ESTIMATING BUSINESS APPS

Quickly, confidently and accurately estimate your Power Platform & Dynamics 365 apps
Get your projects and proposals approved fast

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How do you estimate projects and requirements that get instant approval?

Almost everyone wants their projects to be approved, yet so many project proposals and estimates end up in the trash can.

Requirements specifications documents are boring. Endless set of features neatly compiled in an Excel spreadsheet of ‘System shall’ statements. Such a waste of time and money. These documents filled with endless pages of features, functional, and non-functional requirements don’t make any sense at all, do they? You know what’s to follow–those frustrated meetings discussing ‘scope creep’!

But you still need a way to answer two important questions:

“How much is it going to cost?

“How long is it going to take?”

And you need a framework to answer these questions.

A framework that sets you and your team up for success (not endless weeks filled with anxiety with no guarantee in sight).

Let’s play along. If you work for a Microsoft customer, you perhaps want your project or business case approved. Or if you work for a Microsoft Parter and you desperately want your proposal to be shortlisted.

You work with the sponsor to put together the requirements. You aren’t sure which requirements to keep. Eventually you calculate the time and negotiate on the costs. And your estimates are approved.

You know what’s coming–the new requirements and discussions on scope creep. While you’ve won the approval, you’ve set your team up for failure.

ESTIMATING BUSINESS APPS

Good estimates are critical to getting business cases approved
and to getting proposals shortlisted.

Learn why some estimating approaches don’t work. Create accurate proposals that get approved quickly.

In the Estimating Business Apps course you’ll learn why estimates are critical. You’ll also learn why some alternative approaches such as estimating in units of time like hours or days or t-shirts don’t work.

You’ll learn how to use user story points to estimate your requirements. First, you’ll learn what user story points are. And then you’ll learn how to use them as a team to estimate your requirements and get your projects approved.

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What You'll Learn in Estimating Business Apps

  • The Trailing Running method. A method of estimating the size of a user story based on historical data from past projects. 
  • Factors affecting size. The various factors that can influence the size and complexity of a user story, such as scope, risks, dependencies, and more. 
  • Estimation scales. The use of a common estimation scale, such as Fibonacci numbers, to help standardize and simplify the estimation process. 
  • How to estimate requirements. The process of determining the time, cost, and resources needed to complete a project or specific tasks within a project. 
  • Slicing stories. The practice of breaking down user stories into smaller, more manageable parts in order to estimate their size and complexity. 
  • Setting a standard story. The process of defining a standard unit of work for the purposes of estimation, such as a story point or ideal day. 
  • Affinity estimation. A method of estimation that involves grouping similar items together and using rough estimates to determine the size and complexity of a project. 
  • Planning poker. A game-like approach to estimation that involves assigning story points to user stories in a collaborative and iterative process. 
  • How long will it take? A question that is often asked in project management, with the goal of determining the duration of a project or specific tasks. 
  • Estimating applications. The process of determining the time, cost, and resources needed to develop a software application. 
  • Project estimation workshop. A collaborative session where stakeholders gather to discuss and estimate the requirements of a project. 
  • Estimating initial velocity. A method of using past project data to predict future project performance, specifically in terms of team velocity. 
  • How much does it cost? A question that is often asked in project management, with the goal of determining the overall cost of a project or specific tasks.
  • Visualising your estimates. The use of visual aids, such as graphs and charts, to help communicate and understand project estimates. 
  • Estimates in sales proposals. The process of providing cost and time estimates for potential clients in a sales proposal. 
  • Fixed-scope, fixed-price, fixed-date estimates. A type of estimate where the scope, price, and delivery date of a project are agreed upon in advance and not subject to change.
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Estimates matter. Forecast with Confidence.

"How much is it going to cost? "How long is it going to take?"

Would you sponsor a Dynamics 365 or Power Platform project if your team couldn't confidently answer those two little questions? I wouldn't. And I wouldn't expect my stakeholders to either.

Good estimates are critical to getting business cases approved and to getting proposals shortlisted. Yet many Microsoft business applications teams are relying on out-dated estimation techniques borrowed from the construction industry. These techniques founded upon requirements specifications, design documents and Gantt charts that take months to prepare. These documents resist change, are out-of-date as soon as they are published, and are never accurate.

In Estimating Business Applications you'll learn why estimates are critical and why some alternative approaches such as estimating in units of time like hours or days or t-shirts don't work.

Instead, you'll learn how to use user story points to estimate your requirements. First, you'll learn what user story points are then how to use them as a team to estimate your requirements and get your projects approved.

Estimating Business Applications is a free mini-course. It'll take you a couple of hours. It includes quizzes along the way to test your understanding and reinforce what you've learned.

If you'd like to learn how to estimate business applications projects and create even better estimates, you're invited to unlock the advanced sections of the course and discover how to take your estimating to the next level and achieve your Estimating Business Applications certificate.

Be able to confidently, quickly and accurately estimate business applications and get your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform projects approved.

Course Curriculum

Neil Benson

Welcome to Customery. My mission is to help everyone use the Scrum framework to successfully implement Microsoft Business Applications. That’s why I created the Scrum for Microsoft Business Apps course, as well as my blog and podcast.

I started using the Scrum framework to implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM in 2008. In fact, the case study of my first project is one of the lessons in the course. I’ve been working with CRM systems for over 20 years and implementing them for the past 16 years.

I took my Scrum Alliance Certified ScrumMaster training with Mike Cohn and I’m a Scrum.org certified Professional Scrum Master and Professional Product Owner too.

I love pitching, envisioning and delivering agile Microsoft Business Applications projects that provide amazing results for my customers. And amazing experiences for their users and their customers.

As well as running consulting practices for a national firm in the US and a global professional services firm, I’ve started and sold a Microsoft hosting and consulting company. I’ve also spent over ten years as an independent consultant leading Scrum teams delivering successful CRM outcomes.

Microsoft has given me a Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award each year since 2010 for my thought-leadership in the Microsoft Business Applications community. I’ve organised and spoken at numerous Microsoft conferences and user groups in person and online.

I grew up in Belfast and I've lived in Edinburgh, London and Los Angeles. So now you know where my messed-up accent comes from. Today, I live in Brisbane, Australia, with my family who help me build LEGO models for Customery. And if I wasn't delivering Business Applications with Scrum, I'd love to be a pizzaiolo with my own pizzeria.

Choose Your Plan

Beginner Plan

Free

Choose this option to learn how to estimate business applications requirements.

  • 1. Why estimate at all? (5 videos)
  • 2. Story points (3 videos)
  • 3. How to estimate requirements (5 videos)
  • Quizzes to test your understanding
  • Immediate, lifetime access
  • Private community discussions 

Professional Plan

$199

The is this best option if you want to learn advanced estimating practices for complex applications and help your team win more agile business apps projects.

  • 1. Why estimate at all? (5 videos)
  • 2. Story points (3 videos)
  • 3. How to estimate requirements (5 videos)
  • 4. How to estimate applications (7 videos)
  • 5. Amazing estimates (20 video FAQs)
  • Quizzes to test your understanding
  • Immediate, lifetime access
  • 30-day moneyback guarantee 
  • Private community discussions
  • 20% discount for 5+ team members

One-time registration, lifetime course access.

You'll be asked to choose a date when you book. This is the date for your optional Customery Academy welcome session.

Book with Humanitix and 100% of the profit from your booking fees is donated to children’s charities.

 Australian fees exclude 10% GST. 

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