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EFES: An Effort Estimation Methodology

The estimation of effort is at the heart of project tasks, since it is used for many purposes such as cost estimation, budgeting, monitoring, project planning, control and software investments. Researchers analyze problems of the estimation, propose new models and use new techniques to improve estimation accuracy. However, effort estimation problem is not only computational but also a managerial problem and we need a defined estimation methodology to guide companies in their effort estimation tasks. Management of such methodology requires estimation goals, execution steps, applied measurement methods and updating mechanisms to be properly specified. In this study we presented the development steps for developing such an Effort Estimation Methodology, called EFES. The methodology is based on the reported best practices, empirical results obtained from a medium scale company and solutions to problems & conflicts described in literature. The validation and applicability of EFES methodology is performed in a medium scale company.