FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)
Title of invention: A SYSTEM AND METHOD TO ESTIMATE IT AND ITES SERVICE EFFORTS
Applicant:
TATA Consultancy Services Limited A company Incorporated in India under The Companies Act, 1956
Having address: Nirmal Building, 9th Floor,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021, Maharashtra, India
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of outsourcing of Information Technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITES) by a customer organization to a service provider organization. More specifically, it relates to a system and method for estimating efforts spent by the service provider in delivering IT and IT enabled services to the customer, based primarily on people, processes and technology.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In general, outsourcing includes two different organizations entering into a contractual agreement involving an exchange of services in return for payments. The organization "providing" services is the "service provider", and the organization receiving services is the "customer". The customer makes a payment to the service provider for these services. The concept of outsourcing thereby helps firms to perform well in their core competencies, thus mitigating the rise of skill or expertise shortage in the areas where they want to outsource. The ability of businesses to outsource to suppliers outside the country in which the businesses operate is referred to as "offshoring" or "offshore outsourcing". In addition, several related terms have emerged to grasp various aspects of the complex relationship between economic organizations or networks, such as nearshoring, multisourcing and strategic outsourcing. The terms offshoring, nearshoring, and multisourcing refer to the transfer of IT services or processes from an organization to companies in a nearby country, often sharing a border with said organization, where both parties expect to benefit from multiple dimensions of proximity such as geographic, temporal (time zone), cultural, linguistic, economic, political, and historical linkages. The service work that is being sourced may be a business process, infrastructure setup or software development task or any kind of task that the organization wants to outsource to the other organization that consequently leads in benefiting both the organizations.

With the advent of outsourcing, various organizations started outsourcing/redirecting their business and services to other organizations that provided them with cost and time benefits. For example, a customer organization may wish to outsource the maintenance of an application to an IT (Information Technology) or ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) organization for cost and time benefits. Other examples of the work that is outsourced includes development of online shopping portals for retail stores, maintenance of existing banking and financial applications, monitoring of servers, scripting of legal and medical documents, and the like. Companies (businesses) are constantly looking to IT Service Providers for supplying application, infrastructure and business services on their behalf (outsourcing). For example, an IT service provider may develop and tailor applications to meet customer's needs, or a customer may develop and customize applications but give them to the IT service provider for maintenance. Hence a major objective of outsourcing for both, customers as well as service providers, is to reduce IT costs.
One of the most important challenges that organizations face in today's economic climate is to build their IT environment in a cost-effective manner. Most organizations view IT as an avenue for savings, and hence are actively transforming to adopt strategies for implementation of more Business by spending less on IT resources and utilizing them more effectively. These organizations, however, need to analyze the strength of the available resources in light of their business. For example, these organizations need to monitor the right number and types of resources required to support their technology landscape. Further, these organizations have to identify the kinds of services that are required to run their business (RTB) along with those that are needed to change their business (CTB).
In recent times, there has been a tremendous growth in online technologies using outsourcing as a way to build a viable service delivery business that can run virtually from anywhere in the world. The preferential contract rates that can be obtained by temporarily employing experts in specific areas to deliver elements of a project purely online, means that there is a

