning Estimate
- The Forecast Estimate
- The Working Estimate
Each estimate is prepared at various stages of the development cycle and allows for a wide range of assumptions about the project, the staff, and the customer. When prepared using a parametric modeling application, such as SEER for Software, a close approximation to actual projects cost, effort, and schedule can be predicted.
Exploit What You’ve Learned: SEER for Software Project Actuals Data Analysis
Galorath Incorporated works hard to insure that SEER for Software out of the box is calibrated to a wide variety of software development circumstances. SEER for Software can also be calibrated in a number of ways, increasing estimating confidence.
Calibration avenues include knowledge bases, custom knowledge bases, and a large array of parameters, in addition to specialized calibration factors, an advanced feature of SEER for Software.
This presentation provides a complete tutorial on how to calibrate: what to look for, how to process actual outcomes for comparability with SEER for Software, forensics, statistical methods, and ways in which SEER for Software can be calibrated. Take what you need:
- What to look for when evaluating software project data
- Normalization techniques to insure records are comparable
- How SEER for Software can be calibrated
Using the Poisson Probability Distribution to Estimate Cost of Re-supply Spares
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated) An important aspect of the operational cost of a piece of equipment is the cost of spares. Failures of components of the equipment that are subject only to random failures (as opposed to wear-out, infant mortality, and other non-random failure modes) can be modeled with the Poisson distribution.
Searching for Project Risk Management
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated) Project risk management has been an arcane subject that now is now a topic of increasing interest. I believe there are three reasons for this:
• Customers are more demanding
• Competition is increasing
• Project are more complex
The Risk Driver Impact Approach to Estimation of Project Cost Risks
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated) Perhaps the most commonly used approach to quantitative estimation of project cost risks is to estimate a "nominal" cost for each work element of the project's work breakdown structure, subjectively assign cost risk distributions to those nominal values, then run a Monte Carlo simulation to obtain a risk distribution of the cost sum. When this is done, the Monte Carlo tool used must have the capability to allow the user to assign correlations between the various work element costs, else serious errors can result. In projects, work elements generally are not designed for statistical independence, nor is it likely they could be in any practical sense, even if we wanted to do so. If there are significant correlations and they are not well specified, the result is a serious underestimation of the risks.
Regression for Cost Analysts
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated)The question that regression methods can potentially answer for the cost analyst can be stated this way: Given a set of historical cost data, what relationships can be discovered that are potentially useful for estimating a future cost?1 The potential product of regression analysis in cost estimating is that the future may not be like the past. The second biggest obstacle is that the information about the past may be so sparse or so "noisy" that reliable clues about the regression analysis is a cost estimating relationship (CER). Typically a CER relates cost or a cost connected variable (such as labor hours) to parameters of the project's product in the form of an algebraic equation. As an example, consider a project whose mission is to write computer software.
Minimizing the Cost of Precision
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated) This paper concerns the cost of adding precision to a product. Most commonly this occurs when precision is needed to make the product meet certain functional requirements. Increased precision typically adds to cost. Of interest is how to achieve the desired product functionality while minimizing cost. The method
used is called variation analysis. To simplify the presentation and make it easier to follow, we present a simple example. Once you understand this example, you may find the method useful in more complex problems.
Learning Curves Redux: A New Use for a Familiar Tool
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated) This paper proposes another use for learning curves, namely the scheduling of production operations. This is not entirely a new idea, but it is usually not formally implemented in the planning of production operations. Learning curves alone can't do this planning job effectively, but when combined with other appropriate, relatively simple logic, the result can be an automated scheduling process that predicts not only the cost of each produced item, but also the dates when production of each item will start and finish, plus a spread of labor hours and material costs by month, or even by week, if desired.
The Edge of Doom Distribution
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated) Many distributions have been proposed for use in Monte Carlo simulation of project cost or duration risks. To that fascinating and not always coherent collection, I hereby add one that I believe has obvious merit. I call it the "edge of doom" distribution.
Breaking Murphy’s Law: Project Risk Management
(The content of this paper is the opinion of Evin Stump, Sr. Systems Engineer at Galorath Incorporated) Quantification of risks, as opposed to mere ranking, is a somewhat controversial subject. Some people feel that certain sophisticated efforts at quantification go too far. And probably some do, especially as applied to smaller, less consequential projects. On the other hand, I firmly believe that some level of quantification is not only appropriate, but even necessary to clearly convey meaning, especially among team members in large projects. Of all of the symbols we deal with in life, numbers are the least ambiguous. I have tried in this book to use quantification in ways that are both reasonable and understandable.
AgustaWestland’s New Estimating Models Improve Engineering Efficiency
Background
Since its formation, AgustaWestland has achieved significant success in the military helicopter market with the A109 LUH, A129, Super Lynx 300 and the 15-ton EH101 in its combat search and rescue as well as its fishery protection variants. In addition, AgustaWestland's outstanding performance in the civil sector has been based on the record-selling A109 Power, together with the A119 Koala helicopters.
Underpinning these successes is the company's engineering experience, including the requisite skills to undertake all stages of the design of a new helicopter from preliminary mission analysis and definition of operational requirements to the modelling of the entire helicopter systems and the design and specification of sub-systems and components. AgustaWestland also brings together a powerful combination of processes providing in-house capabilities for estimating, defining, planning and managing large, complex projects.
Of particular importance for AgustaWestland's military helicopter business is their estimating capability. The focus of this facility within the company has changed over the years from manufacturing to
procurement, calling for radical alterations in the makeup, procedures and tools adopted to meet AgustaWestland's defence business requirements. "The department and the tools used have changed from 60-plus estimating engineers in the early days, using a combination of expert opinion based on experience and home grown in-house spreadsheet processing, to a team of 12 today, employing the very latest in estimating tools available," said John Henson, an estimating manager whose team utilizes both SEER-H, the hardware model, and SEER-MFG, the design for manufacturability model. "Two years ago we purchased SEER tools from Galorath and we have since extended our site licence for an additional three years. The move to using parametric estimating tools has made a significant difference to our department and the efficiency of our organization as whole."
AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian helicopter company jointly owned by Italy's Finmeccanica and the UK's GKN, is a global leader in an industry sector that is amongst the most challenging and competitive internationally. The formation of AgustaWestland combines the previous businesses of Agusta SpA and GKN Westland Helicopters Limited, offering unrivalled capability in design, technical innovation and manufacturing, and requiring the very best materials, tools, equipment and personnel available. Although proud of its heritage stretching over some six decades, AgustaWestland personnel recognise the challenge of reinforcing their position as the global leader in the rotorcraft industry.
AgustaWestland is a leader in a number of the world's most important helicopter programmes. In addition to its skills in contracting for key military programmes, AgustaWestland boasts considerable success in the civil sector by virtue of its significant marketing expertise. Westland contributes expansive experience in priming military business with an emphasis on project management. These combined assets offer the widest range of advanced technology available on the market for both civil and military rotorcraft applications. Furthermore, it has an impressive inventory for future products and technologies.
The decision to move from in-house designed dedicated spreadsheets and bespoke software to the SEER applications was not taken lightly. With an MA in Cost Engineering and over 30 years of experience in aircraft engineering, cost estimation and rate fixing, John Henson was eminently qualified to undertake a thorough investigation of the tools available on the market. Commenting on his investigation, Henson said: "Many of the tools available at the time appeared to look like fancy versions of the in-house spreadsheets that we already used, and the majority of the others were empty shells that required additional algorithms and data to be added, requiring substantial additional resources."
