In this last installment of estimating with accuracy blog series, I explore the resources required to generate trustworthy results. How competent are the resources performing estimation? Have they received formal training? Have they estimated and implemented projects of similar size and complexity? Finding competent resources that can estimate well can be difficult. At one extreme, organizations requiring part-time resources or those that initiate data management projects sporadically should seek professional help. Organizations at the other extreme, with constant resource demands across many different types of projects, should consider full-time Solution Architects – distinguished subject matter specialists, with proven problem solving skills, who can analyze both the functional and technical requirements. Organizations falling in between these two extremes should improve the qualification of resources authorized to create estimates, and allow sufficient time for peer review.
Harder than finding competent estimation resources, is holding the delivery team accountable to the original project economics. Encouraging the use of performance measurement and management techniques, such as earned value, can alert delivery teams of delays and cost overruns. Rigorous application of such techniques enables projects to detect variances, make course corrections, and improve future estimation.
In conclusion, good project planning requires good estimates. The better the estimates, the better the planning. Improved estimates can help organizations achieve more consistent, predictable, and repeatable delivery results – reducing the cost of poor quality, increasing customer satisfaction, and improving bottom-line results. If achieving on-time, on-budget projects is important, then accurate work effort estimates are essential.
I hope you enjoyed this series of blogs.
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About the Author:
Mr. Mohit “Mo” Sahgal is the VP of Analytics of Paradigm Technology. He is an accomplished Senior Executive with decades of management consulting expertise. Mo has held various leadership positions including Senior Executive at Accenture, Partner at IBM, Partner at Capco, and Executive Director at Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Sahgal LinkedIn profile can be found here.
Paradigm Technology is a strategic consulting company, a leader in Digital Transformation working for 25 years with the Fortune 500serving the utilities, banking, airline, manufacturing and high-tech verticals. We enable our clients in: Customer Centricity (MDM, PIM), Data Governance (Axon, EDC, IDQ), Real-time Analytics, and Cloud Adoption (BDM, Relate360, IDL). Our Data Scientists help make sense of IoT and Big Data to predict and answer the hard questions to grow revenue, reduce costs and avoid risk. Paradigm’s Business Transformation practice supports this through IT simplification, change management and robotic automation.Paradigm is ready to support you in your business journey. For more information about Paradigm Technology, email [email protected] or visit us at www.pt-corp.com