growing number of small firms that operate entirely online using offshore service providers to deliver the work, before repackaging it to deliver to the customer. Common areas where this business model thrives are website creation, analytics and marketing services. All elements can be implemented remotely and delivered digitally. Thus, service providers can leverage the scale and economy of outsourcing to deliver high value services at vastly reduced end customer prices.
With the burden of cost savings directly falling on the shoulders of IT, organizations (customers) are now gradually relying on other organizations (service providers) to advise them on how to cut costs. As a lot of the cost is incurred on IT resources customers are outsourcing their entire IT shops to service providers. A vast majority of IT and ITES outsourcing deals these days are to supply application, infrastructure and business services in Managed Services mode, with customers looking for economies of scale and service providers for expansion of margins. Hence, right sourcing becomes important for both; customers who outsource the business and service providers who get the business. Analysis of various business constraints on the customer as well as service provider side is very crucial to outsourcing. The next major step is for the service provider to estimate the effort required to service and support the customer's outsourced operations. An estimation done properly and meticulously is the best chance the service provider has of winning the outsourcing deal.
In the present practices, there is a lack of a trustworthy framework that can be consistently applied on such deals to achieve estimations that will not only convince the customers but also improve the possibility of a deal win for the service provider. The conventional systems and methods utilize expert judgments, historical information, ticket data, incumbent knowledge, available budget etc. to enable estimation of efforts and costs for the outsourcing deals. However, these systems and methods ignore the context of the customer requirements, business objectives, expected solution and organizational profile, and therefore are static in nature. These systems and methods deal only with ticket and application data, and thereby do

not take into account the dynamics of people, process and technology while estimating the efforts involved in outsourcing deals. As a result of such static estimation methods, business development teams face difficulties and challenges to estimate efforts in an IT outsourcing deal. Such difficulties and challenges often result in delays in completing the deal, failure in meeting service levels proposed, increase in operational costs, inability to meet deadlines for the delivery, decrease in the quality of services and lack of agility in adapting to future contract changes.
Thus, in view of the above lacunae in the art and with exponential growth in outsourcing business along with an increase in the amount of complexity of the work being outsourced, there is a need for a system and method that provides a dynamic, structured and comprehensive framework for Effort Estimation based on the context of business-specific requirements involved in IT outsourcing deals.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of a present invention is to enable a system and method for dynamic estimation of steady state manpower efforts in IT Outsourcing (ITO) deals, based on services scope and proposed solution.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method that implements a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform enabling estimation of efforts for multiple application, infrastructure and business portfolios based on information received from the customer and
delivery experience of the service provider.
Still another object of the invention is to enable a system and method to evaluate the effort estimation as Full Time Equivalent (FTE) in terms of human resources or employees required to deliver the application, infrastructure and business services (also known as "outsourced services"), by means of an effort estimation module and a pricing interface module implemented by the SOA platform.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
Before the present systems and methods, enablement are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular systems, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application.
In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a system and method for estimating the efforts involved in providing outsourced services to customers by means of an IT-enabled framework. The framework provides a recommended approach to develop estimates based on the scope of services and solution proposed in IT outsourcing deals. The framework consists of expert guidance, organizational experience and scientific methods that allow estimations to be performed on the basis of scope of work and solution tenets.
In one embodiment, the system of the present invention comprises a service-oriented architecture (SOA) platform and a server. The SOA platform further comprises an analyzing module, a questionnaire module, a knowledge module, a risk identification module, an effort estimation module and a pricing interface module. In this embodiment, the analyzing module is configured to analyze customer-specific requirements enriched with historical data stored in a database module. The questionnaire module is adapted to generate a comprehensive set of questions aligned to the enriched data for determining the scope of various services in the outsourcing deal.
The said questionnaire module is further adapted to generate a solution scenario based on the scope determined for each service and its features. Further, the generated solution scenario enables to derive variables such as factor, frequency productivity, tickets and number of service features for each service feature in the outsourcing deal. These variables are further