SEER-H
Henson chose the SEER models from Galorath to rationalise the variety of home grown and bespoke tools employed by his team. The SEER models had the added benefit of a site licence with no restrictions that enabled every cost engineer in the department to have access at their desktop, giving Galorath a distinct commercial edge in the eyes of Henson and AgustaWestland. "I found SEER-H to be very user friendly, it speaks plain engineering language and is not full of acronyms and jargon that require specialist knowledge and experience unlike many other cost estimation tools," stated Henson.
AgustaWestland's cost estimating department has found that SEER models provide consistent results and are easy to use because of the intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). The parametric methodology requires less detailed information to be entered into the calculation with no loss in accuracy, a distinct advantage for large projects such as whole assemblies and aircraft. Estimation times are reduced from ½ a day to minutes, with consistent and accurate results. In addition, SEER-H's top-down process allows for "what if" scenarios and easily adjusts estimates for different manufacturing disciplines such as mechanical, electro-mechanical and electrical.
Currently, SEER-H is being used to estimate the cost of components and modular assemblies from preliminary drawings for the Future Lynx project, a project that is working towards providing a cost-effective way to extend the life of the UK MoD's Lynx fleet. Based on the Super Lynx 300, this is the latest version of the very successful Lynx helicopter family, the world's leading multi-role helicopter. The UK MoD operates a fleet of over 160 Lynx helicopters in navy and army roles, many of which have been in service for over 20 years. Additionally, planning and definitive studies are now well advanced to upgrade and extend the service life to the MoD's Battlefield Light Utility Helicopter (BLUH) and Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft (SCMR) requirements.
SEER-MFG
Continuing, Henson said: "SEER-MFG almost immediately added a new and valuable capability to the department. Straight out of the box, it's ready to use with only the usual customisation, improving the department's efficiency with better accuracy and consistency of results, building confidence in the engineers in my team."
SEER-MFG covers every aspect of a project so every detail is built into the estimate. Its knowledge bases provide an instant baseline to industry averages, so even if initial information isn't available, an industry average can be substituted until more specific information is available. The cost estimators at AgustaWestland found that SEER-MFG's ability to produce templates of manufacturing characteristics of their own company as well as those of subcontractors and suppliers particularly useful. These profiles of individual manufacturers provide a more consistent and accurate estimate according to engineers at AgustaWestland.
Among the projects in-hand, SEER-MFG is being used to estimate the manufacturing costs of the cabin roof of Westland's EH101 helicopter, providing "should costs" on how much a subcontractor should be charging for a product versus the actual bid. AgustaWestland's EH101 was designed as a new concept following extensive development and research into the future requirement for medium lift helicopters in military and civil roles. Based on a common airframe and core systems, EH101 is configured to meet the multi-role requirements of many diverse customers around the world. It is uniquely capable of mastering the needs of any role using the same airframe and core systems - a capability unmatched by previous helicopter designs.
Training and Support
Galorath was very helpful, supportive and responsive, as well as being open to new ideas, according to Henson, who, along with his team, attended an intensive three-day "QuickStart" workshop designed to get estimators up and running on SEER quickly. "Galorath's ‘QuickStart' consulting support helped us through the initial learning curve with the SEER tools. In addition, when we encountered difficulties with some of the relationships within the estimating tools due to the conversion between imperial and metric, caused by the ‘Europeanisation' of the tools, Galorath organised for its Product Manager, Dr Chris Rush, formerly of Cranfield University in the UK, to assist in finding solutions to the identified problems," stated Henson.
Having opted not to take advantage of Galorath's training for every cost engineer in the department, AgustaWestland identified two engineers to be trained. Henson recommends that other companies following this approach should choose the engineers carefully to ensure that at least one committed engineer for each model is given the full Galorath training. "It's important that these engineers are enthusiastic and committed to the introduction of the new estimating tools within the department. These ‘super users' must be committed not nominated so that they will readily champion the tools to their colleagues, disseminating the knowledge and hands-on experience that they have gained to ensure the efficient and smooth introduction of the new estimating tools," concluded Henson.
Estimating Electro-Optical Sensor Lifecycle Costs for Air, Missile and Space Vehicles
Parametric modeling of electro-optical sensors (EOS) has historically been challenging, due to lack of data and a complex technical domain. The SEER-EOS plug-in expands the capabilities of SEER-H, allowing you to perform a full lifecycle cost for electro-optical sensors operating on a variety of platforms including:
- manned aircraft
- unmanned aircraft
- missiles
- space vehicles
Estimate key EOS components including:
- optical devices
- detectors
- mechanisms
- coolers
- lasers
Evaluate over 45 different EO sensor technologies in terms of key technical and performance parameters.
Unraveling the Complexities of Software Data Normalization + Using ISBSG Data with SEER-SEM
Revealed:
- Lessons learned in software data normalization
- What factors to be aware of
- Application of the data within SEER
- The process for obtaining the normalized ISBSG data set for use in SEER for Software (SEER-SEM)
Data is an important part of SEER for Software, providing the basis for its calibration and also for trend lines available to the user. Galorath obtains its data through many relationships, such as with the International Software Benchmark Standards Group (ISBSG), which collects and distributes data primarily within commercial environments.
Data normalization – the process of making records consistent and usable – is an important yet often misunderstood part of the process. In this webinar we will show how we normalize the ISBSG database, how the data is directly accessible within SEER for Software, and how users can obtain the ISBSG data.
SEER IC Pro Intro
This webinar provides a top level view of SEER IC PRO, its general architecture and integration into SEER H. It also delineates the various types of technology process flows (ASIC/FPGA) that are included in the model in order to demonstrate the estimation scope. There is also mention of some common uses of the model to estimate FPGA prototypes and conduct hardware versus software tradeoffs.
What Would You Like to Estimate Today? SEER Estimate by Comparison
With SEER Estimate by Comparison, good estimates based on intuition are only a few comparisons away. By stepping through a series of intuitive comparisons to better-known items, SEER Estimate by Comparison provides a credible basis for accurately determining either quantitative or qualitative values for both SEER and non-SEER parameters.
In a portfolio analysis exercise, we will demonstrate how multiple software projects’ sizes and value can be simultaneously estimated.
IT Project Estimation with SEER
SEER for IT provides knowledge based parametric estimates for IT projects and their ongoing support efforts. SEER for IT was designed for IT professionals, enabling organizations to develop an early and accurate assessment of project costs, schedules, and risks as well as ongoing support.
SEER for IT helps you to estimate, analyze and evaluate your IT projects through the use of a combination of parametric algorithms, industry knowledge bases, and your own data. SEER models are easy to use by both technical and non-technical people.
- Practical input drivers – intuitive / easy to understand
- Comprehensive results – detailed and high level
- Enterprise ready – scalable to any organization
- Adaptable – utilizes common project patterns
- Learning – incorporates cost history
- Risk driven – estimates capture uncertainty
- Open - easy to integrate/interface with other systems
Need Defensible Estimates Of Projects Far Out Into The Future?
For those of you faced with estimating into the far distant future and whose estimates must withstand a greater level of scrutiny, Galorath will present an alternative method whereby the final estimate can be better substantiated.
Pull out your telescope and discover:
- The complications of estimating costs far out in the future and how to deal with them
- How Galorath services can help you estimate the costs of “far out” technologies for any platform via their far out process and your data
- An available application of Galorath’s “far out” estimating capabilities to estimate the costs of spacecraft 15-20 years into the future
Cost Estimation of Blender Using SEER-DFM (Student Paper)
The Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at the West Virginia University in Morgantown utilizes SEER for Manufacturing (SEER-MFG, formerly SEER-DFM) in their University Student Workshops. Students have found SEER-MFG useful and effective for estimating their student projects. This paper is an example of how one student has successfully employed SEER for Manufacturing for a student project in cost estimation.Cost Estimation of a GE Blender using SEER-DFM (Student Paper)
The Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at the West Virginia University in Morgantown utilizes SEER for Manufacturing (SEER-MFG, formerly SEER-DFM) in their University Student Workshops. Students have found SEER-MFG useful and effective for estimating their student projects. This paper is an example of how one student has successfully employed SEER for Manufacturing for a student project in cost estimation.
