A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING LIFE CYCLE PROJECT MANAGEMENT COSTS ON SYSTEMS CENTRIC PROJECTS

摘要

One of the key challenges in predicting life cycle costs (LCCs) is to develop an accurate top down method that can be used in the early phase of system's life cycle to estimate hardware, software, integration, and management costs. Models have been developed for systems engineering (SE) costing component of management, but the literature is void of project management (PM) costing methodologies. Thus, we propose a framework for evaluating PM costs required for the conceptualization, design, test, and deployment of large-scale systems centric projects. The elements of management in classes of PM and SE were identified. We determined potential PM cost-drivers by reviewing standard work breakdown structure (WBS) elements, hardware and software development, and integration tasks. We then correlated several PM cost indicators to factors that have effects on SE cost adjustment factors. This paper addresses a qualitative model and hopes to lay the foundation for a quantitative methodology in the future.