This paper introduces a hybrid software process simulation model that combines two common approaches to simulation discrete event and system dynamics. The purpose of the model is to support software project estimation as well as project management. Although the model was originally constructed for a specific software organization, it's use was never realized by that project. The model has been ...

Effort estimation is difficult in general, and in software development it becomes even more complicated if the software process is changed. In this paper a number of alternative interview-based effort estimation methods is presented. The main focus of the paper is to present an experiment in which software engineers were asked to use different methods to estimate the actual effort it would take...

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that significant benefits may be gained from augmenting current approaches to software development effort estimation, and indeed other project management activities, with models developed using fuzzy logic and other soft computing methods. The tasks undertaken by project managers early in a development process would appear to be particularly amenab...

Software project effort estimation is defined as one of the most difficult tasks in software engineering, embodying extensive uncertainty and vagueness in estimation parameters. In order to deal with this uncertainty, it has been suggested that the fuzzy approach can be employed in the effort estimation process. This work in progress paper is a proof of the concept that the estimation approach ...

Most software project estimation and measurement (PEM) processes have been designed for providers. Customers need to leverage PEM to better direct software sourcing. A design theory for software project-scoping has been developed that supports the PEM processes of both customers and providers. This paper probes the validity of the theory from providers’ and customers’ viewpoints through three l...

Software project effort estimation is frequently seen as complex and expensive for individual software engineers. In Project LEAP, we are investigating tools and methods to support low-cost, empirically-based software developer improvement. In a recent case study, we investigated effort estimation and the relative accuracy of a dozen different analytic estimation procedures. Student programmers...

A good understanding of the influential factors to software development effort and further precise effort estimate are undoubtedly crucial to any cost-effective and controllable software development projects. In most effort estimation researches, a large dataset is always a necessary basis of estimation modeling, model calibration and method validation. Among them, different attributes and char...

This paper describes an empirical study of effort estimation in agile software development. Estimated effort and actual effort of a 46-iteration project are collected and analyzed. The results show that estimation in agile development is more accurate than that in traditional development even though agile developers still underestimate the effort. However, estimation accuracy is not improved ov...

Accurate software cost estimation is a vital task that affects the firm's software investment decisions before committing required resources to that project or bidding for a contract. This study proposes an improved Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) approach integrated with multi-agent technology to retrieve similar projects from multi-organizational distributed datasets. The study explores the possib...

Software project planning and estimation is the most important confront for software developers and researchers. It incorporates estimating the size of the software project to be produced, estimating the effort required, developing initial project schedules, and ultimately, estimating on the whole cost of the project. Numerous empirical explorations have been performed on the existing methods, ...