This cost estimating guide provides a framework, based upon best practices, that can be modified to develop, evaluate and manager IT investments' cost estimates.
We developed the Cost Guide in order to establish a consistent methodology that is based on best practices and that can be used across the federal government for developing, managing, and evaluating capital program cost estimates.
For the purposes of this guide, a cost estimate is the summation of individual cost elements, using established methods and valid data, to estimate the future costs of a program, based on what is known today. The management of a cost estimate involves continually updating the estimate with actual data as they become available, revising the estimate to reflect changes, and analyzing differences between estimated and actual costs—for example, using data from a reliable earned value management (EVM) system.