Use Case Points for Project Estimating

Use Case Points is a project estimating technique that helps you to determine complexity level of use cases, human participants, non-functional requirements, and software environments (Cohn, 2005).

Due to the rapid development nature of SharePoint, I think Use Case Points may be an efficient estimating tool for large SharePoint projects which are being formally managed. Such projects typically have an upfront investment in business analysis and likely have documented outputs including use cases. Use cases can be written like a sequential script of steps and exceptions to explain various ways that the system will be used. I think use cases themselves provide a great deal of value on a portal or search project because they provide greater visibility and detail about the requirements of the solution.

So, taking an artifact (use cases) that might already exist for a SharePoint project, you can simply use this information and apply the Use Case Points technique to gain other insights about time and cost estimates for the project.


Reference

Clemmons, R. (2006). Project Estimation With Use Case Points. Retrieved February 24, 2010 from http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/2006/02/0602Clemmons.pdf

Cohn, M. (2005). Estimating With Use Case Points. Retrieved February 24, 2010 from http://www.methodsandtools.com/archive/archive.php?id=25.

Koirala, S. (2004). How to Prepare Quotation Using Use Case Points. Retrieved February 24, 2010 from http://www.codeproject.com/KB/architecture/usecasepoints.aspx.