It's been this way for over 60 years. You'd think we'd have formalized an estimation process by now. Here are some tips I've developed over the years: - Estim

It's been this way for over 60 years. You'd think we'd have formalized an estimation process by now. Here are some tips I've developed over the years: - Estimate in days, not hours - Don't forget testing, especially end-to-end testing - Don't forget project execution overheads (PM's, BA's, stakeholder meetings, etc.) - Don't forget deployment overheads, if you have them Finally, all stakeholders should understand that initial estimates are a Rough Order of Magnitude estimate, i.e. the actual cost will be -50% - 150% of the estimate. The investment decision needs to be made at 150% the cost, for that's what they project may actually cost and if that doesn't make sense to invest then you can nip the project in the bud right now. That's the whole idea behind a ROM estimate. Death Marches are a symptom of organizational incompetence, and yes, many organizations are incompetent and destined for eventual failure.