A Declarative Approach to Cost Estimation in Multi-Project Environment

The paper aims to present a cost evaluation for multi-project environment, taking into account imprecision in activity duration and cost. Data specification in the form of discrete α-cuts enables the connection of distinct and imprecise data, and the implementation of a constraints satisfaction problem with the use of constraint programming. Moreover, using α-cuts, optimistic, pessimistic, and several intermediate scenarios concerning the project scheduling and cost can be obtained and considered in terms of different risk levels. Each scenario can be assessed according to criteria such as time, cost, and risk level. A declarative form of the description of a multicriteria decision problem allows its implementation in constraint programming languages and facilitates the development of a decision support system. The proposed methodology can be easily incorporated into available fuzzy project scheduling software to provide a better perception of risk that is usually obscured in the conventional approach.