Activity points based effort estimation for package implementation

A computing device for determining overall effort in person-months for a package implementation program, the computing device comprising:

• a display;
• a memory;
• and
• a processing unit;
• wherein the computing device is configured for performing operations comprising:
• determining a program aspect parameter complexity value for each of a plurality of program aspect parameters;
• determining activities for program phases and program work streams;
• calculating, by the computing device, an activity point value for each determined activity, wherein the activity point values are calculated using, at least in part, the program aspect parameter complexity values and heuristics;
• calculating, by the computing device, overall effort in person-months for the package implementation program, wherein the calculating the overall effort uses, at least in part, the activity point values and a pre-determined productivity metric that is specific to a type of the package implementation program;
• and
• displaying, by the computing device, the calculated overall effort in person-months for the package implementation program;
• wherein the calculating overall effort in person-months for the package implementation program comprises:
• calculating end-to-end effort for the package implementation program in activity points:
• and converting end-to-end effort for package implementation program in activity points to calculating the overall effort in person-months by use of a baseline program productivity metric;
• wherein the calculating end-to-end effort calculates the effort in all phases of the program from beginning to end.

A computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for execution on a computing device to perform a method for determining overall effort in person-months for a package implementation program, the method comprising:

• determining a program parameter complexity value for each of a plurality of program parameters;
• determining activities for program phases and program work streams;
• calculating, by the computing device, an activity point value for each determined activity, wherein the activity point values are calculated using, at least in part, the program aspect parameter complexity values and heuristics;
• calculating, by the computing device, overall effort in person-months for the package implementation program, wherein the calculating the overall effort uses, at least in part, the activity point values and a pre-determined productivity metric that is specific to a type of the package implementation program;
• and
• displaying, by the computing device, the calculated overall effort in person-months for the package implementation program;
• wherein the calculating overall effort in person-months for the package implementation program comprises:
• calculating end-to-end effort for the package implementation program in activity points;
• and converting end-to-end effort for package implementation program in activity points to calculating the overall effort in person-months by use of a baseline program productivity metric;
• wherein the calculating end-to-end effort calculates the effort in all phases of the program from beginning to end.