Estimate Software Delivery With Confidence
Commit to achievable software releases by grounding realistic expectations.
- Estimation and planning practices set and reinforce the expectations of product delivery, which is a key driver of IT satisfaction.
- However, today’s rapidly scaling and increasingly complex products and business needs create mounting pressure for teams to make accurate estimates with little knowledge of the problem or solution to it, risking poor-quality products.
- Many organizations lack the critical foundations involved in making acceptable estimates in collaboration with the various perspectives and estimation stakeholders.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Estimation reflects your culture and operating model. The accuracy of your estimates is dependent on the roles involved, which is not encouraged in traditional and top-down methodologies. Stakeholders must respect and support the team’s estimates.
- Estimates support value delivery. IT satisfaction is driven by the delivery of valuable products and services. Estimates set the appropriate stakeholder expectations to ensure successful delivery and make the right decisions.
- Estimates are more than just guesses. They are tools used to make critical business, product, and technical decisions and inform how to best utilize resources and funding.
Impact and Result
- Establish the right expectations. Gain a grounded understanding of estimation value and limitations. Discuss estimation challenges to determine if poor practices and tactics are the root causes or symptoms.
- Strengthen analysis and estimation practices. Obtain a thorough view of the product backlog item (PBI) through good analysis tactics. Incorporate multiple analysis and estimation tactics to verify and validate assumptions.
- Incorporate estimates into your delivery lifecycle. Review and benchmark estimates, and update expectations as more is learned.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
10.0/10
Overall Impact
$50,000
Average $ Saved
20
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Sanlam Life Insurance Limited
Guided Implementation
10/10
$50,000
20
Great soundboard opportunity to verify focus areas to concentrate on. Very knowledgeable and with excellent communication.
Dark Fibre Africa
Guided Implementation
10/10
$9,916
14
It is always best times when meeting with Usman, he shares his vast knowledge openly and lets one share their challenges and he provides solutions ... Read More
Florida Department of Transportation
Guided Implementation
9/10
$6,197
10
Knights of Columbus
Guided Implementation
10/10
$12,395
12
Workshop: Estimate Software Delivery With Confidence
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Set the Context
The Purpose
- Discuss the decisions that estimates will help make.
- Level set estimation expectations by clarifying what they can and cannot do.
- Review the current state of your estimation practice.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Grounded understanding of estimation that is accepted by all audiences and stakeholders.
- Identification of whether estimation practices are the root cause of estimation challenges or a symptom of a different issue.
Activities
Outputs
Define estimation expectations.
- Estimation expectations
Reveal your root cause challenges.
- Root causes of estimation challenges
Module 2: Build Your Estimation Practice
The Purpose
- Discuss the estimation and planning practices used in the industry.
- Define the appropriate tactics to use to make key business and delivery decisions.
- Simulate the tactics to verify and validate their fit with your teams.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Knowledge of good practices that can improve the effectiveness of your estimates and plans.
- Practice using new tactics.
Activities
Outputs
Ground estimation fundamentals.
- Estimation glossary and guiding principles
Strengthen your analysis tactics.
- Defined analysis tactics
Strengthen your estimation tactics.
- Defined estimation and consensus-building tactics
Commit and communicate delivery.
- Defined commitment and communication tactics
Simulate your target state planning and estimation tactics.
- Lessons learned
Module 3: Define Your Optimization Roadmap
The Purpose
- Review the scope and achievability of your improved estimation and planning practice.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Realistic and achievable estimation optimization roadmap.
Activities
Outputs
Mature your estimation practice.
- Estimation optimization roadmap
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 3-phase advisory process. You'll receive 5 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
Guided Implementation 1: Justify Estimation Optimization
- Call 1: Discuss Info-Tech’s perspective and kick off this initiative.
- Call 2: Review your expectations and current state.
Guided Implementation 2: Commit to Achievable Delivery
- Call 1: Discuss estimation and planning good practices and their applications.
- Call 2: Review your desired tactics and approaches.
Guided Implementation 3: Mature Your Estimation Practice
- Call 1: Review your optimization roadmap.
Contributors
- Benjamin Palacio, Senior Information Systems Analyst, County of Placer
- Wayne Helman, Founder and President, DigThisData
- Jeremy Stark, Head of Solutions, ALM Works
- Steve Tockey, Principal Consultant, Construx Software
- 5 anonymous contributors
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