World-wide usage
The adoption of the COSMIC method is growing. Currently we have a representation to 26 countries, spread throughout all continents. In our Publications, we have a list of companies and institutions that have made public that they are using the COSMIC method. We also have a number of vendors throughout the world that can give commercial support to your organization in the use of the COSMIC method.
We also have a COSMIC User Group on LinkedIN to make connection with the COSMIC community and if you have a question about the COSMIC method, you can always leave a post on our LinkedIn forum to see if there is someone in the community to help you tackle the question.
| The US Government Accountability Office published a “Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs”. The COSMIC method is listed as one of the best practices for software sizing in its chapter on ‘Software Cost Estimating’. The Guide is obtainable from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d093sp.pdf |
COSMIC Sizing – Usage By Role
In the Boardroom
Boardroom conversations about IT governance can become significantly more productive when using CFP as the common basis for discussion at board level. Notably non-technical board members can add value to the discussions by using CFP as a common metric for size, productivity, quality, lifecycle planning. Discover some of the valuable questions that can be asked at a board level for improving management insight of IT work. Dig deeper into the usage of CFP in the board room.
IT Leadership, IT PMO & Application portfolio management
All managers need objective, valid metrics for managing a portfolio of software and software work. CFP is the leading base metric for software functional size and provides derivable, valid metrics for Productivity, Quality and Resourcing. All of which can be used to improve the efficacy of software managers.
IT Project Management
Software managers (including digital transformations) need objective, valid metrics for managing scope, resourcing, productivity, schedule adherence, quality. The adoption of a universal standardised metric that aligns well with effort, can help project managers see a lot of what others might miss and exposes valid numbers for estimating and controlling projects.
IT Procurement
Buyers of software development and maintenance services are typically faced with little choice but to engage in a time and materials based contract. This puts the majority of the risk of a project failure or delay with the buyer, and can often be to the advantage of the provider. Thus interests are not aligned. However, by adopting and fixed cost per CFP contract, organisations can establish fairer contracts, with aligned interests and retain a degree of flexibility to allow for scope to change. Then, by tracking $/CFP procurement leaders can continuously achieve better value for money.
Software Delivery Management
Software leaders and managers can benefit greatly from a standardised metric for functional size, as a basis for helping their team(s) become more proficient and productive. For example, knowing that one team produces high quality software at a rate of 30CFP per sprint whereas another (using the same tech-stack) is consistently only producing 15CFP per sprint can help the manager address the discrepancy, perhaps with training, support, tooling or other measures. CFP is the ideal basis for determining which teams are performing best.
Software Teams
Most software teams waste an undue amount of time on estimating and estimating games. Whilst they are very fashionable, they tend to be quite wasteful. Moreover the process of CFP sizing, improves the shared understanding of the functionality that needs to be built, reducing time wasted on rework.