• High degree of innovation: Most IS projects involve some innovation and many involve a lot of it. In these circumstances, it is difficult for the estimators to find precedents on which to base their assessments. This is often coupled with undue optimism about what can be achieved by when. The answer to this is to divide the project up into its innovative and less innovative components; for the latter, experience and perhaps data from previous projects can be used and, for the former, ranges rather than single-point estimates can be offered.