No matter what people might tell you, story points are time estimates, just like hours, days, or weeks. The time is simply hidden, but it’s still there. Here’s how you can find it again:

hours per story point = total engineering hours in a sprint ÷ total story points in the sprint.

This basic assumption is what allows you to calculate velocity and make delivery projections. If story points didn’t equate to time, you wouldn’t be able to create burn-down charts or make estimates about when a product will be finished.

The important question is: are story points (or any type of estimate) effective at predicting software delivery dates?

My intuition says no. But, I’ll be looking for more hard data on that to present in future essays.