Agile Software Development Cost Modeling for the US DoD

Abstract

In this presentation, Dr. Boehm proposes a model for estimating the effort that will be needed to complete Agile software development projects. Previous estimation capabilities often require information such as function points, story points, or lines of code that are not available early for agile projects. For this work the team used initial and final Software Resource Data Reports from the Cost Assessment Data Enterprise or CADE (of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) initiative) to tie actual effort and processes to initial estimates. The proposed Agile Effort Estimation Model uses a combination of three variables to provide estimates, including the number of software requirements at contract start, an initial estimate of peak staffing, and which “super-domain” the project fits within.