Estimating United Photos
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Estimating United Conference Awards
Alan Jones
Alan Jones has an impressive CV both academically and with regards to work experience in the field of cost engineering, cost analysis and risk management discipline areas.
His published work includes documents within the Engineering annuals and has presented at various seminars and symposium on matters of Risk Analysis, Learner Curve and Earned Value Management. He is one of a handful of people who have been inducted into the Association of Cost Engineers as a Fellow; an outstanding achievement by any means.
Alan is playing a significant role within BAE delivering training on core estimation topics to his co-workers and is also one of the prime drivers of a significant programme of work to bring about a new Accreditation towards Certified Cost Engineer level (as offered by the ACostE). This activity is also rapidly bringing about a set of professional qualification standards that we all hope will become adopted as a new NVQ in Cost Engineering.
Charles Symonds
Charles is known as an innovator and strong believer in the added value of functional sizing in the software industry. Fortunately for us, he is able to move this belief into practical and useful approaches and methods.
Examples of this can be found in the Mark II function point method. Nowadays used a little bit less and mostly in the UK, but still one of the few ISO certified sizing approaches.
Although retired, he’s still active with the more contemporary sizing approach COSMIC functional size measurement method (also ISO certified). Not just the theoretical part, but also supporting and motivating other people to take initiatives in the area of size measurement. When you consider his contribution to size measurement for software estimation there is only one conclusion possible: he deserves this reward.
The 12 Sins of Estimation - by Pradeep Chennavajhula
Sin is a term used mainly in a religious context to describe an act that violates a moral code of conduct or the state of having committed such a violation. In monotheistic religions, the code of conduct is determined by God. Colloquially, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, harmful, or alternative might be termed "sinful". Knowingly, and unknowingly, we as estimation experts commit sins in the area of Estimation, leading to harmful effects on the project management, tracking and control. With the premise that not doing wrong things is a way to do the right, the presentation highlights the common sins committed by experts in the field of estimation.
Taking into account the current practical realities of business, the presentation explains how we can improve the process of estimation, and how to gather the critical mass required to make change happen in an organization.>/p>
Estimation in ERP Environments - by Cees Kuijpers
- Organisations have ambitious plans when purchasing ERP
- More than 75% believe in quick wins and grand return of investment
- In practice one will go a long way of learning
- 30% - 70% cost reduction is possible
- Therefore one needs a strong strategy in standardisation, developing
- Kknowing the pitfalls and monitoring the principal cost drivers are essential
- Benchmarking and estimating the projects and their environments will bring success
- Example insurance company:
- Starting up with conventional planning and estimating
- Gathering facts and figures
- Switching to ERP environment planning
- Building up company specific planning data
- Creating private knowledge base
Decisions, (Multi-Criterion, Subjective, unbounded), Decisions - by Chris Hutchings
The primary objective of this paper is to introduce two alternative methods, Absolute and Empirical Referencing, used to minimize the subjectivity surrounding some of the more crucial processes associated with project management and analysis. The Estimate by Comparison solution developed by Galorath Incorporated will be used as the vehicle to illustrate comparative sizing for the purposes of Parametric Estimation along with a few other more contemporary applications.
Computer-aided Business Case Assessment in Engineering Design Education - by Askin Isikveren
In all engineering initiatives the only acceptable basis for launching a product development programme is one in which low risk and high return-on-investment in the shortest possible timeline is secured. Up to 80% of the life-cycle cost of most high valued-added engineered products is incurred during the conceptual design phase, and, by the time completion of the design and development stage occurs 95% of the product cost is fixed and most of the development cost is spent. The University of Bristol, Department of Aerospace Engineering, and, the Department of Engineering Mathematics via its Engineering Design degree programme offer many examples of group project orientated education for undergraduates. The major student group projects for academic year 2008/09 include: (1) Airbus UK project “250-passenger Transport Aircraft Optimised for Multi-stop, Long-range Operations; (2) Arup project “Elevated Transport and Entertainment Ride System”; (3) Motorola project “Water Powered Pico Generator for a Mobile Phone Base Station”; (4) Hewlett-Packard project “Personal Carbon Footprint System”; (5) GE Aviation project “Automation of Pitch Control of a Propeller Engine; and, (6) Babcock project “Design Optimisation of a Nuclear Flask ‘Grab’ System”. A review of business case results from the aforementioned student group project work using the Galorath SEER-H cost estimation software will be presented.
What’s New and “Dan Galorath on Estimating” - by Dan Galorath
What's new and what's coming in SEER will be featured.
Additionally Dan will discuss selections from his blog. Dan will discuss selections from metrics, effectiveness measurement, the real costs of a variety of undertakings, what is ITIL versus ISO 9000, the risk of IT projects, what the assets of failed banks really are worth, and lots more. He weighs in on a wealth of topics both timeless and contemporary.
Software Sizing – the weakest link of estimating? - by Charles Symons
Charles Symons presents data on the performance of the software industry which in certain respects is dreadful. Evidence will be shown suggesting that this poor performance is at least partly due to weaknesses in performance measurements and in estimating. By "estimating", we mean:
- initial estimation of the product size,
- methods for estimating project effort and duration from the initial size,
- processes by which estimating is integrated with project management,
where the first of these elements is the weakest link (though the third is also often weak).
The talk will then trace the development of methods of sizing software from using SLOC, to Albrecht’s idea of sizing functionality (now the IFPUG method), to the COSMIC method. Charles will briefly compare these methods and show how the COSMIC method overcomes weaknesses of earlier approaches.
Embedding Galorath’s Estimating Tools into a Project & Programme Management Suite - by Andy Robinson
In this presentation we will show how the Galorath estimating tools have been integrated into Ninth Wave’s Project & Programme Management (PPM) suite.
In most PPM products estimates for projects are entered manually and there is no audit trail provided for senior managers to see how the estimate was derived. Ninth Wave has enhanced its PPM suite to be able to generate an estimate automatically into a project by using the Galorath products in a “black box” fashion.
The key benefits of this integrated approach are:
- estimating best practice is embedded into project management across the organisation
- drill-down capability to understand key inputs and drivers for an estimate
- ability to model different scenarios with just a couple of mouse clicks
- audit trail provided for all steps associated with generating an estimate
Understanding the Mysteries of MOD Support Costs - by Neil Morrill and Steve Robinson
The costs incurred during the service life of equipment are a significant proportion of the whole life cost. However, these costs are not well understood and there are inconsistencies within the MOD as to how these are collected, collated and used. These costs are also used within the analysis at Dstl to inform high level Balance of Investment (BOI) decisions and it is therefore imperative that these costs are included as accurately as possible. The Support Costs study, funded by Director Equipment Plans (DEP), was commissioned to address this problem.
The presentation will cover how the project team tackled the problem and explore some of the conclusions from the work.
Procurement Costs – Transparency and Assurance - by Mark Gornall
Procured Equipment, Material and Services represents over two thirds of the initial cost of a military air platform and the resulting through life support activity. In the current climate of partnering and price transparency linked to a business environment increasingly focussed on ethical conduct, commercial parametric estimating models can provide confidence for both supplier and customer through open cost modelling based on industry standards of performance.
This presentation will outline the current activity at BAE Systems – Military Air Solutions aimed at achieving these goals.
