---
Video Title: Project Estimation
Description: Project Estimation
Watch more Videos at https://www.tutorialspoint.com/videotutorials/index.htm
Lecture By: Mr. Arnab Chakraborty, Tutorials Point India Private Limited
---

In this session, we are discussing project
estimation.

That means how the cost of a project can
get estimated.

We are going to discuss into details on
it.

For an effective management, accurate
estimation of various measures is a must.

And then only with the correct estimation,
managers can manage and control the

project for more efficiently and for more
effectively way.

So, that is why this estimation is very
important for the manager, so that the

manager can control the cost of the
project effectively and efficiently.

So that is the multiple different ways we
can do the estimation.

So, at first we are going for software
size estimation.

So, we are thinking that if the size of
the software, if the number So,

the number of lines written in the
software is huge.

So, obviously, the cost of the project
will be also increasing accordingly.

Software size may be estimated either in
terms of KLOC that is kilo line of code.

That means, in how many thousands of lines
it has got written.

It has got written by the developers or
the coders to develop the software or by

calculating the number of function points
in the software.

So, function points will actually implement
the business functional requirements.

So, how many such functional points we
have used?

How many function points we have
implemented in our software?

That may be also a good measure of the
software cost.

The function points vary according to the
user or the software requirement.

So, depending upon
the requirement list, how many features,

how many
functional points we are going to develop?

So, that will get decided.

Next one is our effort estimation.

The manager
estimates effort in terms of personal

requirement and man
hour required to produce the software.

So, how many man power are working on that
very project?

And what is the man hour?

That is the number of man power into
number of hours they have worked.

So, if
you go on multiplying, you are going to

get the value which
is known as the man hour.

So, depending upon the number of personal
required to develop the software and also

the man hour count will be a good measure
for this project estimation.

For effort estimation, software size would
be known.

This can either be delivered by manager's
experience or historical data of

organization or software
size can be converted

into efforts by using
some standard formula.

So, whenever we are
doing this effort estimation from our

prior experience that
we have developed such software earlier.

So, from the prior experience or doing the
data mining of the prior existing data,

we can get the idea that what will be the
effort estimation value.

So, managers must have that amount of
experience so that they can guess,

they can estimate this effort estimation.

Always remember estimation this term is
very much related with approximation.

So, in reality obviously,
there will be some

deviation
or the deviation should be very less.

If you can do the estimation a very
realistic one then obviously, the

deviation from that estimated value will
be very less.

So, next we are going for time estimation.

One size and efforts are estimated.

So, how to estimate the size?

We have discussed that is KLOC, Kilo
lines of code or number of function points.

And how this efforts can be estimated?

By using the number of personnel working
on that or calculating the man hour from

the prior experience, doing the data
mining, consulting with the consultant,

we can do this effort estimation.

So, once size and effort estimations are
estimated, the time required to produce

the software can also be estimated.

So, efforts required is segregated into
subcategories as per the requirement

specifications and interdependency of
various components of the software.

The software
tasks are divided into smaller tasks,

activities or
events by work breakdown structure.

The tasks are scheduled on day to day
basis or in a calendar month.

So, now, you know that whenever we are
going for a software development,

the software can be divided into multiple
different modules.

And we shall have to do the scheduling
that which module will be executed after

which one or which are the modules which
they can be executed in parallel.

So, that sort of scheduling is to be done
at first.

So, whenever we shall
do such scheduling, those

modules will be consisting
of certain activities.

Those activities can also be divided into
sub-activities or say sub-sub-activities.

And all these activities will have some
numbering format known as WBS.

This WBS is having the full form that is a
work breakdown structure.

Just take one example.

Let us suppose we are having four
activities.

So, activities have got numbered as one,
two, three and four.

The second activity has got two
sub-activities.

So, those two sub-activities will be
numbered as 2.1 and 2.2.

The second sub-activity has got three
sub-sub-activities.

So, they will be numbered as 2.2.1,
2.2.2 and the last one will be 2.2.3.

So, this is known as the work breakdown
structure.

It is not like that always it will be
coming like in this 1.2 and 3.

It may be also in this way 1.A,
1.B, 1.C or we can put some prefix before

this WBS code that is the project code
also.

So, in this way there will be different
formats.

The respective project management team
will decide the format of the WBS code.

So, accordingly the tasks will be divided
into sub-tasks.

The sub-tasks will be divided into
sub-sub-tasks and so on.

But always keep this one in mind that we
should not divide a task in such a minute

level that it would get very difficult to
get monitored,

controlled
and obviously to do the estimations.

The sum of the time required to complete
all tasks, hours or days is the total time

invested to complete the project.

So, in this way we can find out that what
is the total duration of the projects.

Because if the tasks are getting executed
sequentially one after another,

just go on adding the task duration will
be getting the project duration.

But that may not be true.

Because in some cases we might be having
some tasks which are overlapping.

We might be
having some tasks which are occurring

concurrently,
in parallel, simultaneous.

In those cases
obviously the project estimation of the

duration of the
project should be done accordingly.

So, next one we are going for the cost
estimation.

This might be considered as the most
difficult of all because it depends on

more elements than any of the previous
one.

The estimating project cost, it is
required to consider the size of the

software, the software quality,
the hardware on which this particular

software is going to get deployed or say
is going to get developed.

And additional software or tools,
licenses, etcetera.

And skilled personnel with the task
specific skills, travel involved,

communication cost and also training and
the support.

So, these are
the different cost factors which should

be kept in
mind while doing the cost estimation.

So, a same manpower, say one developer,
say that developer can work on say PHP,

say on say dot net, on say Java platform.

And as he knows Java, so he has also upgraded
himself with the Kotlin platform also.

So, when that particular developer will be
asked to work on a certain task in a task

specific skill, in the
case he or she might be

charging different for
different technologies.

So, it is not like that.

This manpower, this software engineer will
always charge X dollar per hour.

It is not like that.

It might be X1, X2, X3, X4 depending upon
the platform, depending upon the

criticalness on of the task on which he is
going to get deployed.

So, that are different issues are there
while doing the cost estimations.

When you will be working in the real life
scenarios, you can easily face that cost

estimation is not a matter of joke.

It is very difficult because different
resources you are going to deploy on

different tasks with a particular skill
set.

And in this way, the cost estimation of
the software can be done efficiently.

So, in this particular session,
we have discussed how the project cost

estimations can be
done and what are the

different variations
and the cost components.

Thanks for watching this video.