INF4825

These are respectively what portfolios and programs are, they are sets of projects that all have
dependencies and needs to be considered from a scares pool of resources (human time and
funds).

Portfolios and programs both can have projects that may need to be run concurrently and others
that can only be started once other projects have been completed.

o Risk of failure of the project

o How limited resources must be shared
o Dependencies as discussed above
o Duplication of work/effort should be avoided

The size of the program. According to Forselius, P., 2008 many ICT projects fail due to the fact that the program being
undertaken is too large

According to( Forselius, P., 2008. Software development program characteristics)most of the projects fail both in time
and in cost management, or delivers low quality systems because they usually launch only one complex project.

 Being aware of the dependencies between projects, especially where the completion of projects is needed
for the benefit of the company.
 Ensuring that projects don’t duplicate the work;

Market research: approaches can be used to collect data for forecasting the demand for new products or services,
based on concepts or prototypes presented to potential customers, to gauge the potential market. Techniques used
include consumer panels, focus groups, perceptual maps, and preference mapping, among many others.

Projects must be evaluated on strategic, technical and economic grounds

Project Failures:

 identify requirements
 Assess and address stakeholder needs, concerns and expectations throughout the duration of the project
 Constrained
 Scope
 Cost benefit Analysis
 Cash flow forecasting

Challenges

 Programme management may exert an unnecessary control over the subordinate projects leading to
bureaucratic obstruction.
 Consequent programmes not meeting objectives of the business
 Reluctance to change scope of the programme may lead to inflexibility

Solution

 Benefits Management
 Group of related projects
 Co-ordinated management
 Obtained benefits and/or control not possible if managed individually
Portfolios demonstrate investment strategy

Portfolio management prioritizes the allocation of resources to projects and decides which new
projects to be accepted and which existing projects to be dropped. (Cotterell, 2009)

Challenges

 Too many active projects

 Projects that do not add value
 Projects not linked to strategic goals
 Lack of coordination between projects
 Conflicting project objectives
 Unexpected resource bottlenecks
 Late delivery of projects
 Lack of commitment from business leaders
 Lack of cross-functional working
 Disappointment with final project benefits
 Resistance to organisational change
 Non-routine tasks are involved
 Project estimation
 Directing – giving instructions;
 Monitoring – checking on progress;
 Controlling – taking action to remedy hold-ups;
 Innovating – coming up with new solutions;

Volatility of requirements. Software requirements are under constant pressure for change. Because software can be
changed more easily than hardware, change is a way of life in software development

Risk identification and ranking

Challenges with programmes:

 Excessive control over subordinates

 Inflexibility

Challenges with projects:

 Poorly defined goals and specifications

 Lack of project plan
 Unrealistic deadlines and budgets

Although some projects fail for technical reasons, most project failures are caused by people who ignore
the principles of good project management.

Feasibility study of the project and its objectives are examined in the context of the Business
environment, alternatives are defined and evaluated, and preliminary estimates of cost, schedule and
risk are made.

 Software products are based on logical work while others are based on physical work (Agarwal et.al., 2011)
  Agarwal et.al., (2011) states that stakeholder’s expectation is higher on software projects compared to other
project types.
 Lack of communication between customers and contractors due to different levels of domain knowledge and
assumptions about the final product (Chandramouli, 2011)
 Doing a perfect requirements specification in the beginning difficult
 Lots of changes—their effect on the system often unknown

Problems identified by Tim Clark (2014, August 26):

