Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!vsi1!wyse!mips!prls!philabs!ttidca!hollombe
From: hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Using COCOMO to estimate development schedules
Keywords: COCOMO, software development
Message-ID: <4183@ttidca.TTI.COM>
Date: 3 Apr 89 19:56:28 GMT
References: <351@tahoma.UUCP> <4148@ttidca.TTI.COM> <7518@thorin.cs.unc.edu>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcb.tti.com (The Polymath)
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 22

In article <7518@thorin.cs.unc.edu> coggins@coggins.UUCP (Dr. James Coggins) writes:
}... Rather than the
}seat-of-the-pants guesses your boss came up with COCOMO shows a few
}specific quantities that need to be observed over time.  It also helps
}to focus efforts to evaluate and test programmer productivity that go
}into the COCOMO equations.  A great contribution. 

Apparently I didn't make myself clear.  My (former) boss didn't compare
COCOMO figures to seat-of-the-pants estimates.  He plugged actual figures
from real, completed projects into the COCOMO formulas and compared the
COCOMO projections with the actual project figures.

He found the COCOMO projections to be wrong by as much as 50%.

Maybe your company can live with 50% cost overruns or project over-bids.
Ours couldn't.

-- 
The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@ttidca.tti.com)  Illegitimati Nil
Citicorp(+)TTI                                                 Carborundum
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.   (213) 452-9191, x2483
Santa Monica, CA  90405 {csun|philabs|psivax}!ttidca!hollombe