received by a risk identification module for identifying the risks associated with the generated solution scenario and thereby the variables derived.
In this embodiment, the derived variables are utilized by the effort estimation module to determine the effort estimate in terms of FTE value for each of the services determined in the scope of the outsourcing deal. Further, the SOA platform comprises a pricing interface module that is configured to display estimation summary for each portfolio as role, team and associate compositions. These compositions are in the form of FTE beak-ups which segregate effort estimates according to delivery locations, employee roles, employee types and employee designations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the present document example constructions of the invention; however, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and apparatus disclosed in the document and the drawings:
Figure 1 is an architecture system diagram (100) illustrating various system elements enabling the process to estimate efforts in IT or ITES outsourcing deals according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
Figures 2(A) and 2(B) illustrate a block diagram (200) depicting various phases required for estimating efforts according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
Figures 3(A), 3(B), 3(C), 3(D), 3(E), 3(F), 3(G), 3(H) and 3(1) illustrate a flow diagram (300) for estimating efforts in an IT outsourcing deal according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Some embodiments of this invention, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present invention, the exemplary, systems and methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms.
Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. For example, although the present invention will be described in the context of a system and method for estimating efforts in an IT outsourcing deal for application services, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the system and method can be utilized in any situation where a customer is impelled to estimate the efforts in terms of human resources or employees required, resources utilized, hours shelled out for other outsourced services such as infrastructure, business etc. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein. Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described with the help of appended figures.

Referring to figure 1 is a system architecture diagram (100) illustrating multiple system elements adapted to estimate efforts in IT or ITES outsourcing deals according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in figure 1, the system (100) comprises a SOA platform (104) that interactively communicates with a customer (102). In an exemplary embodiment, the SOA platform (104) is an electronic device selected from a group consisting of a smart phone, a computer, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the SOA platform (104) is a stand-alone electronic device. In alternative embodiments, the SOA platform (104) is an electronic device electronically coupled to various other electronic devices in a communication network.
As illustrated in figure 1, in an exemplary embodiment, the SOA platform (104) further is electronically coupled with a database module (120). In one embodiment, said database module (120) resides in the SOA platform (104). In another embodiment, the database module (120) is stored in a server (118) that is electronically coupled to the SOA platform (104) through a communication network. In alternative embodiments, said communication network includes from a group consisting of a LAN, a MAN, a WAN, an intranet, an internet, Wi-Fi, a cellular network and combination thereof. The database module (120) in addition to storing various data is configured to store actual information received from the customer (102) which is further utilized by the SOA platform (104) for estimating efforts in terms of FTE. In an exemplary embodiment, the SOA platform (104) interactively communicates with an input module (not shown in the figure) and a database module (120) as illustrated in figure 1.
Further, as illustrated in figure 1, the SOA platform (104) comprises an analyzing module (106), a questionnaire module (108), a knowledge module (110), a risk identification module (112), an effort estimation module (114), a pricing interface module (116), a display module and a input module (not shown in the figure) collectively performing the task of estimating steady state manpower efforts for AMS (Application Management Services or Application Maintenance and Support) deals in various phases.

In an exemplary embodiment, the initial phase in effort estimation is portfolio discovery phase that is essential to understand the scope, form a consolidated view of data provided by the customer (102), highlight the estimation-usable inputs, and to detect existing gaps in the customer specific requirements, to be used in the later stages of estimation. Therefore, in this embodiment, the SOA platform (104) is configured to receive customer-specific requirements through an input module (not shown in the figure) from the customer (102) for determining the scope of the services to be delivered through the outsourcing deal. The customer-specific requirements include information such as application data, ticket volumes, service scope, statements of work etc. In an exemplary embodiment, the customer-specified requirements are then analyzed by an analyzing module (106) of the SOA platform (104) that helps in identifying the customer (102) objectives or tasks to be performed in the outsourcing deal.
In an exemplary embodiment, the next phase in effort estimation is portfolio analysis phase that includes application profiling and clustering, trend analysis, making necessary assumptions to cover the gaps identified in the earlier stage, and to prepare the groundwork for the latter stages of estimation. In one embodiment of the present invention, the SOA platform (104) enables segregation of one or more tasks associated with each of the services into a service breakdown structure (SBS). The service breakdown structure (SBS) further consists of set of tasks that are mapped to each underlying activity or feature of a particular service. Further in this phase, the analyzing module (106) enables adding reinforcements such as assumptions, thumb rules, historical data and past experience to the customer-specific application data to effectively utilize this data for future analysis and referencing. The SOA platform (104) is built on service templates which detail the tasks that are performed as part of each feature/activity of ticket-based (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Support) and non-ticket-based (Cross Functional Support) services, also referred to as service features. In this exemplary embodiment, the customer-specific requirements are utilized by the questionnaire module (108) for generating a list of unique and comprehensive set of questions that are attached to the parameters of the service features and are in alignment with

