Guides

Estimates and practice runs

How plan hours are worked out, and how practice runs replace guesses.

Where an estimate comes from

Estimate source says how much to trust each step's time:

• Practiced The step has been timed in a practice run.
• Owner's guess The owner gave a number nobody has run yet.
• Missing No number at all.

Fill it in

1. The owner puts a number of hours in Owner estimate (hrs). 1.5 is an hour and a half.
2. After each practice run, put the time it took in Practice run 1 (hrs), then 2, then 3.
3. If production has more data than the practice environment, set Data size factor. A practice run on 100,000 records before a 250,000-record migration is 2.5. Blank means 1.

How plan hours are worked out

Plan hours = the longest practice run × the data size factor. With no practice run, it is the owner's estimate.

The practice run

The practice run, or UAT run, is the rehearsal. Run every step in order, as on the night, and write down how long each one took. Some systems have no test environment, or a weak one; note that in the step's How to do it.

Practice the rollback too. Tick Rollback practiced once it has been run, or walked through with the whole team.

Where it shows

Overview shows "Plan hours backed by a practice run", the count of owner's guesses and of missing estimates. Teams shows each team's share of practiced hours and whether it is Ready.