I have never included the estimate for setting up the CM environment while estimating the schedule of a system. This usually means that the time is never taken to properly configure a system.
I learned early on that you can't live without a CVS repository... so I MAKE the time to ensure there is a CVS repository. Then I learned that a bug tracking database was a must have as well. Another thing that I make time for. I am getting to the point now where I want something like CruiseControl and something like FatCow or Fitnesse set up for automated builds and functional testing. I haven't gotten to the point where I force myself to ensure these are part of the project, but it is getting close.
One way around all of this "making time for" business is to just put the efforts into the schedule up front. You know it is going to take x amount of time to setup CVS and y amount of time to get your bug database, etc. Now, you have the time to do it, so there is no excuse to not get it done.
The CM environment is going on my next schedule to ensure that I get exactly what I want.
Posted by carl at February 9, 2005 11:38 PM
My boss went over the schedule for new server upgrades this week - two of the servers had 200 hours allocated to them.
Now, this seems like a huge amount of time (I can see everybody going "It doesn't take 200 hours to set up a server and copy data over") - well, when you break it down, it isn't.
He went over each step of the upgrade, and sure enough, it adds up to 199 hours.
You'd be surprised what the up-front 'costs' for some things are. :)
- d.
Posted by: Dominic at February 11, 2005 12:10 PM
Carl- What's your rough estimate to get a new project set up for CM goodness? Do you factor in developer set up time to link into all of the nifty tools? Would you then allow the schedule for the rest of the project to be compressed so that there would be a net cost gain from the addition of the CM tools?
Posted by: mm at February 11, 2005 09:21 PM
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