Systematic literature review on global software development based software cost estimation models and cost drivers

Mehmood Ahmed (Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Parit Raja)
Noraini Ibrahim (Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Parit Raja)
Wasif Nasir (Wah Campus, COMSATS University Islamabad)
Adeel Ahmed (The University of Haripur)

Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Vol 32, No 3: December 2023

Global software development (GSD) is a well - established discipline of software engineering that focuses on the advantage of a global environment. Effective cost estimation is critical for the success of GSD projects. Cost estimation in a GSD environment is a challenging task. As a re sult, GSD must emphasize cost estimation. Findings show that a number of researchers over the past few decades have emphasized GSD - based cost estimation in GSD; to the best of our knowledge, however, existing cost estimation have not taken into account man y GSD - based cost drivers that must be considered when estimating costs. Motivated by all this, the purpose of this study is to review the existing GSD - based cost estimation models/techniques and cost drivers that influence the accuracy of cost estimation. To identify and compile relevant research papers, a systematic literature review was carried out. From twenty - seven selected studies, initially, 86 GSD - based cost drivers and 12 GSD - based cost estimation models/techniques were extracted. After filtration, 26 cost drivers were identified as significant and to be considered in GSD - based cost estimation. This study significantly identifies GSD - based cost drivers and existing cost estimation techniques.