19
votes
Accepted
At whose expense is the stage of preparing a contract performed?
This depends a lot on how the two companies involved in the contract negotiation operate.
You have to realize that there is always a cost of doing business, and somehow you have to recuperate it from ...
- 14.5k
11
votes
At whose expense is the stage of preparing a contract performed?
My company will sometimes engage into a "discovery" phase where we will spend 20-80 hours detailing the exact requirements of the project and determining the cost. We do this if we believe ...
- 211
10
votes
Accepted
What are Acceptable SLoC Rates?
In Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art, Steve McConnell presents a table that is adapted and extended from Measures for Excellence: Reliable Software On Time, Within Budget, Industrial ...
- 18.8k
10
votes
Accepted
PM techniques/tools for fixed-price 6 month client project
@DavidEspina has it right - I'd like to add a few thoughts
This question illustrates one of the reasons tool recommendations are out of scope - CodeGnome's law says you need to decide how to solve ...
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8
votes
At whose expense is the stage of preparing a contract performed?
Pre-sales work is normally assumed to be at the vendor's expense, but usually I would expect the activities you describe (analysis and design) to be part of the work the customer pays for after the ...
- 6,101
5
votes
Accepted
How a software development contract is concluded?
Customers prefer a FFP at times because of they believe it helps to control costs. In some ways it does; however, in many cases they end up paying more, either because of the contingency built in the ...
- 37k
5
votes
PM techniques/tools for fixed-price 6 month client project
Basically if anything does not go according to plan you are screwed. The problem is that you promised to deliver fixed features (scope) for a fixed budget (resources) before a fixed deadline (schedule)...
4
votes
Accepted
How to leverage Agile development benefits in a fixed-cost project?
Scrum is an agile framework that is focused on adapting to change and delivering business value. It encourages feedback and looks to deliver what is needed, which is often not the same as what was ...
- 19.1k
4
votes
PM techniques/tools for fixed-price 6 month client project
There is no tool or technique that will guarantee you will come in on time and within budget. Work is probabilistic. If you need more certainty, such as you don't have the funds to pay for overruns, ...
- 37k
3
votes
At whose expense is the stage of preparing a contract performed?
These costs are (usually) covered by the vendor. This is inherent risk, which can bankrupt small, specialized startup, especially if it enters the market under-capitalized. As a side note, this was ...
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3
votes
PM techniques/tools for fixed-price 6 month client project
I agree with everything David and Mark have said. Further, I'd just like to comment on:
But, because I know what all the sprints are going to contain ahead of time, it's not really "agile".
How ...
- 14.8k
3
votes
Sub contractors changing the invoicing agreement
There are always two sides to a story. You should stick to the terms of the contact, which means honoring the fixed price assuming the scope was delivered, no matter if late (claiming any penalties ...
- 37k
3
votes
Accepted
How to manage consulting resources to deliver ahead of delivery dates?
Lets assume that the consultants are working in good faith and their estimates are correct.
Now delays must be caused by the usual things:
external task needs to be completed by someone else.
extra ...
- 926
3
votes
What are Acceptable SLoC Rates?
As quick answer: "Roughly 1 screen, per team-member, pro day" of tested (debugged) code.
So, about 24 lines in the 70/80's. And up to 50 lines nowadays.
But it is very depending on how development ...
- 141
2
votes
How to leverage Agile development benefits in a fixed-cost project?
Agile methodology and fixed price projects doesn't go well together as by doing a fixed price delivery you will not be able to get the best benefits of doing a project in an agile manner. To quote an ...
- 336
2
votes
Accepted
Conversion from complexity estimation to actual costs
You need three values to forecast a cost: Speed of the team, estimate from the team and the cost of the team. Leading to a formula like this:
FeatureStoryPoints * (TeamCost / AverageVelocity) = ...
- 5,533
2
votes
Estimating and Project budgets
Assuming you've done the work before on similar engagements, you and your team's experience should be able to arrive at a probabilistic estimate for the work ahead in a range from best to worst case. ...
- 37k
2
votes
PM techniques/tools for fixed-price 6 month client project
This will not be a full answer to your question, but it contains one important piece of the puzzle if you ask me. Getting projects out of the door is very much about risk management. In my experience ...
- 149
2
votes
How to manage consulting resources to deliver ahead of delivery dates?
Sounds like working in a more Agile-structured way would be beneficial. If you require being able to see incremental versions of the software every so often (say, every two weeks), then you will not ...
- 14.8k
2
votes
How a software development contract is concluded?
There's a difference between being a software vendor and being a service provider for bespoke applications development. You seem to be describing a service-provider kind of relationship.
A fixed-price ...
- 6,101
2
votes
Accepted
Change management in small fixed-price projects
It does not matter the type of contract. All projects need to have a way to process changes because changes are a near certainty for every project in existence and will always be. The process does ...
- 37k
2
votes
Accepted
When does a software vendor (fixed-price projects) usually get paid?
It's a matter of how the vendor and the client negotiate the contract. Most commonly though, payments are made as work proceeds (monthly, quarterly, more frequently or less, etc) or at specific ...
- 14.5k
2
votes
At whose expense is the stage of preparing a contract performed?
As already answered, at some level this depends on what the sides agree upon, and there are no laws or rules governing this.
Considerations that affect the decision of who pays, include:
Will the ...
- 4,532
1
vote
Change management in small fixed-price projects
The answer to the first two questions can turn out to be simple or complex, but it is the same regardless of the size of project: negotiate. The evaluation as to whether something represents a change ...
- 6,101
1
vote
How a software development contract is concluded?
Everybody (obviously) answered yes to getting a lawyer involved.
But nobody answered your first question:
How does the software development company draw up a contract that protects the company's ...
- 4,532
1
vote
How a software development contract is concluded?
I strongly advise you to engage an attorney who is skilled at creating this sort of contract. (And, in general, in leading clients through this sort of business negotiation. (The old-fashioned word ...
- 1,164
1
vote
How a software development contract is concluded?
As you mentioned yourself, the problem with software development is that there are a lot of unknowns. These introduce variability in what will be built (which people assume will be fixed). What's ...
- 14.5k
1
vote
PM techniques/tools for fixed-price 6 month client project
As some other answers already pointed out no PM tool will guarantee success. Anyway, let’s take a look of your options.
As you mentioned Scrum, it seems that your not only looking for PM tool more ...
- 238
1
vote
Estimating Fixed Price Project Cost Payments via Monthly Milestones
Of course, you post a question and then you immediately find the answer. I tried some new word combinations and found this that solved my problem:
If you have costs by task and resource in your ...
1
vote
Estimating and Project budgets
There are two crucial parts for making the estimation that will be met in the future.
First, the estimation should be correct (the amount of work to be done predicted without mistakes).
Secondly, the ...
- 121
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