SEER for Software
Estimating Software Projects

Core Capabilities

Plan, Analyze, and Manage Complex Software Development Projects

Datasheet

Software projects are notoriously difficult to predict and control. In fact, major industry studies have documented project failure rates as high as 60%. SEER for Software (SEER SW) enables organizations to streamline project processes and improve project performance throughout the software development lifecycle.

Project Planning Software - Understand project scope and complexity and develop detailed project plans more quickly and accurately, helping with software estimation.

Project Cost Management Software - Identify key cost drivers and test trade-offs much earlier in the software development process.

Project Tracking Software - Monitor project progress and determine what mid-course corrections (if any) are needed to keep the project on track.

Thousands of government and commercial users worldwide currently depend on SEER for Software (formerly SEER-SEM) to improve software project performance and deliver software projects on time and on target.

All SEER solutions are built on the same design principles, incorporating the following application elements:

Interface:

An intuitive interface for defining and describing projects. Users can generate a new project from an existing project “template” or by adding and defining individual work elements. A series of pop-up windows and annotations guide users through the process of defining project scope, complexity, and technologies.

Simulation/Modeling Engine:

Sophisticated sector-specific mathematical models derived from extensive project histories, behavioral models, and metrics.

Knowledge Bases:

SEER Knowledge Bases serve as a virtual “in-house expert,” providing default project definitions, values, ranges, and calibrations based on comparable project histories. Enables users to develop first-look estimates when very little information is known, and to refine those estimates as details become available.

Output:

A variety of charts, graphs, and reports for quickly summarizing and presenting project outcomes and alternatives as well as work-in-progress. 

Open architecture and APIs ensure that SEER applications can be easily integrated with departmental productivity solutions and enterprise applications.

A high-level SEER software estimation can be developed in a matter of minutes. Simply define a software development project by platform, application, development methodology, and governing standards, for example, and SEER will provide a set of default parameter values and a rough estimate based on project histories which most closely match your definition. Where greater precision is necessary, projects can be defined in greater detail and specific parameter values can be adjusted.

SEER for Software evaluates software parameters not as isolated factors, but as interdependent variables spanning project objectives and constraints, work products, and lifecycle.

As Software size is the single most significant driver of development cost, effort, and schedule, SEER SW provides a number of sizing options and applications (e.g., Software Lines of Code, Function Points, and Use Cases), as well as embedded sizing “wizards” to assist in size calculations. Enter or refine best case, worst case, and most-likely case values for additional project variables, including:

  • Staffing levels, capabilities & experience
  • Development environment complexity
  • Requirements stability
  • Confidence level
  • Target/Host systems
  • Schedule Considerations
  • Reusability
  • Integration
  • Labor rates
  • Maintenance levels
  • And more

As parameter values are entered or changed, SEER SW updates the cost and effort estimates, in real-time, to determine how these changes are likely to impact a project’s ultimate outcome. The results of these analyses can be documented and shared using SEER’s rich reporting capabilities, as well as exported to Microsoft Project, Microsoft Office, IBM Rational, and numerous other 3rd-party applications.

SEER for Software goes beyond what traditional project planning software, project tracking software, and cost management software applications can provide, enabling organizations to streamline, automate, and optimize project planning processes. 

Learn about the extended capabilities of the SEER for Software project management tool and how these extended capabilities can further improve your software estimation and software development lifecycle: