Measuring Software Costs - A New Perspective on a Recurring Problem

Regular outsourcing of software development signifies a need for a common understanding between procurement specialists, project managers and software engineers of individual system requirements costs, to facilitate accord on price. Dependable cost estimates are usually required by customers long before detailed analysis and design activities would normally produce this information. A number of estimation techniques have evolved to produce cost information at an early stage in the software life-cycle, however estimation continues to contribute to budget blowouts. Contemporary techniques for costing specifications described as use cases are increasingly challenged as the size and complexity of the system expands. In addition object-oriented representations of requirements fail to directly map into structures used by project managers, leading to ongoing comparisons of value that are subjective and often unrepresentative of final project expenditure. Flaws in the current application of cost estimation methodologies have been identified and a possible solution is proposed