the context of the outsourcing deal. In this embodiment, the questionnaire module (108) is adapted to formulate a solution-oriented approach for generating said list of comprehensive questions. The solution-oriented approach is in the form of a solution tree following a top-down approach considering solution areas, solution levers, solution parameters and service tasks respectively for facilitating the real-time generation of the set of questions. For example, the questionnaire module (108) is adapted to cover plurality of features of the LI (Level 1), L2 (Level 2), L3 (Level 3) and CF (Cross Functional) services through questions related to features and tasks of each service. Further, the number of tasks per feature determines the scope of said feature and hence enables in determining the scope of the overall service. These tasks play a significant role in determining the parameters that control the solution for the corresponding feature. Further, said solution parameters help in deriving solution levers and areas linked to the corresponding feature. In an embodiment, such determination of service features and thereby the service tasks enable the questionnaire module (108) to generate a set of questions in context of the customer-specific requirements. Thus, in this exemplary embodiment, the formulated solution-oriented approach enables in determining questions that facilitate meeting customer-specific objectives in the outsourcing deal. The generated set of questions is further analyzed to extract answers on scope and solution for the deal. Each answer extracted can be further utilized in subsequent phases for estimation of efforts for the outsourcing deal.
In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention implements the solution scenario phase representing various stages in the deal estimation life-cycle, to generate multiple solution scenarios. The said solution scenarios utilize a relevant set of people, process and tool levers to deliver services as per the solution proposed to meet customer objectives. The knowledge module (110) is adapted to formulate reference cases or solution baselines through the generated set of questions by referring a library of service delivery experience datasets stored in a reference case repository which resides in the database module (120). The reference case repository comprises a library of datasets storing reference data in the form of historical information in relation to effort estimates of past outsourcing deals and service delivery

experience from service provider accounts. The reference cases formulated enable to derive variables such as factor, frequency, productivity, tickets and number of features for each identified service feature. Further the data in the datasets is used to derive the baseline estimates for said solution scenario.
The knowledge module (110) further enables displaying the summary of the solution scenarios, which illustrates the comparison of customers' existing capability versus service provider's proposed solution in the outsourcing deal. The summary of solution scenarios is displayed using a solution dashboard (not shown in figure). More specifically, the solution dashboard highlights the solution elements in the outsourcing deal that assist the effort estimation module (114) in estimating efforts. Further, the solution scenario phase helps to configure the customer's outsourcing ecosystem to move from point of departure (POD) to point of arrival (POA). In this exemplary embodiment, the reference cases formulated include responses to the questions that are weighed on a preset rating scale to generate individual impacts. The individual impacts are aggregated per parameter to determine a consolidated impact at feature level. The Scope parameter works slightly differently in that each task of a feature is assigned an 'Importance' (weightage), which when used with the individual task impacts, enables to generate the scope impact. Further the parameter impacts for POD and POA scenarios when compared against parameter impacts of the reference case, equip the estimator with the ability to determine deviations. The questionnaire module determines percentages (positive or negative) applied against POD and POA impacts denoting how the solution compares to the reference case. The impact-deviation combination for all parameters when rolled up, gives the overall factor for the identified service feature.
In an exemplary embodiment, the solution scenario phase is then followed by identification of risks associated with the context of the outsourcing deal. The risk identification module (112) facilitates the assessment of different identified risks. The steps implemented by the risk identification module (112) include identifying a particular change, identifying the stakeholders responsible for said particular change, identifying resources required to execute

