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The term agile has come to mean many things to many people. The definitions and connotations range from how work is organized within a project to a description of the speed at which work is completed or alternately a radical rethinking of organizational culture. Regardless of how you define agile I would suggest that we all would agree that agile methods are now maturing. Part of the process of maturing is the incorporation of best practices from other methods and frameworks creating a hybrid. The fringe is influencing the center and the center is influencing the fringe. The hybrid is at once better than any of the absolutes and threatening to those who believe in absolutes.

Estimation has been a lightning rod for the discussion all methods (agile, waterfall, iterative or water fountain) with the issues of predictability and standardization radiating outward. Because of the controversy this is an area where a wide range of hybridization has always occurred. Organizations adjust techniques to fit governance structures, culture and risk profiles. There is no one size fits all solution. This paper provides a path for incorporating the use of function points into agile estimation techniques. The process will yield an estimation process that combines one part functional metrics, one part parametric estimation techniques with two parts agile estimation (heavily influenced by Mike Cohn). I would suggest that functional metrics provide a path for incorporating the best practices of robust software sizing with the collaborative techniques championed by the agile community in a manner that increase standardization without ignoring the principals of the Agile Manifesto.

To read the full "White Paper on Agile Estimation Using Functional Metrics" Click here to download the PDF

DCG is an international software development consulting firm helping companies frustrated with development costs, hampered by poor quality or struggling to estimate and achieve on-time delivery. We have successfully helped global organizations and their partners to make timely, effective changes to results and culture.

To learn more, contact Alan Cameron, Director, David Consulting Group Ltd. at www.davidconsultinggroup.com or call office +44.1253.290370, mobile +44.7825.271344.

Introduction to DCG’s approach to Agile by David Consulting Group’s CEO and owner, Michael D.S. Harris -  Watch Video