ERP Effort Estimation Based on Expert Judgments

A new technology shift brings to the ERP domain a change in the industry and a new platform build on in-memory optimized databases, introduced and known as SAP HANA [1]. This technology shift in the ERP domain led to SAP\´s ERP on HANA, the solution where the ERP suite is offered on the same platform as ERP Services such as Business Analytics. The integration of ERP Services and the ERP suite brings to the industry new opportunities to "fine tune" customer and industry specific business processes. This radical shift in innovation brings with it new challenges in terms of ERP effort estimation. No longer can we rely on a single method such as functional size measurement methods, due to the wide range of customization possibilities. This shift from a typical predefined solution scope to a highly customizable landscape poses a challenge to project estimation practitioners as the functional size estimation techniques used in the past for ERP solutions address a fixed scope deployable in multiple landscapes, and hence are no longer suitable for dynamically definable scope. Today\´s highly volatile and customized ERP landscape demands a new approach to estimate effort by leveraging ERP professionals\´ tacit knowledge and expert judgments. This paper presents the ERP Service estimation method that leverages the strengths of expert-judgment-based estimation techniques while using a more structured approach to reduce the effects of expert bias and avoid common pitfalls associated with judgment-based estimation.