A structured methodology for software-development effort prediction using the analytic hierarchy process

Predicting the effort needed for software development projects has frustrated many project managers. A primary reason is that most estimation measures fail to observe environmental characteristics that vary significantly depending on the organization involved in the software development. The objective of this article is to propose an improved method for software estimation using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to capture such environmental factors as well as technical aspects of software in the estimation process. Development efforts of a software project are factored into manageable components through a hierarchical structure. This methodology can provide a structured approach in which the organization’s characteristics are integrated with the technical requirements of the software project. A small sample software project demonstrates the applicability of the AHP in software estimation.