Software effort estimation and risk analysis - a case study

Quantitative approaches to software schedule and cost estimation have been developed to help project managers to estimate schedule and cost for a software project and do some sensitivity analyses based on various criteria. Such models are useful and complement the manager´s judgement and intuition for decision-making. Large deviations from the estimates can cause partial/total failure of a software project. Since risk and estimation go hand in hand, the project manager must identify and analyze risk factors to take corrective actions. In this paper a systematic approach to risk analysis is illustrated for a case study in addition a methodology for software effort estimation is proposed. Effort estimated for the case study from this method is compared with values obtained from other available methods in literature.