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ROI Case Studies

QSM software intelligence turns tough challenges into measurable business value

Large financial institution implements Estimation Center of Excellence, saves over $1.2M.

Outcomes at a Glance

  • 5–10% variance between SLIM® estimates and actuals across projects
  • $1.2M in cost avoidance identified from a sample of three initiatives
  • 152 projects evaluated using rapid “quick‑look” schedule and cost risk assessments
  • Ability to quantify functional delivery for fixed cost or fixed‑date commitments
  • Benchmarking revealed major cloud cost‑saving opportunities 

Context

A top U.S. financial institution (30,000+ employees, ~$9B annual revenue) faced chronic cost overruns in its IT portfolio. Large projects routinely exceeded budgets by millions, and estimation cycles were slow, inconsistent, and difficult to defend during stakeholder negotiations. 

Barriers

  • No fast way to run schedule/cost what‑if scenarios
  • Inconsistent estimation practices across teams
  • No objective method to validate high‑risk vendor bids
  • Portfolio‑level analysis required too much manual effort 

What QSM Delivered

QSM partnered with the organization to establish a centralized Estimation Center of Excellence (ECoE) and fully modernize its estimation capabilities.

Key actions included:

  • Delivering custom SLIM® training and mentoring for the ECoE
  • Standardizing estimation templates and workflows
  • Building a custom Excel‑to‑SLIM® API enabling rapid feasibility assessments
  • Performing portfolio-wide “quick‑look” analyses for 152 active and proposed projects
  • Benchmarking cloud and internal projects to identify cost‑saving opportunities

 

The result is a mature, data‑driven estimation practice that consistently produces accurate, defensible estimates across the entire enterprise.