In my line of work I always get RFPs with one or two line requirements for which I have to estimate and these are big systems not small Intranets. The biggest problem I have been facing so far is how do I provide an estimate for requirments which are not
even 10% complete?
The biggest problem I have been facing so far is how do I provide an estimate for requirments which are not even 10% complete?
I would say "you can't". That's like saying "Here is a square with some other squares drawn inside it. It is the design for a 3 story house. How much will it cost and how long will it take to build?"
You need to push back and say a RFP for such involved projects need to have more detail, before proper analysis can be made which in turn can provide more accurate estimates.
Yeah this is what I keep saying the sales guys, I try to convince them to go with an agile approach but no, they say that the client needs an estimate. They also say put a lot of assumptions, but how can you put assumptions about a system which you dont
even know, and the assumptions should not be requirements?
Yeah this is what I keep saying the sales guys, I try to convince them to go with an agile approach but no, they say that the client needs an estimate.
@johnfoot - based on your quotes, this is a must see:
johnfoot
Member
26 Points
63 Posts
Estimating on RFPs with very high level requirements
Feb 22, 2012 05:17 AM|LINK
In my line of work I always get RFPs with one or two line requirements for which I have to estimate and these are big systems not small Intranets. The biggest problem I have been facing so far is how do I provide an estimate for requirments which are not even 10% complete?
atconway
All-Star
16846 Points
2756 Posts
Re: Estimating on RFPs with very high level requirements
Feb 24, 2012 02:23 AM|LINK
I would say "you can't". That's like saying "Here is a square with some other squares drawn inside it. It is the design for a 3 story house. How much will it cost and how long will it take to build?"
You need to push back and say a RFP for such involved projects need to have more detail, before proper analysis can be made which in turn can provide more accurate estimates.
johnfoot
Member
26 Points
63 Posts
Re: Estimating on RFPs with very high level requirements
Feb 24, 2012 03:17 AM|LINK
Yeah this is what I keep saying the sales guys, I try to convince them to go with an agile approach but no, they say that the client needs an estimate. They also say put a lot of assumptions, but how can you put assumptions about a system which you dont even know, and the assumptions should not be requirements?
DMW
All-Star
15943 Points
2353 Posts
Re: Estimating on RFPs with very high level requirements
Mar 06, 2012 12:01 PM|LINK
This is actually fairly easy to manage.
Put in generous assumptions, i.e.
There will be 1m simultaneous users
The average response time must be < 0.1s
Then you can extrapolate from here some serious development and hardware costs.
Then the sales guys will go nuts when the estimates come out in the many millions of dollars.
Then they will go back to the client (or someone) and come up with some more sensible numbers.
Alternatively, hone your resume and go work someplace sensible.
Dave
atconway
All-Star
16846 Points
2756 Posts
Re: Estimating on RFPs with very high level requirements
Mar 06, 2012 01:46 PM|LINK
@johnfoot - based on your quotes, this is a must see:
I want to run an agile project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u5N00ApR_k