1. No project mandate.
2. Unclear expectations.
3. No user input.
4. Determine the impact of market & technology changes (RAE and BCS, p39) on the expected business
value.
5. Project success metrics. Users must be involved (Nasir & Sahibuddin, p1217) for generating acceptance
test cases.
6. Estimate the effort required for development, testing, deploying and training. The schedule of work needs to
be realistic. (Nasir & Sahibuddin, pp1216-1217) Using more than one expert (Hughes & Cotterell, pp112-
113) and multiple methods (Hughes & Cotterell, pp125) improves the estimates. Experts minimum criteria:
5/10 years of experience, relevance of experience, variety of work undertaken and professional registration.
(Nasir & Sahibuddin, p1219)
7. Substitute work products with reusable (RAE and BCS, p30) artefacts where possible.
8. Use lessons from past projects. (RAE and BCS, p28)
9. Select an appropriate methodology, establish scope management and change control (RAE and BCS, p26-
27)
10. List all needed resources e.g. HR, workstations, communications.
11. Multiple estimates (NPV, IRR, ROI) and experts are needed as indicated for technical work
estimates. (Hughes & Cotterell, pp112-113, p125)
12. Assess the impact on the cash flow of business operations and other projects. (Hughes & Cotterell, p26)
13. Account for all technical issues (development, setup and operational) (Hughes & Cotterell, p27), legal issues
(vendor software licenses, legal consultants).

Compared to construction, there is a distinct absence of enforceable controls on ICT projects.

While a construction project cannot proceed without sealed engineering blueprints and a
building permit. ICT projects routinely commence with little more than requirements scribbled on
a napkin

Ease of use: model should be convenient. time, cost, resources, quality, scope

Do a proper cost benefit analysis to establish the feasibility of the project. Cost calculations can include delivery cost,
resources cost, development cost, Setup cost, Operation and maintenance cost. Using the cost benefit evaluation
techniques such af:

o Net Profit
o Payback period
o Return on Investment
o Net Present Value
o Internal Rate of Return

Question 2

Page 108 - 109

Control and Monitoring:

 Responsibility
  Assessing Progress
 Setting Checkpoints
 Taking snapshots

You can use;

 Gantt Chart
 Slip Chart: shows the tasks that are not progressing on schedule
 The Timeline: record and display the way in which targets have changed throughout the duration of the
project
 The baseline budget
 Monitor the earned value
 Schedule variance
 Time variance
 Cost variance

Prioritize Monitoring

 Critical path activities

 Activities with no free float
 Activities with less than a specified float
 High risk activities using critical resources

Shorten the critical path:

 Add resources
 Increase use of current resources
 Reallocate staff to critical activities
 Reduce scope
 Reduce quality

Change Control

 Continually identify changes as they occur.
 Reveal their consequences in terms of impact on project costs, project duration and other tasks.
 Permit managerial analysis, investigation of alternative courses of action and acceptance/rejection.
 Communicate changes to all parties concerned.
 Specify a policy for minimising conflicts and resolving disputes.
 Ensure that accepted changes are implemented.
 Report monthly a summary of all changes to date and their impact on the project

Parametric or algorithmic models

Expenditure monitoring is an important component of project control, Not only in itself, but also
because it provides an indication of the effort that has gone into a project.

Define, document, and implement a process by which changes to the system are
assessed for their impact on the entire infrastructure and prioritized accordingly.
Consider:
• Impact on SLA.
• Impact on capacity.
• Impact on security.
•Impact on disaster recovery procedures.
• Develop a standard set of change priorities, and ensure that only valid categories are
assigned. A standard prioritization system will improve understanding of the impact the
change may have on the infrastructure, and will ensure that appropriate time is spend
validating, assessing, and testing the change.

Consider introducing more stringent approval procedures for complex changes

or for those that require major resources.
Remember that some minor changes may be pre-approved as standard changes when
they follow an established path and their impact is minor. Different process models will
be used for each type of change to reflect the different procedures.
•
Consider fast-tracking emergency changes. Therefore, the entire process will need
to be streamlined to ensure that all the major steps are completed more quickly than for
a non-emergency change.
•
Improve the procedures for the authorization of all changes by the relevant IT and
business staff. This is important because it ensures that each change has built, test,
and implementation, and back-out plans. Only after a complete assessment should the
change be authorized and allowed to progress.
•
Using information relating to service hours, business critical times and processing times,
ensure that changes are implemented at a time of minimal impact and disruption to the
business.
•
Publish a forward schedule of changes and ensure that all staff members have access
to it. This provides a high-level of view forthcoming changes, which will be particularly
useful to the service desk staff and change initiators.
•
Implement a process that ensures that all changes are tested by an independent team.
This will ensure that someone other than the person who built it reviews each change
objectively.
•
Ensure that each change has an appropriate back-out plan. This will prevent
disruption to the users in the event of a change failure, by ensuring a swift restoration of
service.
•
Implement a post-implementation review process for changes. This will ensure that
lessons are learned from the implementation of changes and that weaknesses are
addressed through a program of continuous improvement.
•
Consider that if the change management process is being circumvented, this will
undermine the perceived effectiveness of the process. Mount a campaign to improve
the awareness of the process, and ensure that senior management has approved the
process. Ensure that senior management demonstrates commitment to the process and
that corrective measures are in place should individuals circumvent the process.
•
When performing change management, use a tool to log all changes and to record
the status of each change. This provides a valuable resource to other service areas
within the organization, such as the service desk, incident management, and problem
management. Ideally, the tool should be fully integrated with all of the service areas
within the organization because this will provide a single reference point for staff.

