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78 Part 1 • SyStemS analySiS FundamentalS

MaC aPPEaL

Color-coding helps a project manager sort out similar phases, tasks, and resources. OmniPlan, avail-
able for Macs, takes advantage of color-coding to set up a project, identify tasks, identify the critical
path, and flag impossible situations.

Figure 3.MAC
OmniPlan project management software from The Omni Group. (Screenshot from OmniPlan,
a registered trademark of the Omni Group. Graphic reprinted with permission.)

each team member. The analyst, acting as a project manager, must review each of these esti-
mates and arrive at a cost estimation that satisfies the team and client. The obvious problem with
the bottom-up method is the time it takes to make each estimate along the way.
PARAMETRIC MODELING. This method involves making estimates for each of the many factors,
or parameters, that make up a project. For example, you can estimate that it will cost $75 per
line of code and $80 per hour for the programmers needed; you can then estimate the lines of
code and hours it will take to complete the project. It is often useful to use special parametric
modeling software such as COCOMO II, mentioned previously, to model the project.

WHY COST ESTIMATES FAIL. In practice, most systems analysts use a combination of all three of
the cost-estimating methods just described. There are two main reasons cost estimates fail. First,
an analyst is likely to be overly optimistic. An analyst believes in his or her team members, and
an optimistic estimate will show the team completing the project quickly and without errors all the
time. An analyst is likely to be optimistic and underestimate the lines of code and effort in general.
Second, an analyst may want to move past the cost estimation process and get on with preparing
and presenting the budget and beginning the actual work on the project. The analyst may therefore
spend less time on estimates than is needed to properly prepare the estimates. The analyst needs to
be as accurate as possible, even though the estimates will be revised as the project continues.
PREPARING THE BUDGET. In the end, a systems analyst needs to prepare a budget even if the
estimates are not perfect. The budget is a critical deliverable, and every client wants to see a
detailed budget early in the process.