The Value of Cost Estimating for Cost Management - by Goof Pruijsen
Costs are determined in the very early stages of the Product Creation Process. Not using this fact, but only to focus on ‘solving technical puzzles’ or stressing Time-to-Market is a missed opportunity that in the end makes the business less competitive. In many companies Cost estimation can be a very valuable tool for purchasing in determining the ‘should cost’ if only used in this way however cost estimation becomes a ‘purchasing tool’ only.
Changing to Target Costing means: Define the Customer Value before development starts, and derive the Target Cost from this. Then start studies to address the economic feasibility of new products, using cost estimation and cost driver analysis. This way cost estimation becomes a strategic decision support tool with less need to repair costs later on.
Goof will address the following during his presentation:
- How we used to address costs (not)
- Change to Target Costing
- Role of Cost Estimation for target costing
- Some Examples of Cost Reduction achievements using Cost Estimation
Life Cycle Costing in an International Organisation for Armament Cooperation - by Franck Ramaroson
OCCAR-EA is an International organisation with full legal personality since 2001. It was created to co-ordinate, control and implement co-operative armament programmes that are assigned to it by the Member States. Today OCCAR is managing 7 Programmes with a total portfolio of 44 billions Euros. OCCAR is clearly tasked from its Convention to identify Cost Effective options to the nations both during Development and Production and for the In Service Phase of a Programme. In this frame, OCCAR-EA has developed a Life Cycle Costing capability within the general approach of Through Life Management. This allows the identification of common and cost effective solutions and informs the decision makers on these opportunities. The presentation will show the steps followed to set up this capability and will point out the specifics linked to an international Agency, a snapshot of the process in place, and the types of studies that have been performed.
Estimating United Bios
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In May 2001, Carl Dalton was appointed the Managing Director responsible for International Operations for Galorath; the US organization responsible for the SEER suite of tools. Prior to that, he was a Partner/Owner at HVR Consulting Services Ltd. He held various positions at HVR in the UK including Decision Support Group Director, where he directed the cost, risk and safety consultancy groups, Marketing Director as well as Vice-President Operations for HVR Canada Inc. Carl had joined HVR in 1989 from Theta Analysis and Systems Ltd, where he was a Principal Consultant in Cost and Risk Analysis. Previous to that he was a Cost Engineer within the UK MoD(PE), now DE&S.
Goof Pruijsen studied experimental physics at Utrecht University. He gained experience in research and development as developer, project leader and department head. After that he switched to marketing and spent several years in the fire security and medical industries. He set up and implemented the target cost approach in Philips Medical Systems as part of the supply management department and used it to facilitate many new products developments including early supplier involvement; cost reduction projects and negotiation support by analysing and benchmarking supplier cost models. In recent years he has spread the knowledge of and supported the implementation of target costing, value engineering in other business units of Philips.
Franck Ramaroson is a Wing Commander (R) in the French Air Force and has been seconded in OCCAR-EA since August 2005 as Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) and In Service Support Officer (ISS) in the Central Office, Bonn (Germany). He is dealing with ILS/ISS strategy, policy and doctrine and their implementations to the Programmes managed by OCCAR. In particular, he has been in charge of the development of Life Cycle Costing Capability for the Organisation and now he is managing it. Prior to OCCAR-EA he had been working in the French Air Force at operational level (chief of a maintenance unit during 5 years) and in the headquarters (Air Force Support Agency, Information Management System Team). He is M.Sc in Engineering (Ecole de l’air)and M.A in Middle East Geopolitics from the Institute for Oriental Language and Civilisation (INaLCO) in Paris. He is married and has 2 children.
Mark Gornall joined BAE Systems – Military Air Solutions in 2007 as Cost Assurance Manager for Procurement. This role followed 10 years with the MoD Pricing and Forecasting group initially on Cost Engineering investigations, moving then to an internal consultancy role, providing advice on the capacity and capabilities of the military fixed wing sector as an input to the Defence Industrial Strategy. He has Certified Cost Estimator/Analyst (CCE/A) status through the Society of Cost Estimating & Analysis (SCEA) and is a trained assessor on the Cost Engineering Capability Improvement Model (CECIM).
Neil Morrill is a Study Leader working for the Policy and Capability Studies Department of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), where he has been since 1996. His work mainly involves providing costing support to High Level Operational Analysis (HLOA) carried out at Dstl. His current work includes leading the Support Costs Study looking to improve support costs used in HLOA and being the Software Model Custodian for the Force Structure Cost Model (FSCM). Prior to working for Dstl he worked for a time in Local Government, after graduating in mathematics at Nottingham University.
Steve Robinson has 12 years experience working with the UK MoD, for the bulk of his career to date he has been involved with business process re-engineering projects and cost benefit modelling. Prior to joining Galorath in August 2008, Steve was a business manager for a small technical consultancy specialising in conducting performance measurement activities, cost-benefit analysis, value-for-money analysis and developing key performance indicators (KPI). As part of Galorath Steve works within services and sales and is principally engaged with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) advising the MoD on project estimation and lifecycle project costs.
Andy Robinson has been working in the field of software development for the past 20 years, supporting large scale software projects. He has been involved in project management for a number of blue-chip companies across many industry sectors, including Banking, Insurance, Aerospace & Defence and Telecommunications.
Charles Symons has almost 50 years experience in the use of computers for business and scientific purposes, in both public and private sectors, in all the major disciplines of the Information Systems function. He has published original work in computer use accounting, data analysis, computer security, and software measurement and estimating. As a management consultant, he led projects on IS strategy and to improve the performance of the IS function in many parts of the world. His interest in software measurement and estimating began in the 1980’s when he developed the MkII FP sizing and estimating methods. He is now semi-retired, but continues as joint project leader of COSMIC, the Common Software Measurement International Consortium. This informal grouping of software metrics experts has developed a software functional size measurement method applicable to business, real-time and infrastructure software.
During his over three decades in the industry, Daniel D. Galorath has been solving a variety of management, costing, systems, and software problems for both information technology and embedded systems. He has performed all aspects of software development and software management. One of his strengths has been reorganizing troubled software projects, assessing their progress applying methodology and plans for completion and estimated cost to complete. He has personally managed some of these projects to successful completion. He has created and implemented software management policies, and reorganized (as well as designed and managed) development projects. His company, Galorath Incorporated, has developed tools, methods, and training for software cost, schedule, risk analysis, and management decision support. He is one of the principal developers of the SEER-SEM™ software evaluation model. His teaching experience includes development and presentation of courses in Software Cost, Schedule, and Risk Analysis; Software Management; Software Engineering; and Weapons Systems Architecture. Mr. Galorath has lectured internationally. Mr. Galorath was named winner of the 2001 International Society of Parametric Analysts (ISPA) Freiman Award. awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the theoretical or applied aspects of parametric modeling. Mr Galorath’s book “Software Sizing, Estimation, and Risk Management: When Performance Is Measured Performance Improves” was released in March 2006.
Dr. Isikveren’s professional career includes involvement in 39 aerospace design projects, aerospace research and development, aircraft performance analysis, as well as, systems and production control in airframe manufacturing. Dr. Isikveren has been employed at Hawker de Havilland Ltd in Sydney, Australia, Williams International of Michigan, USA, and, Karlebo Aviation of Sweden. He has also held positions at Saab AB in Linkoping, Sweden, and, American Airlines in Texas, USA. Finally, he spent five years at Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal, Canada as a Senior Technical Focal, Conceptual Design and Benchmarking, in the Advanced Design Department. With regards to Dr. Isikveren’s academic profile, he has performed research, teaching and supervision duties at both the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, and, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada. In June 2005 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Engineering Design at the University of Bristol. His responsibilities cover teaching, project and thesis supervision, and, research for the Departments of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mathematics. He currently holds the position of Director, Engineering Design MEng degree programme, Director, MSc in Integrated Aerospace Systems Design, and is Lead of the Aerospace Vehicle Architecture and Design Integration (AVADI) research theme.
