Agile and DevOps have blurred the separation between acquisition and execution. Federal agencies are allocating more funds to Operations & Support, and have fewer enterprise-wide investment projects. There is less reliance on cost estimating relationships and more reliance on data analytics. The estimation and planning communities now have a greater role with project requirements analysis, often through elaboration with project managers and enterprise architects. The types of RFIs requiring estimators have also changed.

This paper will deliver the results of a series of interviews with software estimation, project management and IT planning thought leaders describing how their roles have evolved due to major shifts in software delivery. IT projects, even in the federal space, are delivered iteratively and with a compressed time horizon, which has changed the frequency and use of estimation deliverables.

Some software estimation firms and agencies have adapted and flourished, while others have been phased out. Our study will focus on what is in store for professionals in the fields of software estimation and IT Planning, and identify the key skill sets and technical expertise that will be required tomorrow.