Service List
|
Service
Name
|
Is at
Offer Currently?
|
Expected
By ^
|
Current
Phase
|
Security
Sensitive?
|
Cost
|
|
Basic Estimation Service
|
Yes
|
Immediate
|
Beta
|
No
|
Free
|
|
Professional
Estimation Service $
|
Yes
|
Immediate
|
Beta
|
No
|
2 USD / Relevant RFP page* /
person
|
|
Professional
Estimation & Planning Service
|
Yes
|
Immediate
|
N/A
|
No
|
10 USD / Relevant RFP Page #
/ person
|
|
Software Design
|
No
|
TBA
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
Will be Published
|
|
Software Development & Support
|
No
|
TBA
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
Will be Published
|
|
Software Testing
|
No
|
TBA
|
N/A
|
Yes
|
Will be Published
|
|
Online Project Management
|
No
|
TBA
|
N/A
|
Partially yes
|
Will be published
|
^ Timelines are tentative and may be
revised.
* Relevant
page counting criteria is explained here.
# Service
is offered at 50% fee to our partner customers.
$ Please
see early releases of RCL & FP tools at the links below
FP Tool
=> http://www.econcinnity.com/eConcinnity/faces/work/estimation/functionpoints/FunctionPointCapture.jsp
RCL Tool
=> http://www.econcinnity.com/eConcinnity/faces/work/estimation/rcl/RequirementsCapture.jsp
WBS Tool
=> http://www.econcinnity.com/eConcinnity/faces/work/estimation/wbs/WBSCapture.jsp
We can be engaged for any
of the available services by clicking the 'Engage Us'
button and providing the necessary details.
Estimation of Software Projects
We have 3 different
flavors for this service.
Ø
Service
Flavors
o
Basic Service -
Here we share 'Person Days' effort estimates with the service request initiator
but we do not share how we arrived at the figure. This is offered as a free
service.
o
Professional Estimation Service - Here we let customer choose the estimation
methodologies he / she wants us to deploy for estimating his / her IT
requirements as part of the estimation workflow. For e.g., if he / she selects
Function Points then we deliver software size in terms of FPs, in addition to
'Person Days' effort estimates. At the end of workflow, we deliver a report
that shows FP submissions by up to 3 experts in our network. If he / she had
selected more methodologies, he / she would have received submissions
corresponding to those methodologies as part of the report. However, more
methodologies you select more choices our network has and hence it may happen
that all of our experts have done estimation using only one methodology out of
the choices provided. Customers might also resubmit the requirements after
different phases of the project.
o
Professional Estimation & Planning Service - Here we not only deliver report on how we
arrived at the estimation figures but also we help companies to plan out their
projects. As part of this service, we do optimal team size planning, optimal
schedule estimation, project planning, risk profiling of projects, repetition
of estimation exercise after detailed requirements and design phases or as
prescribed by customer.
Ø
Inputs
o RFP Documents
o Other related documents describing the software
requirements more clearly. You can attach up to 3 documents including RFP main
document. Better would be to zip all files and post as single attachment.
Ø
Output
o It depends on the service flavor selected. Please
see above.
Ø
How does it
work
o Service Request Initiator selects 'Estimation'
request in the 'Engage Us'
area.
o He / She submits documents to work on along with
the request.
o Work instance is created and work offers are
generated for our experts in the panel.
o Multiple experts work on the same set of documents,
individually and in parallel, to estimate for the work.
o When a minimum set of experts, as defined by
'Estimation' work type have submitted their figures, the estimates are
aggregated. We deploy up to 3 experts in parallel.
o The aggregated figure is sent for approval to the
'master' of 'Estimation & Planning' work type.
o Master reviews the documents one final time and
makes a judgment over whether the estimation is looking reasonable. He then
approves or reject.
o An email is sent to the Service Request Initiator
sharing the aggregated figure.
o A link to the online report is also sent if service
request initiator had requested for it as part of professional service.
Ø
Time to
fulfill service request
o Depends on the size of requirements. However, on an
average, we should be out with estimates within 3 - 4 days. In case it is
taking longer, please get in touch with us, either at 'Live Help' or 'Contact Us' links.
o In future, we will augment the estimation process
to notify the approximate estimation timeframe to the initiator, in advance. It
will be calculated based on the size of requirements (Number of relevant pages
in the requirements document for e.g.).
o
We strip off all the unnecessary pages from the requirements
document before arriving at the relevant page count. On the other hand, if we
get a one liner requirement for a big system then our network would deploy
their experience to suggest the relevant page count. For eg, if we get a one
liner requirement like "we need a payroll system" then our network
might come up with an aggregate relevant page count of may be 100 pages as
those many pages might actually be required to cover the detailed requirements
for a payroll system.