Chris Hutchings is a Business Development Manager with Galorath Incorporated, supporting Aerospace and Defense customers in the Western U.S. Prior to this he served fifteen years with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, (MOD), serving in a number of roles within the Defense procurement field, including Integrated Logistic Support, Requirements Management, Systems Engineering and Cost Forecasting. Common to all of these areas was the application of a robust Risk Management process which he studied at Southampton University in the United Kingdom. Chris has provided expert support in the field of Risk Analysis to a wide range of government and commercial organizations including the UK Defense Logistics Agency, the Army Technical Support Agency, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems and the British Intelligence Department. With Galorath Incorporated, Chris played a leading role in the development of an interface between the SEER suite of solutions and the Oracle Risk Analysis application 'Crystal Ball' enabling Risk Analysts to take a more active role in Project Estimation and Control.
Cees Kuijpers:
Pradeep Chennavajjuala has around 15+ years of experience in the areas of Project Management and System Engineering. His focus areas of research and consulting at QAI India are Requirement Management, Software Estimation, Software Project Management, and Software Testing. He is also the core member and is responsible for the conceptualization, and development of centers of excellence in the technical areas of Project Management, Testing and Software Engineering. Prior to joining QAI, Pradeep was associated with Planetasia, Zee Telefilms, KPMG Worldwide, American Express Bank – TRS, and Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani. As part of his career, Pradeep worked with academic institutions at Penn State and BITS, Pilani as their faculty member for Management, Systems Engineering and Software Engineering. Currently, Pradeep heads an independent venture of QAI in the field of Software Testing Workforce Development - namely Edista Testing Institute. Pradeep Chennavajjuala is a post-graduate in Management Systems from Penn State University, USA; a graduate in Production Engineering & Marketing from BITS, Pilani; and a Certified Software Tester (CSTE) from QAI, USA. In addition, he holds a certification on Oracle ERP Applications from Oracle Corporation, USA.
Estimating United Conference
Project Estimation is a Risky Business: Risk Analysis with SEER and Crystal Ball
The need to understand the lack of certainty surrounding an estimate is an integral part of effective cost and schedule management. It is imperative that those who make the ultimate organizational decisions have visibility of the most pessimistic forecast of outcome in order that they can effectively direct appropriate mitigation responses and deliver solutions to the required standards and costs within a timely manner.
This presentation will discuss the following aspects:
- How the SEER suite of models provide such visibility.
- The rationale for a SEER and Crystal Ball integration.
- How the Crystal Ball/SEER integration enhances a Risk Analysis capabilities by providing the user better definition and control of the Risk Analysis process.
Software Estimation Approaches That Deliver: Industry Leaders Speak Out
Software estimation, planning and control can be keystones to successful projects. Companies that estimate strategically are able to zero in on their projects so they deliver to business targets. Despite this, many treat estimation as a black art or worse - a guess.
Dan Galorath and Geoff Hewson will explain the key concepts that drive successful software estimation in support of planning and managing successful software development and maintenance projects:
- Decisions and deliverables needed to design estimation procedures tuned to your organization.
- Guidance in setting up the infrastructure you need to realize the most benefit from your new estimation capabilities.
- Establishing a “negotiating culture” to allow you to deal effectively with the results of your estimates and focus projects on business success.
SEER for Software and SPC concepts will support the discussion.
Improving Outcomes on Experimental Projects
Several factors characterize an experimental project, including: intricacy, constraints on resources and duration, volatility, and uncertainty. This presentation looks at how to do better when beginning experimental projects.
Software Sizing, Cost, Schedule, and Risk: A 10-Step Process (JAPANESE VERSION)
Software Sizing, Cost, Schedule, and Risk: A 10-Step Process
An effective software estimate provides the information needed to design a workable software development plan. How well the project is estimated is ultimately the key to the project's (and product's) success. An effective software estimate also provides important information for making project decisions, predicting performance, and defining objectives and plans. This webinar discusses how to make software projects more successful by properly estimating and planning project costs, schedules, risks, and resources. The 10-step process presented in this webinar provides a complete method for developing estimates and plans, based upon the book Software Sizing, Estimation, and Risk Management; When Performance is Measured Performance Improves by Daniel D. Galorath and Michael W. Evans (Auerbach Publications, February 2006).
ISPA Parametric Estimating Handbook - Appendices
This appendix provides a brief discussion of available cost modeling products as provided by the companies that have consistently supported ISPA functions and conferences.
ISPA Parametric Estimating Handbook
This Parametric Estimating Handbook is a comprehensive, "all in one place" guide for Industry and Government acquisition professionals who prepare, evaluate, or negotiate proposals which use parametric estimating techniques or for project stakeholders who wish to gain a better understanding of the application and use of parametric cost estimating. This handbook also serves as a foundation for companies that want to make more use of parametric tools in developing the basis of estimate (BOE) for their proposals to the Government or otherwise expand their use of parametrics.
Implementing a Metrics Program: MOUSE Will Help You
IT projects bring together software, hardware, infrastructure, organization and people. An IT project is structured with stages for development, transition to support, run & maintain and implementation. Why not apply the same structure to implementing a metrics program? However a metrics program is not equal to an information system - this requires different activities and stages.
Implementing an Estimating Process
Introducing a process, a method and a technique is in many ways comparable with the introduction of a new or enhanced information system. The IT project brings together software, hardware, infrastructure, organization and people. The project is structured with stages for development, transition to support, run & maintain and implement. Why not apply the same structure to implementing an estimating process?
15 Years of Estimates within 2 Percent - Northrop Grumman’s Methods Revealed
Do your estimates need to:
- Decrease program risk?
- Reduce cost and schedule over runs during project execution?
- Increase accuracy?
An industry expert from Northrop Grumman reveals Grumman's methods for accurately and successfully bidding software projects--with median cost under runs of 2 percent over 15 years.
Estimating the 10 Hidden Costs of Packaged Software Implementation
The 21st century has seen a growing use of prepackaged applications within IT organizations. However, the deployment of these packages (such as Sales Force Automation (SFA), Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), e-business, and Business Intelligence) is often wrought with unexpected costs and sizing considerations. In this seminar we will discuss the top ten factors to consider when estimating the deployment of prepackaged applications.
Six Truths You MUST Learn about IT Estimating
Revealed:
1. Valuable information on improving IT estimation performance.
2. Developing an early and accurate assessment of project costs, schedules, and risks as well as ongoing support.
3. Building a knowledge repository of your IT estimation best practices, helping you meet the challenges of improved performance.
4. Easily defining the work required, as well as patterns for typical organizational approaches.
5. Creating custom Knowledge Bases and perform analyses with metrics derived from company project histories and task labor standards.
6. Quickly summarizing and communicating project outcomes, alternatives, and work-in-progress.
Estimation for information technology projects often yield inconsistent performance. At the end of the presentation you will understand the challenge of IT estimation and how the SEER for IT application gives you an advantage in improving your IT project performance.
Philips Healthcare’s First Year of SEER Use Saves 1.5 Million Euros
Philips Healthcare, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the world's leading supplier of cardiovascular X-ray systems and second in general X-ray systems. The company's long history in medical imaging dates to 1895 when it purchased the company that manufactured the first commercial X-ray tube. Today, with 32,500 employees in more than 63 countries and nearly $9 billion in sales, Philips Healthcare accounts for nearly a quarter of its parent company's total revenues.
