The blog entry makes total sense. Realistically though, businesses still need to know when the software will be ready for release, at least as a beta. There are salespeople out selling and marketers getting their promotions in gear and management wanting to know resource allocation for the next several months.

In an atmosphere where the estimates are rarely true to the effort, what is your suggestion for how the team can set a realistic expectation (in advance) for a releasable product.