the particular change, identifying threats and their probability of affecting the change and analyzing the impact of the change on different stakeholders associated with the outsourcing deal.
In this exemplary embodiment, the risk identification and analysis is followed by a solution estimation phase that is performed to calculate the steady state manpower efforts required for delivering the services discovered in the scope of the outsourcing deal in the previous phases. The derived variables are received by the effort estimation module (114) to determine the effort estimate for the IT or ITES outsourcing deal. The effort estimate is determined as number of FTEs required for delivering the services stipulated in the outsourcing deal. The effort estimation is implemented by the effort estimation module (114) utilizing the service feature factor calculated from task weightages and parameter impacts, and service feature frequency and productivity evaluated against data from reference cases in the solution scenario phase by the knowledge module (110).
The effort estimation module (114) estimates efforts by using a mathematical equation (1) for each service delivered through the outsourcing deal. Each service comprises of multiple features, wherein each feature refers to an activity group. The features of the service combine to form the service lifecycle. For each service, most of the features correspond to the core activities of a ticket lifecycle. Few features may correspond to the common activities of a cross functional team. Each feature is further decomposed into a set of tasks that constitute the scope of work. This scope of work is either specifically requested by the customer (102) or proposed to be done for the customer (102) by the service provider using the SOA platform (104) to estimate best fit for the solution scenario. Each service feature has a factor, frequency and productivity which act on the total number of tickets to give effort estimates using equation (1) in said effort estimation module (114).


Where,
E is the 'Effort' estimated at service level.
T is Tickets' denoting the number of incidents/problems/change requests raised per service.
n is the number of activities/features per service.
F is 'Factor' denoting the numerical impact of proposed solution on service effort.
R is 'Frequency' denoting the extent to which each activity of a service is performed.
P is 'Productivity' denoting the time spent in performing each activity of a service.
Further, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the solution estimation phase is followed by the pricing interface phase that formulates estimation summary for each portfolio as role, team and associate compositions. The SOA platform (104) adapts the pricing interface module (116) to segregate effort estimates in the form of FTE beak-ups according to delivery locations, employee roles, employee types and employee designations. More specifically, after calculating level 1 (LI), level 2 (L2), level 3 (L3) and cross functional (CF) FTEs, the FTE numbers are further divided delivery location-wise. employee role-wise, employee type-wise and employee designation-wise in the required format.
Figures 2(A) and 2(B) illustrate a block diagram (200) depicting various phases involved in estimating efforts in IT outsourcing deals according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
As illustrated in figure 2(A), in the portfolio discovery phase (202), the objective is to understand the scope, form a consolidated view of data provided by customer, and highlight the estimation-usable inputs and existing gaps in the data, to be used by the later stages of estimation. For enabling this, at step (204), customer-specific requirements in the form of RFI (Request for Information) or RFP (Request for Proposal) or application data are received. Further, at step (206), customer objectives and deal specifics are analyzed to identify the scope of services in the deal. In one embodiment of the present invention, the

scopes of services or work are decomposed into Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) aligned services in Service Templates. Also, at step (208), activities and tasks in scope are determined to further define the scope of services.
In an exemplary embodiment, the portfolio analysis phase (210) is responsible for application profiling and clustering, trend analysis, making necessary assumptions, and preparing the groundwork for the latter stages of estimation. To achieve this, at step (212), based on received application data and past experience, gaps in the customer-specific requirements are identified. At step (214), these requirements are analyzed to fill gaps in the received data, keeping in mind the fulfillment of customer objectives in the deal. At step (216), application profiling is done and assumptions are made for the latter stages of estimation. In this phase, a list of queries for clarification from the customer is generated in context of the outsourcing deal.
In an exemplary embodiment the solution scenario phase (218) refers to one or more stages in the deal estimation life-cycle that utilize historical data and reference cases to provide a solution that meets customer objectives. At step (222), the response to the generated questions enables determination of POD (Point Of Departure) and POA (Point Of Arrival). Further in this phase at step (224), the questionnaire module determines the impact of each response received to compute the factor, which is used along with the other variables of the mathematical equation to calculate the steady state manpower efforts.
As illustrated in figure 2(B), solution estimation phase (226) is responsible to calculate the steady state manpower efforts based on the data received, assumptions made and solution scenarios created to render services to the customer. In this phase, at step (228), a numerical factor, multiplier (M) is applied that allows service efforts to be refined at application level based on portfolio characteristics. Further, the SOA platform (104) comprises a deal deviation module (not shown in figure 1) that allows refining of effort estimates at various levels. In one embodiment, the deal deviation module is configured to receive inputs from different Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to refine the estimated efforts at service level,