Philips Healthcare manufactures X-ray machines and peripheral equipment and supplies at its facility in Eindhoven. These include analogue and digital units as well as cutting edge cardiovascular X-ray systems for advanced interventional procedures. In mid-2007, G. Pruijsen MSC, manager of value engineering, wanted to gain tighter control of costs by better understanding supplier pricing and design options. With an experienced cost engineer already on staff, he sought a software application that could help them plan, manage and control all areas of parts design and manufacturing.
Having previously worked in purchasing, Pruijsen had developed a cost management methodology that involved benchmarking, acquiring data from supply markets and looking deeply into processes to determine how much material and labour would be involved. This method used conventional spreadsheets to perform complex calculations and "just finding the right data was labour-intensive and time consuming."
"Cost estimation is a very important topic for me," said Pruijsen. "Cost engineers may differ on their estimates so we needed a tool that could calibrate those differences. A colleague at Boeing recommended Galorath Incorporated. They explained how they successfully used Galorath cost estimation applications and offered their positive opinion. Galorath was invited to give us a demonstration of SEER for Manufacturing (SEER-MFG), a project estimation and management solution. The most convincing part of the demonstration was, after we showed Galorath a drawing of a random part, 15 minutes later we had an estimate on the tooling cost. Four days later we got a quotation on the tool. The SEER estimate was within 2% of the quote. That's when we decided to run a pilot on the use of SEER for Manufacturing."
Galorath (www.galorath.com) is a global company focused on improving estimation across a range of processes and industries with offices both in the USA and Europe. The client base is varied and includes BAE Systems, Agusta Westland, Airbus, Boeing, Ford Motor Company; Lockheed Martin; Northrop Grumman; Siemens, and the U.S. Department of Defence. SEER-MFG is widely used by manufacturing outsourcers to develop "should-cost" guidelines and analyse manufacturing project and process options. It bridges the gap between design and manufacturing by providing insight into the cost and producibility of design decisions.
One of SEER-MFG's strengths is its ability to influence design decisions, pointing the way to the simplest and most cost-effective solution. This became evident to Pruijsen's team during one of the pilot projects when they used SEER-MFG to calculate the cost of the parts for a new patient table. "We discovered that SEER-MFG is an interesting application because if you have a solution in mind it allows you to check on the cost and see alternative technologies," he said. "A mechanical designer might not consider certain technologies because they are out of his experience. But if you can quickly calculate different scenarios, you can determine their cost impact and the amount of investment needed in areas like tooling. That is very valuable" Pruijsen said.
"If you invest twenty thousand Euros in a mould and you are only making a couple of hundred components for our machines with it, then the percentage of the tooling costs is a substantial amount. There is a risk in investing too much money in tooling. Knowing the impact of this before hand can be very helpful."
SEER also plays an important role after the design phase, when the completed drawings are sent to a supplier for a cost estimate. Generally, Pruijsen believes that supplier estimates for fabricating mechanical parts should come within 5-10 percent of the cost projected by his cost engineer using the SEER-MFG software. However, there are sometimes large discrepancies between the "should-cost" projections and the bids submitted by suppliers: "In one case a supplier offered a quote of 1,000 Euros for a part but our cost engineer, using SEER-MFG, calculated that it should be 200 Euros," said Pruijsen. They eventually settled on a final price of 350 Euros—about one-third of the original quotation. "Without SEER-MFG, we might have been satisfied just reducing the price 10 percent to 900 Euros through negotiation. In the end the tolerances for this particular part were found to be much higher than necessary; the lower specifications allowed the supplier to significantly reduce his price. Of great impact and as a reflection back to our engineers is, that with SEER-MFG you directly can show the cost impact of the tolerances, technology and materials they choose, and then discuss what is good enough. This really drives costs down during the design stages."
An area where SEER for Manufacturing contributes significantly is determining whether it makes sense to outsource to Low Labour Cost Countries. This is mainly dependent on the amount of labour involved in the manufacturing process. By showing the labour cost SEER-MFG makes much clearer decisions possible on this."
Over the course of a year—ordering between 5,000 and 10,000 standard parts and specialized components from over 500 suppliers—such savings can become quite significant. Pruijsen believes that over the past 12 months the cost engineers working with SEER-MFG have saved his division about one million Euros. "And we've only just begun. The potential is substantially larger. You need lots of data and analysis," he said. "The goal of the purchasing department is usually to negotiate about 3 percent off the offered price. But the purpose of my cost analysis is to find a difference in the area of 20-30 percent."
Paying the right price, Pruijsen said, is what using cost estimation is all about. "SEER-MFG helps because when you confront a supplier with figures compiled by a cost estimation expert, the supplier can say that's just the opinion of one person. But if you come with proof and share openly the SEER results, they are interested in how we do this. Then they see that what we are giving them is a more data-driven figure. This helps in convincing the supplier to come down on the price.
"It is interesting that our cost engineer did not believe that SEER-MFG would help him because he has over 30 years experience. The funny thing is that after using SEER-MFG for three months he no longer wanted to work without it."
While not as originally sceptical as his cost engineer, Pruijsen, too, is sold on SEER-MFG's advantages. "I can point out many examples of how cost estimation makes a big difference in the price level you pay. It also has a big impact on early design phases. If it were up to me, I'd have 10 people involved in cost estimation to cover both the design and purchasing aspects."
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Sizing by Comparison
Sizing by Comparison is an application for estimating software size, the single most significant driver of development cost, effort, and schedule. Sizing by Comparison helps the user define software scope through a series of project analogies and/or comparisons to a user’s repository of past projects. In this way users can develop a reliable estimate on a project’s scope even when information is scarce. Sizing can be determined using analogies, pair-wise comparison, or through an array of metrics such as Function Points, Source Lines of Code (SLOC), Function Based Sizing, and Use Cases.
Estimation of Military Space Communications ASICS with SEER: The Final Frontier
Today’s military communication systems are playing an ever expanding critical role in our domestic security as well as the security of our assets abroad. Satellites that are the core of these communication systems are being required to do more complex functions and perform them faster than ever before. To accomplish complex on-orbit tasks, modern space electronics are using advanced micro-electronics in their unit designs. The rapidly changing field of advanced micro-electronics, largely developed by commercial industry, presents a problem for the cost estimator. Common cost estimating techniques using historical data or cost estimating relationships based on historical data are not well suited to address the complexity of today’s electronic devices. This presentation will focus on ASIC devices used in the military space environment and will discuss the cost drivers of these devices, including how the SEER for Hardware-Integrated Circuits Option parametric cost estimating model is being used to develop a cost estimate for ASICs, and what future estimating challenges may be on military space communication satellites.
A Case for Software Estimation
A recent search of the World Wide Web identified over 2100 sites that describe over 5000 reasons that software projects fail, ranging from the poor use of technology to lack of communication to management inattention. While these factors can contribute to the failure of a project, the most important reasons include (1) a lack of understanding of the requirements of a project, (2) insufficient time or discipline to plan the project properly from the first day, and (3) a loss of focus when the project is underway.
Adequately planning a software development project requires knowledge of at least two key values: the time and effort. Ad-hoc planning strategies attempt to estimate these two values straight away as functions of past experience and expert judgment. Structured methods for project planning attempt to calculate these values as functions of estimated product-related and project-related values (parameters). A key parameter present in the vast majority of these methods is software size. Assuming that size is dynamic and that planning (including replanning or re-baselining) is a process that should continue throughout the life of the project implies, for structured planning strategies, that size estimation itself should be a continuous process.
