A critical new-technology project needs urgent funding. The Scrum team has worked together for over three years and delivered the previous project under budget. Which estimation technique should the project manager use?

Order of magnitude estimates are appropriate for projects in their very early stages, especially when there's high uncertainty, like with new technology. They provide a rough, high-level cost assessment (typically -25% to +75% accuracy) to help with initial funding decisions. Definitive estimates are much more precise (-5% to +10%) and are used later in the project lifecycle when detailed scope is known. Budget estimates are less accurate than definitive but more accurate than order of magnitude, typically used for budget allocation once more information is available. Story points are a relative sizing technique used in Agile for effort estimation, not a direct monetary estimation technique for initial funding.