Happy 25th Mac
Hard to believe the Macintosh was introduced 25 years ago, January 25, 1984 as this first Mac commercial points out.  I remember it well. We bought one to see what it was and to see if there were product add-on opportunities. I instantly hated it… I was consulting for a product development organization… closed system, we couldn’t build or add 3rd party peripherals, closed OS, we couldn’t see anything but the presentation layer, the appearance of multi-tasking, but the virtual inability to run more than one task.
 We started the SEER-SEM development 4 years later and choose Windows (2.03 to be exact) as our development platform…. Graphical like a Mac, open architecture, we could develop add-ons and peripherals. It still could barely runmore than one application, wasn’t as refined as Mac OS, yet it took parametrics to a whole new level.
Then the Mac started taking off in engineering environments. We actually released SEER-SEM for Macintosh in the early ’90s. Also we released SEER for Sun Solaris some time later. Both have been retired as Windows dominance increased. I must admit, in their day, I liked SEER for Mac better than SEER for Windows.
As I recall the costs of innovation on three platforms… It was miserable and costly. We made a change to the model, generally in the Windows version.. Then had to make in the SEER for Mac and SEER for Sun.
When we discarded the Mac version I was thrilled, it made development simpler, lowered product release time (we produced simultaneous releases for all three platforms) and generally made life easier. And it was nice to deal with the more open, lower cost architecture of Windows. Not that Windows was perfect. We also had a special Windows version for the Zenith 100. I still remember the resonating sound of the Z100′s hitting the bottom of the trash bin when we retired them, Priceless.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
Creative Cost Efficiency Article From 2008 European SEER Users Conference
In his opening speech to the 91 delegates at last April’s conference, Galorath’s Cost Engineering Consultant and former Cost Estimating Engineer at Agusta Westland John Henson explained the ‘back to basics’ approach the company was now taking, the message being that only the application of common sense is required to make the most of its range of products for hardware and software development, manufacturing and IT systems. Addressing representatives from over 50 different companies, both current and prospective users, the conference featured speeches from several users in the field of cost engineering, including representatives from Raytheon, Airbus and BAE Systems, each giving an insight into how the software was being practically applied to current projects.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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Estimating the 10 Hidden Costs of Packaged Software Implementation
Galorath is sponsoring a webinar covering estimation of packaged software implementation. This is a topic that I am excited about. I see organizations constantly assuming they can buy software and install it for free. And that they can tailor packaged software in an instant. The truth is implementing, deploying, tailoring packaged software is expensive.  Most often worthwhile, but not the no-brainer people think.  For example I recently spoke with an organization that took a YEAR to implement a CRM system. Their CEO tells horror stories and how they did not have the concept for the difficulty both in deployment and in dealing with change.
Date and Time
January 27, 2009
8:30 am, Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)
11:30 am, Eastern Standardt Time (GMT -05:00, New York)
10:00 pm, New Delhi, India (Standard time zone: UTC/GMT +5:30 hours)
12:30 am, Tokyo, Japan (Standard time zone: UTC/GMT +9 hours)
4:30 pm, London, England (UTC/GMT)
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To register for the online event
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This event requires registration with a corporate email address.
1. Go to https://galorath.webex.com/galorath/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=925898160
2. Click “Register”.
3. On the registration form, enter your information and then click “Submit”.
Once the host approves your enrollment, you will receive a confirmation email message with instructions on how to join the event.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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Estimating Economic Stimulus Impact On Government Contractors
According to an INPUT article, President Obama’s proposed economic stimulus package will deliver billions of dollars to federal, state and local governments and will jumpstart spending with infrastructure projects. We are excited to see SEER used in many of these projects, helping ensure success.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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SEER Estimating United Conference At Manchester United Stadium, UK
I had the opportunity to review the agenda for the SEER Estimating United Conference at the Manchester United Football (Soccer) Stadium coming up March 19th. Very exciting to see the lineup of speakers and events. We will hear from organizations saving millions by using SEER, and from the inventor of the COSMIC function point method, for example. Estimation, planning, control and project success with SEER will be featured. More details will be on the galorath.com web site soon.
Speaking of football, in the UK everyone seems to have their favorite soccer team… Beyond the level in the US (My own kids are big fans of Manchester United and are envious of my opportunity to tour the stadium). My families closest thing to an obsession is they are big LA Lakers (Basketball) fans and live near Sasha)… one of the players  But in the UK sports team loyalty seems to be an obsession.
SO please, SEER users who are not Manchester United Fans, forgive us and come to the conference anyway. 
And for US users who don’t want to travel so far, there is something for you coming in the fall that will be announced any day. Perhaps not as exciting as the conference in the UK, but will great speakers and interaction with other SEER users as well.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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COSMIC Function Points In SEER
SEER for Software supports the COSMIC function point counting rules as well as traditional IFPUG and others and has done so for some time. While this BLOG does not cover religious issues it is good to see how every sizing method is supported.  When reviewing an estimating process I see that we added a second COSMIC sizing method for COSMIC Function Point “Data Movements” And using the data movements provided estimates just about spot on to actuals. It is so important to be able to deal with any sizing method that users might come up with. That is just one more reasons why SEER for Software lead in project estimation, planning and control. Continuous product improvement by a development and analyst staff who understand the domain.  Thanks to Galorath’s Ton Dekkers for his involvement in COSMIC and in making the alternate approach work so well with SEER.
Supporting the numerous methods of software sizing is critical to providing a full service solution.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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We Techies Are So Naive
I realized when  I wrote a BLOG saying that SEER is the antidote to a bailout that while we can certainly reduce costs and improve on-time, on-budget performance the bailouts are needed for reasons far beyond technology.
This morning I listened to a webinar by a very credible organization that claims IT Service management could have prevented the need for bailouts. He suggested making profit the primary goal was a problem and that. ITSM could fix this.
This is so far off I probably don’t need to comment further.
I was embarrassed for all us techies today. Still, they got me to listen to a webinar. Maybe that is not all bad.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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SEER for Software Quick Start: Sizing an Entire Corporate Software Portfolio in Less Than One Week
We hear, so often…. “We need to estimate our entire portfolio… and we have no time, and we have no function point counts” SEER users generate rough estimates of size, then cost, schedule, risk, and value with the SEER suite and a simple process, making this task not only possible but quick and easy.
Read more
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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Using the SEER Effective Technology for Productivity Assessment and Benchmarking
While I prefer to use productivity (which consolidates everything about the project)  as the main measure…  SEER allows, and some users prefer to use a “productivity index” (SEER refers to this as effective technology) to compare their propensity for productivity independent of size, complexity, constraints, etc.Â
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
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Estimate Packaged Software Or Suffer the Consequences
I am excited about the Galorath Webinar covering packaged software estimation. It always amazes me when I hear people say SEER only works for new systems or worse yet, only when doing waterfall development. SEER estimates any kind of software development, sustainment, deployment or other scenario.Th January 27, 2009 Webinar shows how powerful SEER it for estimating effort, schedule, and risk of packaged software implementations.
You can sign up for the webinar or review the recorded session from the galorath.com web site.
Description
The 21st century has seen a growing use of pre-packaged 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 pre-packaged applications.
Presenter
David DeWitt, Senior Consultant, Galorath Incorporated
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.