Almost all software-intensive projects start with the potential for some degree of failure. The first risk of any software project is rooted in the initial estimate used to forecast needed resources. The basic equation traditionally used to estimate the project effort is:
Effort = (Size X Complexity)
Productivity
At the beginning of any project the three variables in the equation are unknown. Over the years, estimation methods and models that significantly lower the initial estimation risks have been developed. However, failure to realize the potential imprecise nature of initial estimates and effectively manage and control the risks associated with them certainly is a major contributor to downstream problems, including project failure.
If used properly, estimates can provide basic constraints that potentially limit the options available when planning a project. The estimates also identify the resource limitations that must be considered when scheduling a project, which in turn may dictate the selection of methods and tools. Budget and resource constraints affect a project’s schedule, the phasing of activities, the logical relationships of the work activities, and the structuring and packaging of the products. In addition, the estimate determines the options available to increase the quality of the products, either precluding or enabling the use of practices such as structured inspections or enhanced testing.
Software estimation methods have been applied with varying degrees of success, to small and large projects. Popular estimation methods include:
Analogy: Compare project with past similar projects
Expert Judgment: Consult with one or more experts
Top-down estimation: A hierarchical decomposition of the system into progressively smaller components is used to estimate the size of a software component
Bottom-up estimation: Individuals assess each component; estimates are summed to calculate the total estimate
Design to Cost: Uses expert judgment to determine how much functionality can be provided for a given budget
Parametric models: Perform overall estimate using design parameters and mathematical algorithms
As discussed earlier, one of the main inputs to software development effort is software size. If size is estimated correctly, the effort estimate will be realistic and will translate to a realistic cost estimate. In the physical world, size is a measure of volume or mass. In the software world, size is a measure of functionality. Various expressions of size include measures such as lines of code, number of features, or functions, function points and their derivatives, SEER function-based sizing, use cases, and objects. Additionally, the amount of rework of existing systems is a key size measure for modifications. Software size is the main driver of software development effort, cost and schedule via parametric models, and base productivity measures.
An effective software estimate provides the information needed to design a workable software development plan. Many elements are involved in determining the structure of a project, including requirements, architecture, quality provisions, and staffing mix. Perhaps the most important element in the success or failure of a project is the initial estimate of its scope, in terms of both the time and cost that will be required. The initial estimate drives every aspect of the project, constrains the actions that can be taken in the development or upgrade of a product, and limits available options. Although many people think they can estimate project scope on their engineering or management experience, most off-the-cuff estimates are incorrect and are most often based on simple assumptions and over-optimism, or worse, are made to accord with what others what to hear. Needless to say, such estimates often lead to disaster.
A sound and reliable estimate is the linchpin of a realistic software project plan. The assumptions, requirements, and projections on which the estimate is based allow you to plan a project or define a product with a realistic understanding of the limits that constrain what can actually be done. A software estimation process that is integrated with the software development process can help projects establish realistic and credible plans to implement the project requirements and satisfy commitments. It also can support other management activities by providing accurate and timely planning information.
Any software project that wants to be successful requires realistic, credible plans that describe how the project will meet specified objectives, and credible plans must be based on accurate estimates of the required effort, duration, and cost of the project. Realistic plans will also describe how the resources that are required to undertake the initiative in accordance with the schedule will be secured.
The problems inherent in accurately estimating the resources required to develop software have been understood and have received significant attention for the past 20 years, and many tools and methods have been developed to address them. As a result, many people have high expectations that the software delivery process has been improved such that these problems have been removed altogether. But the tools are not used widely enough, and overzealous managers still attempt to misuse them to justify unreasonable plans that result in insufficient resources to develop a quality product on time and within budget.
A software project estimate is the most knowledgeable statement that can be made at a particular point in time regarding effort, cost, schedule and risk. A complete estimate covers definitions, uncertainties, ground rules, and assumptions.
Many project managers have unrealistic expectations about estimates. The definition of the verb estimate is to produce a statement of the approximate value of some quantity. Estimates are based upon incomplete, imperfect knowledge and assumptions about the future. For these reasons, many estimates of software costs tend to be too low due to omissions of important product functions and project activities. Most importantly, however, all estimates have uncertainty. There is no such thing as a precise, single-value estimate. Managers should always ask how large the uncertainty of an estimate is. A manager can use the size of this uncertainly in conjunction with other factors such as perceived risks, funding constraints, and business objectives to make decisions about a project.
Cost estimates are projections of required effort, time and staffing levels. Because all estimates, particularly those made at the beginning of a project, are based on assumptions, they should be considered probabilistic. Cost estimates in particular should provide a range with an indication of accuracy, i.e., least, probable, and most, with the least and most values representing the upper and lower bounds of the projected cost.
Ideally an estimate should be produced using a process, such as the ten-step process described in the book Software Sizing, Estimation, and Risk Management by Daniel D. Galorath and Michael W. Evans.
Estimating Software Enhancement Projects
This presentation tackles the challenge of estimating effort, cost, and schedule for software enhancement projects. It presents a methodology that leverages SEER for Software's Acquisition Method knowledge base and function point analysis. This methodology provides a structured, documentable, repeatable approach that can be used in an enhancement scenario and can be improved over time with adjustments and calibration.
The Business Value of IT
This presentation seeks to highlight the role that good estimation has to play in the delivery of value from IT to the business. Too often, IT projects and operations fail because business expectations are unrealistically high in terms of what can be achieved in a given time at a given quality and budget. And too often, IT providers have unreasonably low expectations regarding the same. What is lacking on both sides is knowledge of what can be realistically achieved by combining a clearly prioritized set of business needs with well-established IT industry best practices. This presentation identifies six key areas for business value from IT and explains how SEER for Software and SEER for IT play a role in all of these areas.
Estimating Agile Projects Using SEER for Software
Recently CNN published a list of 50 things it thinks are transforming the world of business. Agile Software Development was ranked #18. However, current agile methods do not preclude the need for a quantified approach to software project estimation and planning.
During this presentation, we will discuss how to use SEER for Software (SEER-SEM) to estimate projects being developed using one of the various Agile methodologies. The Agile Manifesto will be reviewed and a recommendation made for what parametric parameters can be mapped to the doctrine. The webinar will conclude with the presentation of the "Agile-Full" and "Agile-Novice" development method knowledge bases now available in SEER for Software.
Thousands of Actual Data Points Now Available To SEER for Software Users Via ISBSG Partnership
Users have long asked for access to Galorath’s raw data points in addition their own data and Galorath’s trend lines to supplement their own data. Though a partnership with the International Software Benchmarking Standards Group (ISBSG), thousands of data points are now available for use in SEER Metrics and Benchmarking, Comparative Sizing and other SEER applications. The first part of this webinar explains the mission of the ISBSG and its data collection activity, as well as ISBSG's main product: its data repository of over 4,000 software development and enhancement projects. In order to correctly use this data with SEER and other applications, users need to understand ISBSG data definitions and its data collection and validation processes. ISBSG's partnership wth Galorath has made it possible for Galorath to integrate ISBSG's data into SEER for Software. The second part of the webinar shows how the data is made available in SEER for Software and how it can be used.
IT Infrastructure, Services, Operations and Project Estimation
In today's global economy, Information Technology is a critical component of many companies’ core business operations, impacting operational efficiency, customer relationship and the bottom line. These organizations need an agile and responsive IT organization with capability to support dynamic business goals. That means IT teams today must take on a much more diversified class of projects and initiatives. IT teams must also be part of the business case evaluation team to determine feasibility and advisability of not only IT project development, but also to understand the cost impact of these initiatives through the complete project life cycle. In order to quantitatively and qualitatively have the data to make these important judgments and compare projects competing for finite resources, management needs a framework for developing IT project estimates and plans. For CIOs and business partners to make sound technical business decisions, this framework must provide objective, standardized and consistent information so projects can be compared equitably.