Question 2 – Best practises in cost and change control

Cost Monitoring can be done with any of the below listed practices:

 Costing charts – project future costs by adding the estimation cost of uncompleted work to the cost of work
already completed.
 Earned value analysis – assigns a value to each task based on original expenditure forecasts.
o Scheduled variance
o Time variance
o Cost variance
o Performance ratios

Change Control should implement the following:

 A document for requirement request/changes

 A change log
 Change control procedure

Best practices in change control

 Identify change
 Assess change
 Approve change
 Implement change
 Provide visibility of the change request throughout the change control process

Best practices in cost control

Cost Estimating and Budgeting

One of the most important small project cost control best practices is to estimate your costs realistically at the
beginning of the project. Thoroughly review the project’s purpose and estimate all possible costs associated with the
project.

Keep Track

Once the estimates are in place and a budget set, it’s time to actually control your small project’s costs. Keep track of
everything spent, even intangible expenses such as hours worked. Require each employee working on the project to
report all expenses, each hour worked and what was accomplished during those hours. Use a solid time-tracking
software to help you with that.

In order to use the best practice for cost and change control

Start with the estimation of costs and preparing the project budget. Techniques that can be used to monitor and
control the costs as stated in the PMBOK:
  The use of cost charts become much more effective if you add projected future costs which can be
calculated by adding the values of estimated costs of work that has not yet been completed to the current
costs.
 Earned value Management Analysis (EVM) is a mathematical method used to measure he actual
performance of a project. By using the EVM you will be able to determine whether or not the project is on-
budget.
 Forecasting can also by done by using the EVM method to predict the future performance of a project. As a
project manager you have to be able to know if the project will be on-budget and delivered on time.
 To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI) can be used once a project is over-budget or delayed to determine
the performance required to complete the project on budget and on schedule.
 Variance Analysis is the comparison of the actual project performance and the expected performance.
 Performance review is necessary to check the health of the project which uses the cost and schedule as the
main bar to assess.

Change control best practice

Things to keep in mind with monitoring change control

 Project size (Cost budget, number or activities, number of available resources)

 Complexity (Amount and types of dependencies)
 Risk Profile (The number and distribution of activities across the project of high priority risks)
 Impact (Higher cost or time schedule impact)

Earned Value Analysis which is an efficient way of monitoring cost in relation to the project’s timeline and budget.

 Final cost analysis :

o Once the project is near to completion do a final cost analysis to ensure that you have
effectively controlled the projects costs.

Integrated change control asks the following questions:

 Scope – What affect does this change have on the project scope?
 Time – What affect does this change have on the project schedule?
 Cost – What will the cost of the change be for the project?
 Quality – How does this proposed change affect the quality of the project?
 Human resources – Will additional human resources be required as result of this change
request?
 Risk – Will additional risks be created as a result of this change request?
 Stakeholder management – what stakeholder will be affected by this change?
 Procurement – Will this change affect existing contracts or require new contracts to be created?