Ø
Cost of
service
o Estimation figure in terms of 'Person Days' is
shared free of cost and will remain free.
o Detailed estimation report, showing how we have
arrived at estimation figure will be charged for. Charges depend on the service
flavor selected. Please see the chart at the start of this page for the pricing
information.
Ø
Why should you
choose us for this service
o Following are the areas we can help meeting
challenges
§
IT Services
Companies
·
Presales - We
provide 3rd party view of the project size that can be used by
presales to balance out their fixed bids.
·
SEPG -
Software size determination in terms of Function Points. Function Points form a
solid basis for productivity metrics calculation and maintenance.
§
Businesses
requiring IT Solutions - We help selecting right vendors for your IT solutions
by solidifying your view about the software size before approaching vendors.
§
Project
Management Consulting Firms - By sharing your growing load of Project
Estimation & Planning at a reduced rate.
o We deploy up to 3 experts from our panel (see FAQs) to work out the estimates for a
single requirement submission. These experts utilize different methodologies to
arrive at the estimation figures. What we report back to you is an aggregate
figure. Also, this aggregate undergoes one more round of review by the Master
of Estimation & Planning desk. Therefore, the estimates we finally present
to you are better balanced.
Ø
Join Us
o If you have ample 'Software Project Estimation'
experience, please join us as an expert. Please submit your details at 'Join Us' / 'Register' links. We'll review your
credentials and notify your fitment.
o If selected, we would pay for the services you
provide through us. Please review our payment policy related to this work type,
here.
o To be able to participate in our Estimation
services, you would need to join us as "Online Associate" and should
be working as a 'Business Analysts', 'Architect' or 'Project Manager' in your
current role. Please request the appropriate groups on the registration screen.
If you are certified by organizations like IFPUG, NESMA or COSMIC then we only
need a scanned copy of your certificate before we approve your profile. You
will not be interviewed if you are certified.
Ø
Additional
Notes
o Requirements Capture Language
§
We are
developing a Requirements Capture Language (RCL), in house. It will enable our
experts to capture the requirements more completely with its whole tree of
dependencies.
§
The RCL format
enables automatic sizing. The job of estimator would then be changed from
estimation to precise capture of requirements in RCL format; the size will be
automatically calculated (Size may then be converted to effort estimates). This
will make the process more objective and there will be fewer chances of errors
and deviations introduced by human intervention.
§
An early
release of RCL tool is made available for public review at the link below.
Please provide your feedback at 'feedback@econcinnity.com'.
http://www.econcinnity.com/eConcinnity/faces/work/estimation/rcl/RequirementsCapture.jsp
§
We were
compelled to do this as we felt that OMG's UML and SysML formats are not
compatible with our desire to automatically calculate estimation figures from
requirements. However, we are continuing to research on them.
§
We'll try to
provide inter conversions from and to industry standard formats.
Partnership
Criteria
Fulfilling any of the
following four options is sufficient to form service partnership with us.
Ø
By providing
link to our website from the footer (or any other prominent location such as
Partners page) of your company's website. We will provide the URL to be
embedded in your website. This is like your endorsement of our services. The
web traffic we get from your site may get us other customers or partners. Any
customers that we get through the web traffic from your company site will
automatically register you as our affiliate. Please check "Promote
Us" link on the left bar of the website to know the details &
benefits of our affiliate program.
Ø
By providing
us with 3 customers or partners (any combination). Partnership will begin after
either
o Customers register with us and have given us
business of some amount. OR,
o Partners register with us and have fulfilled one of
the partnership criteria.
Ø
By providing
at least 5 estimation & planning professionals out of your organization to
provide for "Professional Estimation Service" free to the
community. They will of course earn from the revenues we share. Company itself
can optionally register as affiliate resource providers (ARP) with us to gain
benefits. Check "Promote
Us" link on our website to understand more about our Affiliate program
that we run.
Ø
This is the
last and less preferable option but if a company is not able to fulfill any of
the above partnership criteria then the only way our network can gain from the
partnership is by receiving direct money from the company. Currently the
partnership fee is 1000$ / annum (introductory). We however feel that most of
the companies will be able to fulfill one of the above 3 conditions rather than
paying us money. Above 3 are much easier to implement.
Updated On: 9/7/2010 3:35 PM