“So essentially, you knocked up your estimates on the back of a fag packet?”
He got a bit defensive.
“No, I just know what I want, and we don’t need to write it all out or anything; at least not at this stage when I’m trying to get a sense of the cost.”
But if you haven’t got details on your requirements, then your estimates will not be accurate.
And anyway, how did you work out the estimates and numbers?
Someone in his tech support team had supported Salesforce in her last role (for 3 months), and drafted the estimates based on his sketchy requirements. 😯
Solid estimation is just the first step in making sure a project does not over-run.
Consulting Partners do this for a living – estimating build, and delivering projects over and over again, so they are likely to be much better at this.
Most people will only estimate how long it would take to do the thing.
Oh yeah – it will only take me maybe half an hour to build that data model.
The two Process Builders won’t take long.
Ok let me add up the time to build all the tasks… that’ll give you x days.
Estimates and costs are calculated based on requirements – both functional (what you want the system to do) and non-functional (how you want the system to do it).
When it’s something small, it’s easier to come up with reasonable estimates.
However, if the system is complex with legacy data and functionality, and a lot or automation, or if you have a lot of integration – then all bets are off.
Estimating is an art.
Don’t do it “on the back of a fag packet.”
#onthepeiroll
#buildorbuy
#salesforcepartner