Improving Bespoke Software
Date
2011-04-19
Authors
Wade, Sebastian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Software development has had much comment over the last two to three
decades; large research organisations such as the Standish Group have carried
out several empirical studies that measure the success rate of software projects
as they have typically been unsuccessful over time. An integral part of any
software development project is the software estimation process which
establishes project scope; within the scope of the project are a number of key
parameters which assist in mapping out the entire project.
The objective of this research report is to focus on software estimation in South
Africa and how software practitioners in the country are approaching the
formidable task of software estimation with the aim of improving this process
and the number of successful software projects. Bespoke software development
is the focus area of software development in the report. The research was
conducted by way of one-on-one interviews with software practitioners who had
bespoke software development knowledge relative to a certain size project
value and experience. The report findings represent the perceptions and
viewpoints of the respondents.
It was established from the findings that the approach to software estimation in
South Africa is largely done on an informal or unstructured basis, that
estimation which is done on a more formal basis is done using the expert or
experience based technique. The respondents were only able to identify two
other forms of estimation, neither of which appears to be used in South Africa.
The influence of business interests upon producing the final estimate and price
to the customer is powerful and often compromises the objective of the
estimate. South African software vendors do however employ the best practice
of revising their estimates after inception of the project and are able to manage
the uncertainty element of the project more effectively in this way. Given the
relative inexperience of the software vendor community in South Africa they
were somewhat unaware of the international practice of combining estimation
iii
techniques even though they agreed that it may be a solution towards improving
the estimation process overall.
South Africa appears to be uneducated as to the majority of theory and
application surrounding the use of various estimation techniques. This fact may
simply be because the country is still developing behind first world countries
that have already overcome this learning curve and progressed from that point.
While there are many experienced software practitioners in South Africa there is
no indication of the estimation processes evolving so that software estimation
can progress to a more professional, formalised level
Description
MBA - WBS
Keywords
Software development, Computer software development