Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
A Cracked Foundation
Aaron is the former editor of ProjectsAtWork.com
Bad baselines on IT government projects waste as much as $5.5 billion annually, according to a new study. But the problem is not exclusive to the public sector. Many organizations don’t have the training, tools or processes to develop and manage realistic baselines. A pioneer in the field of cost analysis shares his insights on the problem and offers recommendations for turning it around.
For more than two decades, Tony DeMarco has been a leader in cost forecasting and analysis technology. Among DeMarco's credits is the design and implementation of the first application-specific integrated circuit cost-estimating tool. He soon added enhancements that produced the first parametric electronic module estimating system, which is still an avionics industry standard. In 1997, DeMarco received the highest honor bestowed by the International Society of Parametric Analysts (ISPA), the Freiman Award. In 2001, he was appointed to serve on the International Space Station Management and Cost Evaluation Task Force, where he helped NASA to assess cost estimates, program assumptions and requirements, and to identify high-risk budget areas and potential risk mitigation strategies. DeMarco found that the program was underestimated by more than $20 billion.
DeMarco is currently president of Price Systems, a former division of Lockheed Martin that has been an independent …
Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.
ADVERTISEMENTS
|
"Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus Flytrap. The flytrap can bite and bite, but it won't bother the frog because it only has little tiny plant teeth. But some other stuff could happen and it could be like ambition." - Jack Handey |