Development of a Cost Estimation Process for Human Systems Integration Practitioners During the Analysis of Alternatives
Abstract
All too often, system requirements are not funded appropriately due to failure to incorporate Human Systems Integration (HSI) costs into the analysis of alternatives (AoA) in the acquisition process. Failure to incorporate HSI costs results in cost overruns and deficiencies in performance that have a significant impact on life-cycle costs. For a cost estimate to be accurate, all HSI domains (e.g., manpower, personnel, training, human factors) must be included. A thorough cost estimation process for an AoA should identify, justify, and estimate all HSI-specific activities. The current cost estimation processes are lacking these HSI specific activities. This thesis describes the initial development and evaluation of an HSI cost estimation process for use during the AoA. A database was created to capture all HSI-related activities during each phase of the acquisition process. Forty subject-matter experts (SMEs) reviewed and provided feedback on the database and on a list of HSI cost drivers. They also estimated the percent effort required for each HSI activity. SMEs concurred with 80% of the database and made valid recommendations for improving the remaining 20%. This initial framework represents a first step in providing a process for estimating the cost of HSI activities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA536600
Entities
People
- Deborah A. Sindall
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School