Estimation Issues in Software Project Management

This report studies the estimation techniques used for sizing software development efforts and identifies significant factors that must be considered when estimating a software project. The issues identified in the report can be categorized into four areas: project goal, project complexity, work environment and human environment. The results of the report indicate that the existing estimation models need to reflect human estimation parameters. Estimation is typically performed based on past experience. A knowledge based system is a very useful tool for estimation