The benefits of this estimation workshop will be to provide participants' a broad understanding of this estimation tools and methods commonly used in software industry and experience in successfully using estimation methods within their own organization context. Participants will experience the benefit of using a disciplined, repeatable approach to estimating that is data driven. This workshop will be helpful in identifying issues that need to be addressed in the effective use of estimation tools an techniques.

Software Estimation Foundations :Definitions of Terms, Benefits, Barriers to Estimation.

Estimating Software Size : Lines of Code, Function Points.

Common Estimation Tools: COCOMO II, SLIM, Price-S, SEER-SM, PQM-Plus.

Other Estimation Methods: Activity, Based Costing, Delphi Technique.

Estimation Tool Selection, Evaluation, and Implementation : Selection Criteria, Tool Evaluate Procedure, Implementing an Estimation Tool.

Estimation Procedures within your Project Process: Training Needs, Estimation Checklist(s), Validating Estimation Data, Auditing the Estimation Procedures; Bibliography of Estimation Related Procedures.

The intended audience is managers, team leads, and senior developers who are responsible for and perform software estimation activities.

MRS. Parker has over 22 years experience in systems and software engineering in both the commercial and federal government sectors. Carol is a Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). She is an authorized Software Engineering Institute Instructor, Introduction to the CMMI, and SCAMPI lead Appraiser (CMMI Assessment Methods for Process Improvement (SCAMPI)). She is an SEI Authorized CBA-IPI lead assessor and she has completed over 70 assessments which include SPAs, CBA-IPIs and CMM Profiles based the SEI capability Maturity Model (CMM). Mrs. Parker has assessed and worked with organizations up through Level 5 of the CMM. Mrs. Parker provides business systems solutions to long term clients based on the practices of SE\SW CMMI, SW CMM, ISO 9000, and other business models. Carol has prepared and delivered multiple education programs including a program in 1997 for university professor of computer science and information technology at the university of Maryland. She specialized in software process improvement and assessment services. Business systems solutions, and developed and implemented action plans.