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