How To Reach Close To Accurate Estimates On Projects

Project estimation is the process where factors such as resources, cost and the timeline are calculated which further helps in the management of tasks and increased efficiency. Each new project is unique and comes with its own set of challenges and the process of estimating the project helps both the client and developers to streamline the process through sound planning. Additionally, it is highly advantageous for business owners to estimate the particulars of a project beforehand as they can use this data to make smart financial choices when budgeting the project.

1. Discovery call- It starts off with our expert business development team who reach to our clients for an elaborate discovery call. The discussion in this discovery call centers around the idea of the project with the purpose of understanding particulars such as the intended audience for the application and the feasibility of the idea with topics such as technology expectations and budget constraints also being touched upon.This helps us to understand if the requirements are checking the specified criteria based on which the business development team can collude with the partner to lay out the optimum plan to take the process forward.

2. Business analysis- Following this, a thorough business analysis conducted after gathering the requirements wherein our in-house team try to understand the app and try to visualise the end goal of the project by defining the requirements and what its all about, i.e. number of screens, the features to be developed, the required modules, etc, which makes it easy to disseminate the information that we received and start the estimation process.

3. Ballpark estimation- Next, we arrive at a ballpark estimation along with an approximate range for the timeline and the cost involved which we share with the client based on which they can make an informed decision about whether they want to go ahead with the project.

4. Final estimation- Once we receive the go-to from the client, we get going with the next step which is to come up with the second and final round of estimation. We conduct a thorough component-wise, feature-wise and screenwise evaluation to come up with an accurate estimate which is broken down to the last detail. Unlike the first ballpark estimate, the latter differs and is more functional as it is exact to the last hour and unit of money that will be involved during the development process while also making sure that the second estimate comes as close to the first as possible unless any drastic changes were involved.

To ensure maximum collaboration, we follow an agile process where the sprints or the milestones that are involved are preset during the estimation process with various tasks assigned to team members while also keeping the client in loop. We submit the proposed plan to our partner for approval before getting started with the project while also maintaining continuous communication about the progress on the project to instill maximum confidence in the venture.