portfolio level, and application level. The Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) can utilize deal deviation to apply their expert judgment and actual experience on service estimates to refine the estimated efforts. The effort estimation is done in terms of FTE value at step (236).
Finally, in the pricing interface phase (232), the format in which FTE data is required to do pricing is implemented. At step (234), the pricing format in terms of FTE data is done by splitting FTEs for each portfolio by delivery location, employee role, employee type and employee designation.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the SOA platform (104) comprises plurality of structured workbenches (not shown in figure) with entry and exit criteria at each phase of the effort estimation Hfecycle in an outsourcing deal. More particularly, the SOA platform (104) comprises a portfolio discovery workbench, a portfolio analysis workbench, a solution scenarios workbench, a solution estimates workbench and a pricing interface workbench.
In this exemplary embodiment, the portfolio discovery workbench is adapted to formulate the application portfolios, ticket dumps and scope of the services for the outsourcing deal. The portfolio analysis workbench is configured to build analytics, assumptions, thumb rules and historical data in reference to the context of the scope of services. The solution scenarios workbench is adapted to create reference cases, POD state and POA solution for the outsourcing deal. The solution estimates workbench is configured for determining the Level 1 (LI), Level 2 (L2), Level 3 (L3) effort estimates at service and application level. The pricing interface workbench is configured for translating the determined effort estimates into role, team and associate compositions. In this exemplary embodiment, these workbenches are adapted to execute multiple iterations of each phase of the effort estimation lifecycle to refine a solution scenario for calculating the best effort estimate for the deal.

In one embodiment, the SOA platform (104) is configured for enabling traceability in effort estimates through task-level tracking. Further, the SOA platform (104) is configured to assign right people and tools to match the efforts and schedule required for execution of the deal and thereby enabling transparency in estimation of efforts. Additionally, as the effort estimates are derived based on proven organizational experience and past metrics, the efforts estimated are reliable and certain.
Referring to figures 3(A), 3(B), 3{C): 3(D), 3(E), 3(F), 3(G), 3(H) and 3(I), a working example (300) depicting various steps implemented by the SOA platform (104) in different phases for estimating efforts is illustrated according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
The initial step for estimating efforts of the outsourcing deal is to receive customer-specific requirements (302). Further, the next step in effort estimation is a portfolio discovery phase (304). In this phase, at step (306), the customer-specific requirements are received to determine the scope and the plurality of features of the L1, L2, L3 and CF services. Further at step (308), customer-specific requirements in the form of RF1 (request for information) or RFP (request for proposal) are received for estimating efforts. At step (310), the scope of the services is determined by tracking and analyzing the received customer-specific requirements in a checklist. Further at step (312), the determined scope of work is mapped with support services and their features and is further reflected in the checklist.
The portfolio discovery phase is followed by portfolio analysis phase (316). In this phase at step (318), Reference documents (RFx), i.e. RFP or RFI and application data are further processed at step (322) to derive portfolio-wise application data. Further at step (330), historical data and past experience enables addition of reinforcements (332) such as assumptions and thumb rules to the customer-specific application data to effectively utilize this data for future analysis and referencing. Further at step (334), the reinforcements applied on data help to derive additional parameters to be listed in assumptions. This further

