There are several ways to measure the size of software projects. But some are more reliable than others. To ensure a precise measurement and estimates, Estimancy has chosen to use the Software Sizing method.

What is Software Sizing?

Software Sizing consists in measuring the amount of software to be developed according to technical or functional specifications. Actually, it is the amount of software to be developed that mostly influences the price of the software.

That amount varies depending on several factors: the technologies that are used and the technical components that are chosen to express the size (LOCs, widgets, screens, etc.).

However, functional measures such as IFPUG and COSMIC do not take technologies into account. They only measure the size of what the user asked for.

Software size

Thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, Estimancy Automated calculation of the size of the software to be developed measures the size of the software from specifications in natural language. Yet, that size relies on technical or functional components.

Thanks to our solution, you can:

• no longer need the help of a Function Points expert (after the training phase);
• save time;
• Answer faster quotation demand;
• Get more reliable function points estimates.

Technical size vs. functional size

However, the size of a software may be determined in two different ways: whether by using the technical size or the functional one.  From the point of view of the developer, it is mainly the technical size (of the demand) that should come into play. It depends on the technology and  thus cannot be standardized. On the other hand, there is the functional size ( of the demand) which is more relative to the point of view of the user. Unlike the technical size, this one does not depend on technology and complies with the international standards.

The pros of Software Sizing

Thanks to software sizing, you can implement performance indicators such as:

• Productivity: the amount of produced software over time,
• Quality: number of defects for a quantity of software,
• Maintenance cost according to the size of the application.

Reasons to implement performance indicators

Different experiences have proven that the simple fact of  implementing a productivity measurement system facilitates the increase of productivity by 10%. Actually, teams turn to be more careful and motivated. They realize that a good productivity is critical for the company’s success. However, the productivity measure must come with an analytic approach and never focus on individuals.