This presentation will introduce such a framework and will culminate with showing how an estimation and planning model can focus on IT development, infrastructure acquisition, deployment, support, and ongoing business operations.
IT Cost of Rogue Users
Many of the problems firefighters face are due to persons who refused to evacuate when told to. Learn how this impacts IT. For example... items such as those who hook up their own wireless routers or use different cell phones than those certified by the company. Then expecting support for their unique configuration. To read more, Click here.
SEER for IT: The Making of a New Product and Lessons Learned
Measurement certainly requires looking to the past to learn of the future. But there is a huge amount to be learned from the lessons learned themselves. Looking back on the SEER for IT development there are several lessons learned that go beyond just the measurements. To read more, Click here.
The Total Ownership Cost of IT Systems
It is interesting to see how the much of the industry speaks of IT system cost problems while ignoring a large part of the problem. Software maintenance can be 75+% of software total ownership costs but IT Infrastructure and IT services can be 60% of the total ownership cost itself. Even if we use cloud computing most of those IT service costs don't go away. Help desk, data conversion, etc. is still a problem, even in the cloud. To read more, Click here.
Government IT Project Woes and Estimating Total Ownership Costs
A recent government report showed 81% of budget or $57 billion in IT projects in danger of failing. Detailed reports on the hearings can be found here. Of 413 IT projects identified by OMB and federal agencies NEARLY 80% OF THEM WERE IDENTIFIED AS HAVING BEEN POORLY PLANNED. The scorecard for IT projects shows much progress but much work left to do. To read more, Click here.
Forrester’s Five Essential Metrics for Managing IT
A recent report by Craig Symons of Forrester identified 5 core metrics for managing IT. This paper is full of wisdom such as "metrics for its performance must measure relevance and business impact"... effectiveness metrics rather than operationally focused metrics such as downtime. To read more, Click here.
Better Schedule & Staff Planning for Hardware Projects with SEER
This presentation will review the concepts, theory and methods used to implement the comprehensive set of features in SEER for Hardware, Electronics & Systems (SEER-H). Examples of how these features can be used will be provided along with how they can benefit a cost analyst or project manager. SEER for Hardware is a leading hardware cost estimating and planning system. Until recently, SEER for Hardware, Electronics & Systems had basic visibility into the scheduling of estimates, limited to annual expenditure. An upcoming version of this model will include a set of new features to help program managers better schedule tasks and manage their expenditures. The advanced schedule features cover areas such as allocation into program phases (e.g. preliminary design, detailed design, system validation) with the ability to independently schedule them. Scheduling of the development effort can be constrained by such things as a slow start, overstaffing, and understaffing, shortened or extended schedules. Depending on the scenario, cost penalties can be incurred for various types of constraints.
IT (Non-Software) Estimation: Moving From Art to Science
With calls by senior management to "run IT more like a business," CIOs are under pressure to impose more formal processes on IT activities. Therefore it is crucial for your IT estimation best practice to develop an early and accurate assessment of project costs, schedules, and risks as well as ongoing support. SEER for IT can help you build a knowledge repository of your IT estimation best practices, helping you meet the challenges of improved performance.
Discussed are the characteristics and attributes of the SEER for IT application and how they address crucial needs of the IT shop.
IT (non-software) Estimation: Moving From Art to Science
David Consulting Group discusses its experience and research that indicates that when an organization coalesces tribal knowledge into organizational intelligence, performance improves.
With calls by senior management to "run IT more like a business," CIOs are under pressure to impose more formal processes on IT activities. Therefore it is crucial for your IT estimation best practice to develop an early and accurate assessment of project costs, schedules, and risks as well as ongoing support. SEER for IT can help you build a knowledge repository of your IT estimation best practices, helping you meet the challenges of improved performance.
Following DCG's review, Galorath discusses the characteristics and attributes of the SEER for IT tool and how they address crucial needs of the IT shop.
Smart Sourcing in the Global Environment
This presentation discusses how process-based parametric cost models, SEER for Hardware, Electronics & Systems (SEER-H) and SEER for Manufacturing (SEER-MFG), are used to facilitate proactive real time cost impact assessments of commodity design alternatives in today’s global sourcing environment. The main purpose is to show how model use in the sourcing process can produce a significant financial benefit to any organization that employs the use of the SEER-H and SEER-MFG modeling process. It will also introduce the model's flexibility in the development of trade study “should cost” estimates, using a "real world" case study.
Smart Sourcing in the Global Environment
This presentation discusses how process-based parametric cost models, SEER for Hardware, Electronics & Systems (SEER-H) and SEER for Manufacturing (SEER-MFG), are used to facilitate proactive real time cost impact assessments of commodity design alternatives in today’s global sourcing environment. The main purpose is to show how model use in the sourcing process can produce a significant financial benefit to any organization that employs the use of the SEER for Hardware, Electronics & Systems and SEER for Manufacturing modeling process. It will also introduce the model's flexibility in the development of trade study “should cost” estimates, using a ‘real world’ case study.
Software Total Ownership: Development Costs is (only) Job One [Power Point]
Planning software development projects is never an easy undertaking. Customer and competitive requirements, time-to-market, architectural and quality considerations, staffing levels and expertise, potential risks, and many other factors must be carefully weighed and considered. What can make software planning even more complicated, however, is that software development costs only comprise a portion - often the smaller portion - of the total cost of software ownership. In fact, the development process, itself, invariably has a significant impact on total cost of ownership as tradeoffs are evaluated and compromises made which impact software sustainability and maintainability of software over time. Because software doesn't wear out like car tires do, software planners may underestimate how much a code stream can degrade over time with the accumulation of patches, system and configuration changes, provisioning and reprovisioning, integrations, and ongoing development. Further, the rigorous standards applied during initial software development may end up being compromised as maintenance personnel are diverted to emerging or mission-critical software issues. Over time, accumulation of poorly managed changes almost always generates software instability and a significant increase in the cost of software maintenance - up to four times the cost of initial development, according to some estimates.
Software Total Ownership: Cost Development is (only) Job One
Planning software development projects is never an easy undertaking. Issues such as customer and competitive requirements, time-to-market, architectural and quality considerations, staffing levels and expertise, potential risks, and many other factors must be carefully weighed and considered. Software development costs only comprise a portion - often the smaller portion - of the total cost of software ownership. However, the development process itself has a significant impact on total cost of ownership as tradeoffs are evaluated and compromises are made that impact sustainability and maintainability of software over time.
Risk Analysis with SEER and Crystal Ball
This presentation will discuss the following aspects:
How the SEER suite of tools provide such visibility. A discussion on the reasoning behind the decision to integrate SEER and Crystal Ball. How the Crystal Ball/SEER integration enhances a Risk Analysis capability in order to give the user better definition and control of the Risk Analysis process.
CAI Galorath Spring 2008 Webinar Measurement and Legacy
The Value of a Public Repository
Euroclear - Easy Estimates with SEER
SEER for IT
Strategic Objectives
Cost Weight Optimization
Winging it With SEER
Design Trades Using Life Cycle Costs
Back to Basics
As Cost Engineers of many years experience; we can easily forget the importance of basic techniques. It is also very easy to lose sight of the fact that what we accept as second nature may not be so to less experienced members of the team.
The value of younger, or less experienced, members of a Cost Engineering team is paramount, as they will constantly remind one of the need to capture and share knowledge. I have learned that this, linked to a robust training programme, is vital to ensure the ongoing credibility of the Cost Engineering discipline. What better way to do this than the collection of data and construction of knowledge bases within the framework of a comprehensive suite of parametric tools such as the SEER suite?