influences estimates in POA by generating queries for clarification in context with the customer-specific requirements.
The portfolio analysis phase is followed by a solution scenario phase (336). In this phase at step (338), reference cases stored in reference case repository are selected based on the Reference Case Selection Guide, in alignment with the solution being proposed for the outsourcing deal. At step (340), the solution questionnaire is filled with data from the selected reference case, and a decision is made as to the applicability of the point of departure (POD) scenario at step (344). At step (348). the POD questionnaire is populated with answers reflecting the customer's current or "As-ls" state. At step (350). the answers of the POD scenario questionnaire help determine the impact of individual parameters which are then used to calculate the factor for estimating efforts.
Further in this phase at step (356), objectives of the customer-specific requirements are mapped with the proposed solution as Win Themes or Solution Storyboard. At step (358) based on the result of the mapping, a solution tree comprising solution parameters, solution areas and solution levers is obtained to derive the solution. Further at step (360), answers of "POA Scenario" obtained from the solution elements of the proposed or "To-Be" state are derived for the questionnaire.
The solution scenario phase is followed by solution estimation phase (366). In this phase, at step (370), data from reference cases (368) enables deriving variables such as factor (F), frequency (R) and productivity (P). At step (372), reference cases are further utilized to derive service-wise and feature-wise efforts for level 1 (L1), level 2 (L2), level 3 (L3) and cross functional (CF) services. This process is repeated in steps (374) to (396) to further refine the derived solution scenario for calculating the best effort estimate for the deal. Further at step (400), it is verified whether the factor determined in the previous steps needs optimization. Depending on that verification, at step (404), an adjustment of deal impact

from POA Scenario based on deviation is done. At step (406), efforts for L1, L2, L3 and CF are further optimized.
Further, in this phase at step (410), the effort estimate is determined in terms of FTEs required for delivering services in the outsourcing deal. Information (408) such as application data, assumptions and solution elements is utilized for estimating the efforts. At step (416), refinement of the application level estimation takes place based on multiplier factor calculated from application parameter weightages and answer ratings, and evaluated service feature factor, frequency and productivity against data from reference cases. At step (420), the distribution of FTEs based on employee roles is done, followed by distribution of FTEs based on types and designations of the employees at step (422). Further the solution estimation phase is followed by pricing interface phase (424). At step (428), final FTE estimates from estimation summary (426) are used to calculate week-wise loading of FTEs for the specific time period of steady state.
ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention enables reduction in time required to determine base estimates and revise them in subsequent iterations.
• The present invention enables reliable estimates by using proven experience and metrics data from similar past deals.
• The present invention enables displaying of summary changes to estimates based on proposed changes in Service Levels.
• The present invention enables transparency in estimates by assigning right people and tools to match the efforts and schedule required for deal execution.
• The present invention enables traceability in estimates through task-level tracking of changes in scope and solution that impact efforts, and vice versa.

• The present invention enables refinement of estimates at different levels by utilizing inputs from subject matter experts (SMEs) based on portfolio characteristics.
The methodology and techniques described with respect to the exemplary embodiments can be performed using a machine or other computing device within which a set of instructions, when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed above. The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.
The machine may include a processor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)), a memory which communicates with each other via a bus. The memory stores the instructions when executed, may cause the processor of the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed above.
The illustrations of arrangements described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments, and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all the elements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use of the structures described herein. Many other arrangements will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Other arrangements may be utilized and derived there from, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