 Time
 The time constraint refers to the amount of time available to complete a project
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management_triangle). Unfortunately, the more common
experience is that dates for project completion are set before the individuals participating in the
project understand the problem and product scope.(Rosenau Jr & Githens, 2005).
 Cost
 The cost constraint refers to the budgeted amount available for the
project(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management_triangle). The budget is the baseline
plan for the cost, by which the project will measure it’s progress and it’s variance. As the project
scope changes, the budget may also change and this needs to be managed properly.(Rosenau Jr
& Githens, 2005).
 Scope
  The scope constraint refers to what must be done to produce the project's end result. It also
indicates that there’s boundary where things are” in scope” and “out of scope” (Rosenau Jr &
Githens, 2005).If the project scope keeps on expanding it pushes out the expected completion
date. Ensure that unnecessary scope creep doesn’t by applying the 80/20 rule within a
centralized, authoritative decision making body (Harvey A. Levine,2005)
 These three constraints are often competing constraints: increased scope typically means
increased time and increased cost, a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and
reduced scope, and a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management_triangle) The three factors are closely
intertwined and project managers are expected to balance the what(scope), with the when(Time)
and the how much(Cost) and the more features expected from a system, the higher the costs and
the longer the expected duration(Darren Dalcher, 2009)
 Quality
 According to (Dobson, 2004) Quality is defined as the totality of characteristics of an entity that
bear on it’s ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Quality is affected by all three constraints
and is, therefore, a central theme. Quality is also defined by the project scope and is an output of
the scope definition. https://tensix.com/2014/10/management-and-the-triple-constraints/ therefore
laying out the incorrect definition of the scope may compromise the quality of the product.
According to ISO9126, measurements that might act as indicators of the final quality of the
software can be taken at different stages of the development life cycle. For products at the early
stages these indicators might be qualitative. They could, for example, be based on checklists
where compliance with predefined criteria is assessed by expert judgment. As the product nears
completion, objective, quantitative, measurements would increasingly be taken. (H&C, 2009).
 Main challenges in software project teams and how to solve them
 There is no informal communication:
 Project managers should spend most of their time communicating with various stakeholders since
communication is an important activity in solving work issues and resolving conflicts. Communication
process also plays a huge role in coordinating various project activities. The project manager must be able
to translate in the case whereby business and IT speak different languages. Furthermore, informal means of
communication such as face-to-face meetings and telephone interviews need to be taken into consideration.

 Improper risk management:
 Improper risk management can also lead to or contribute to project failure (Sonnekus & Labuschagne 2004).
It is important to identify, analyse and respond to risks that are likely to affect the project. It would be a good
idea to have a risk management plan to identify any risks that are likely to affect the project. It would also be
ideal to perform both qualitative and quantitative risk analysis. Moreover, monitor and control any risks
identified.

 User involvement:
 Failure to involve the user throughout the life cycle of a project can also lead or contribute to project failure.
Challenges: Solutions:

Managing the ego’s and personalities of the team Create a team with a balance of different personality
members, through all phases of the team types. (Hughes & Cotterell, p274).
development process i.e. forming, storming, norming,
performing, adjourning (Hughes & Cotterell, pp273-
274).
Use team building exercises to uncover possible
personality conflicts and establish a group identity
(Hughes & Cotterell, pp273-274).
 Motivate team members according to their natural
drives and affiliations e.g. workers affiliation to family
values can be used to gain their support in a
humanitarian driven project (Sukhoo et al., p114)

Team members leave before project completion. Selecting staff to match a contingency plan will
benefit the team in the event of an early adjourning
phase. A successful project requires the right mix of
skills and knowledge for the duration of the project
(Sukhoo, Barnard, Eloff, and Van der Poll, pp113-
114).

Dependencies and coordination within and between Select the appropriate communication channels to
groups (multi-group project) (Hughes & Cotterell, coordinate project effort. (Yasin and Yasin, p4)
pp281-284).

Establish traceability for dependencies. (Al-rawas and

Easterbrook, pp9-10).

Noisy working environment. (Hughes & Cotterell, Working from home. (Hughes & Cotterell, p285).
pp284-285).

Lack of trust within dispersed and virtual teams On-line team building games and video conferencing
(Hughes & Cotterell, p286) will help to build trust (Hughes & Cotterell, p274).

Communication and coordination with dispersed and Formal and carefully developed specifications (e.g.
virtual teams (Hughes & Cotterell, p286) UML, EA diagrams) of work will assist with
communication and coordination (Hughes & Cotterell,
p-286).

