Practices for Achieving Accuracy in Software Costing and Estimation

Abstract

Predictability is the foremost choice of all stakeholders in software development; it could be
custom software or a general solution. Many software costing models have been proposed and
used in the software industry over the last 40 years. In this paper, we go down into the details of recent approaches in software estimation and besides we propose the mandatory steps which can lead towards accuracy in software cost estimation. The more mature an organization is in costing and estimation, the more accurate results it is expected to achieve. We believe that using the steps defined in this paper will lead to more accurate results in costing and estimation. Unlike the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), we don’t propose any specific levels and designate key process areas to it; but specific list of procedures towards an accurate costing and estimation of software is clearly identified in this paper.