CLAIMS:
1. A system for estimating efforts required for execution of one or more outsourcing
services in an outsourcing deal characterized by real-time analysis of scope of said
services and possible solution tenets for the services, the system comprising: an IT-
enabled framework electronically coupled to a database module, said IT-enabled
framework further comprising:
a) an analyzing module adapted to segregate one or more tasks related to services and map the segregated tasks with plurality of features or activities along with added reinforcements to customer requirements, into a Service Breakdown Structure (SBS) to identify the scope of services;
b) a questionnaire module adapted to formulate a solution-oriented approach for generating one or more comprehensive questions and extracting answers for said generated questions related to at least one service feature associated with the identified scope of services;
c) a knowledge module adapted to formulate at least one solution scenario for the identified scope of services based on extracted answers by referring a library of datasets containing delivery experience data stored in a reference case repository;
d) a risk identification module adapted to evaluate the impact on the scope of services in the deal by identifying plurality of risks associated with the formulated solution scenario;
e) an effort estimation module adapted to determine the effort estimates based on the evaluated impact for the outsourcing deal in terms of Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) or human resources or employees required for said identified scope of services; and
f) a solution dashboard configured to display a summary illustrating customer's current situation versus estimated solution related to outsourcing of services.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the reinforcements added to the customer requirements
includes from a group consisting of assumptions, thumb rules, historical data, past
experience or combinations thereof.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the effort estimation module categorizes the estimated efforts as per locations or roles or types or designations or combinations thereof among FTEs (Full Time Equivalents) in accordance with said solution scenario.
4. A computer-implemented method for estimation of efforts required for execution of one or more outsourcing services in an outsourcing deal characterized by real-time analysis of scope of said services and possible solution tenets for the services through an IT-enabled framework, the method comprising:

a) segregating one or more tasks related to services and mapping the segregated tasks with plurality of features or activities of said services into a Service Breakdown Structure (SBS);
b) identifying the scope of services by analyzing the mapped service tasks and customer requirements received by means of said IT-enabled framework;
c) formulating a solution-oriented approach for generating one or more comprehensive questions related to at least one service feature associated with the identified scope of services, and extracting answers from said generated questions on scope and solution of said services;
d) formulating at least one solution scenario based on extracted answers by referring a library of datasets stored in a reference case repository containing delivery experience data;
e) deriving variables based on said formulated solution scenario for said service feature;
f) identifying risks associated with the formulated solution scenario and evaluating the impact of change on the derived variables; and
g) estimating efforts in terms of Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) or human resources or employees required based on the evaluated impact of the change on the derived variables of said identified scope of services for the outsourcing deal.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein said services are selected from a group consisting of but
not limited to application development and maintenance (ADM) services, business
process outsourcing (BPO) services, infrastructure services (IS) or combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said plurality of features are selected from a group consisting of LI (Level 1), L2 (Level 2), L3 (Level 3), ME (Minor Enhancements), CF (Cross Functional) services or combinations thereof.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein said scope of service is identified based on analysis of inputs such as data provided by the customer, estimation-usable inputs, existing gaps in the customer requirements or combinations thereof.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein said customer requirements are selected from a group consisting of application data, request for proposal (RFP), ticket volumes, service scope, statements of work or combinations thereof.
9. The method of claim 4, wherein said IT-enabled framework is adapted for adding or deleting or modifying the service scope.
10. The method of claim 4, wherein said formulated solution-oriented approach is in the form of a Solution Tree comprising solution areas, solution levers, solution parameters and service tasks enabling the meeting of customer objectives in the outsourcing deal.
11. The method of claim 4, wherein said reference data contains historical information, past delivery experience pertaining to effort estimation of outsourcing deals or combinations thereof.
12. The method of claim 4, wherein said derived variables include Frequency (R), Productivity (P), Factor (F), Tickets (T) and number of service features (n) related to at least one service feature that facilitates service effort estimation in one or more outsourcing deals.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein said estimated efforts can be refined at application level based on portfolio characteristics by means of a numerical factor Multiplier (M) and a Deal Deviation module.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said deal deviation module is configured to receive inputs from different Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to refine the estimated efforts at application level.
15. The method of claim 4, wherein the risks are determined based on identification of a particular change, identification of stakeholders responsible for said particular change, identifying lack of resources or threats or combinations thereof.