About

COCOMO® III Project Purpose

The purpose of the COCOMO® III project is to develop a software cost estimation model, COCOMO® III, for modern software development. The project will:

  • Broaden the audiences using COCOMO®, e.g. Medical instruments, Mobile devices, Web/Internet, Big Data
  • Consider domains that use different size drivers (e.g. Function Points, Requirements, Use Cases, Story Points).
  • Address the scope of modern software projects
    • New development paradigms
    • Different software domains, e.g. embedded systems, mobile devices, software as a service
    • Larger scale projects, more ambitious
    • Big Data, more risk due to data loss
    • Productivity enhancing practices
  • Improve the accuracy and realism of estimates
    • New and updated software cost drivers and their ratings
    • Improved estimation workflow that reduces model misuse
    • Improved driver definitions that reduces rating selection subjectivity
    • Quality estimation capability
    • Provide point and range estimates based on model error
    • Local calibration capability
  • Estimate software cost that is complementary with a COSYSMO system engineering cost estimate.
    • Separation of system and software engineering activities
    • Ability to move activity estimates between models
  • Improve the value of COCOMO® in decision-making.
    • Analysis of alternatives
    • Economic impact of project decisions
  • Create a strategy for maintaining past COCOMO® models
    • Transforming past model drivers into COCOMO® III drivers

The project is expected to take two years.

 

 

Administrator: Julie A. Sanchez; Email: jasanche@usc.edu; Phone: (213) 740-5703