Software development estimates often carry a mysterious and negative aura around them due to how often they end up wrong. Estimation truly is a science and getting it right can be hard. Without the right tools and team in place, you’ll likely end up dissatisfied and discouraged, but you don’t have to fall into this category. We’ve been providing custom software development services for many years through both individual and group endeavors, which has allowed us to pool together our experience and results to deliver the best results with any custom development project.

Anyone familiar with project management has probably heard of multiple estimate methodologies with each one having its own advantages and disadvantages. We’ve discovered that the needs of each project truly determine the best estimation method to use and we may use a single method or a combination of multiples for each project. It’s important to understand that the correct method to use is only one part of the puzzle though.

Perhaps one of the most frequently overlooked factors to creating more accurate estimates involves the requirements gathering and planning phase. Skimping in this phase may allow a project to get started much quicker, however, any gains realized will only be exponentially lost in later phases of the project. For this reason alone, we often provide newer clients the option to split their project into a spec or specifications phase and then an execution phase. The spec phase is typically very collaborative to ensure that we are able to review and understand the client’s requirements. This collaboration provides us with the opportunity to develop a statement of work (SOW) that not only addresses what their issues are in both layman and technical terms, but will also provide an outline for how we will solve them. The SOW will contain all of the relevant factors to the project and should remove any confusion between either party in regards to the proposed project.

Once we’ve completed the SOW, we then schedule a meeting to review it with the client. This process allows us to ensure that we’ve accurately documented and outlined the client’s request(s), as well as answer any questions on our proposed solution. This meeting is usually conducted via an online meeting where all parties involved can join and communicate freely.

Interested in evaluating a custom software development or web application development project with us? We’d love to help you experience this process and deliver an amazing solution.