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roncri · 09-14-2009, 08:24 PM

Actually, software isn't that hard to estimate, this is usually what happens.
Dev: Going by the design spec we figure that it will take 30,000 man hours which will mean a release date of mid-December.
Manager: To long, how can we shorten the release date to September?
Dev: Either hire more devs or cut features "B" and "F".
Manager: No budget to hire more devs. Cut B and F and we will plan on releasing in September.
TIME GOES ON
Manager: After looking over the competition we've decided we need to add B and F back in and we also have a new feature "K" we want to add but we still need to hit the September release date.
Dev: Then I need more people, we can't make this date with the resources I have.
Manager: I don't care about excuses, I want results

At this point morale is in the toilet and several devs leave the team to look for work elsewhere.

I actually had a job at a very large software company (makes an OS and is based in Redmond) where I got marked down on my review because my estimates were always longer than any other Dev on the team. I then pointed out that on the last project I was the ONLY dev to make all of their milestones. Didn't matter, I was still marked down as not being aggressive enough when it came to estimates.

It really makes no sense to me.

09-14-2009, 08:24 PM	#259
roncri Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 28 Join Date: Sep 2006	Actually, software isn't that hard to estimate, this is usually what happens. Dev: Going by the design spec we figure that it will take 30,000 man hours which will mean a release date of mid-December. Manager: To long, how can we shorten the release date to September? Dev: Either hire more devs or cut features "B" and "F". Manager: No budget to hire more devs. Cut B and F and we will plan on releasing in September. TIME GOES ON Manager: After looking over the competition we've decided we need to add B and F back in and we also have a new feature "K" we want to add but we still need to hit the September release date. Dev: Then I need more people, we can't make this date with the resources I have. Manager: I don't care about excuses, I want results At this point morale is in the toilet and several devs leave the team to look for work elsewhere. I actually had a job at a very large software company (makes an OS and is based in Redmond) where I got marked down on my review because my estimates were always longer than any other Dev on the team. I then pointed out that on the last project I was the ONLY dev to make all of their milestones. Didn't matter, I was still marked down as not being aggressive enough when it came to estimates. It really makes no sense to me.