CASE IN POINT 3.1: Sunrise Software

A lively discussion is under way at Sunrise Software, where you are a project manager.

The main question is whether the person-days concept has limitations. In other words,

if a task will require 100 person-days, does it matter whether two people in 50 days,

five people in 20 days, ten people in 10 days, or some other combination that adds up

to 100 performs the work?

Two programmers on the project seem to think it doesnt matter. On the other hand,

one of the projects systems analysts says it is ridiculous to think that any combination

would work. To support his point, this extreme example was offered: Could 100 people

accomplish a task estimated at 100 person-days in one day?

Is the systems analyst correct? If so, what are the limits in the people versus days

equation? Taking the concept a step further, is there an optimum number of people to be

assigned to a task? If so, how would that number be determined? You