Notes

Outline

Chapter 6: Project Cost Management

The Importance of Project Cost Management IT projects have a poor track record for meeting cost goals Average cost overrun from 1995 CHAOS study was 189% of the original estimates; improved to 45% in the 2001 study In 1995, cancelled IT projects cost the U.S. over $81 billion

What Went Wrong?

What is Cost and Project Cost Management? Cost is a resource sacrificed or fore-gone to achieve a specific objective or something given up in exchange Costs are usually measured in monetary units like dollars Project cost management includes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within an approved budget

Project Cost Management Processes Resource planning: determining what resources and quantities of them should be used Cost estimating: developing an estimate of the costs and resources needed to complete a project Cost budgeting: allocating the overall cost estimate to individual work items to establish a baseline for measuring performance Cost control: controlling changes to the project budget

Quick Quiz on Cost Concepts Suppose you sell 10 widgets per day on average, and the average cost per widget is $10.  If you sold 11 widgets on day, what would the affect on profits be? Suppose you were buying 10 PCs for your new business.  What would some of the life cycle costs be? Give examples of “tangible” vs. “intangible” benefits of a new project

Basic Principles of Cost Management Most CEOs and boards know a lot more about finance than IT, IT project managers must speak their language Profits are revenues minus expenses Life cycle costing is estimating the cost of a project over its entire life Cash flow analysis is determining the estimated annual costs and benefits for a project Benefits and costs can be tangible or intangible, direct or indirect Sunk cost should not be a criteria in project selection

Table 6-1. Cost of Software Defects

Resource Planning The nature of the project and the organization will affect resource planning Some questions to consider: How difficult will it be to do specific tasks on the project? Is there anything unique in this project’s scope statement that will affect resources? What is the organization’s history in doing similar tasks? Does the organization have or can they acquire the people, equipment, and materials that are capable and available for performing the work?

Cost Estimating An important output of project cost management is a cost estimate There are several types of cost estimates and tools and techniques to help create them It is also important to develop a cost management plan that describes how cost variances will be managed on the project

Table 6-2. Types of Cost Estimates

Cost Estimation Tools and Techniques 3 basic tools and techniques for cost estimates: analogous or top-down: use the actual cost of a previous, similar project as the basis for the new estimate bottom-up: estimate individual work items and sum them to get a total estimate parametric: use project characteristics in a mathematical model to estimate costs

Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO) Barry Boehm helped develop the COCOMO models for estimating software development costs Parameters include source lines of code or function points COCOMO II is a computerized model available on the web Boehm suggest that only parametric models do not suffer from the limits of human decision-making

Typical Problems with IT Cost Estimates Developing an estimate for a large software project is a complex task requiring a significant amount of effort.  Remember that estimates are done at various stages of the project Many people doing estimates have little experience doing them.  Try to provide training and mentoring People have a bias toward underestimation.  Review estimates and ask important questions to make sure estimates are not biased Management wants a number for a bid, not a real estimate.  Project managers must negotiate with project sponsors to create realistic cost estimates

Table 6-3. Business Systems Replacement Project Cost Estimate Overview

Table 6-4. Business Systems Replacement Project Cash Flow Analysis

Cost Budgeting Cost budget involves allocating the project cost estimate to individual work items and providing a cost baseline For example, in the Business Systems Replacement project, there was a total purchased costs estimate for FY97 of $600,000 and another $1.2 million for Information Services and Technology These amounts were allocated to appropriate budgets as shown in Table 6-5

Table 6-5. Business Systems Replacement Project Budget Estimates for FY97 and Explanations

Cost Control Project cost control includes monitoring cost performance ensuring that only appropriate project changes are included in a revised cost baseline informing project stakeholders of authorized changes to the project that will affect costs Earned value management is an important tool for cost control

Earned Value Management (EVM) EVM is a project performance measurement technique that integrates scope, time, and cost data Given a baseline (original plan plus approved changes), you can determine how well the project is meeting its goals You must enter actual information periodically to use EVM.  Figure 6-1 shows a sample form for collecting information

Figure 6-1.  Cost Control Input Form for Business Systems Replacement Project

Earned Value Management Terms The planned value (PV), formerly called the budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS), also called the budget, is that portion of the approved total cost estimate planned to be spent on an activity during a given period Actual cost (AC), formerly called actual cost of work performed (ACWP), is the total of direct and indirect costs incurred in accomplishing work on an activity during a given period The earned value (EV), formerly called the budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP), is the percentage of work actually completed multiplied by the planned value

Table 6-6. Earned Value Calculations for One Activity After Week One

Table 6-7. Earned Value Formulas

Rules of Thumb for EVA Numbers Negative numbers for cost and schedule variance indicate problems in those areas.  The project is costing more than planned or taking longer than planned CPI and SPI less than 100% indicate problems

Figure 6-2. Earned Value Calculations for a One-Year Project After Five Months

Figure 6-3. Earned Value Chart for Project After Five Months

Using Software to Assist in Cost Management Spreadsheets are a common tool for resource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting, and cost control Many companies use more sophisticated and centralized financial applications software for cost information Project management software has many cost-related features