Same Place Different

Same time Meetings Telephone

Interviews Instant messaging

Different times Notice boards Email

Pigeon-holes Voicemail

Documents

Group making decisions

It is time consuming, it can stir conflicts within the group and decisions can be unduly
influenced by dominant personalities.

Solution

Train the group members to follow a set procedure,

According to He, Butler & King (2007) team effectiveness will improve if team members
have an adequate shared understanding of the task, team, equipment. In the research
study by Sukhoo, Barnard, Eloff and Van der Poll (2007) it is stated that the project
leader has used soft skills such as good communication skills, team building, stress
management and conflict management for the project team and excellent results were
obtained.

Noisy work environments

People need to be an environment that is quiet to be more productive.

Solution.

Allow the people to work from home. The company can set up ADSL or Fibre lines for
the employees in their homes, the lines are supported by affordable broadband
channels. It is easier to work from home

Managing virtual teams

There could be lack of trust of the colleagues

There could be communication and coordination problems if teams are in different

locations and time zones.

Solution

Use the following communication methods to keep in contact while they work together,
telephone, instant messaging, email, voicemail and documents as stated by Hughes &
Cotterell (2009).

Users handling change

The needs of the users are not understood, there is no proper requirements definition,
the users kept changing their requirements throughout the duration of the project,
and/or lack of user involvement.

Solution
The members of the project team that have the role of communicating with the users
must involve the user from the beginning of the project to avoid user resistance to the
project. The most effective way overcome resistance to is to involve the employees form
the planning to implementation phase. Perkins (2012) wrote that people support what
they help to create. Assign people to teams and let them work together. Engagement
with employees is to ensure that they have a voice in creating the vision. When they are
involved in creating the vision, they are more likely to understand how they fit in the big
picture.

Challenges: Solutions

Lack of trust Team members absolutely need to be

acquainted, both professionally and
personally in order to understand and to
engage each other.

Conflict and tension Project Manager should have proper

skills in dealing with conflict; these set of
skills can assist project managers to
handle and effectively resolve conflicts.
For example, active listening skills.

Lack of team member commitment The project manager must try to

determine lack of team member
commitment earlier in the life of the
project and attempt to change possible
negative views towards the project. The
team member might be having
insecurities or their professional interest
is elsewhere.

Poor communication between team Project manager should provide a

members vehicle for timely sessions to encourage
communications amongst the individual
team contributors using communication
tools such as status meetings, reviews,
schedules and reporting systems.

Infighting A project manager must regularly check

in with individual team members and
deal with any personal disagreements
between team members.
Working in silos Project manager should set
collaborative goals to include project
objectives that will encourage teams to
work together and priorities that are
aligned.

Poor change management A project manager must institute

appropriate change controls for the
project.
Stakeholder related risks

a. Lack of top management

Lack of top management commitment.

Management may not have a vision of supporting and encouraging the change and
there may be lack of communication to the rest of the employees of the company
about the change.

b. Lack of perceived value

The stakeholders may resist if benefits of the new software are compared to the
benefits of the old software.

c. Perceived threats

Stakeholders may associate a change and the uncertainties it may bring with
different kinds of threats. For example, loss of jobs and change in management.

d. Capabilities gaps.

The gap between the tasks that need to be performed and the competencies and
capabilities of users.

e. Groupthink

The stakeholders may be pressured to reject ideas and information that deviate too
much from those generally accepted in the group.

2. Contract related risks

 a. Consultant begins work before the contract is issued

The consultants can make claims for unauthorised work and possible legal action
by consultant for perceived breach of contract.

b. Unauthorised increase in scope of work

Unanticipated increase in cost will be there if the client increases the scope of
work.

It could lead to contract disputes and possible legal action between the
companies.

c. Inadequate contract administration

There could be some ambiguous specifications that could lead to disputes over
required performance or acceptance.

Change in the scope of work (additional work, money, time), after contract award.
Can be requested by either party for any reason

d. Failure to fulfil contract conditions, including delivery on time

If the consultant doesn’t deliver what the client expects, there could be legal
disputes.

e. Client fails to take decisions, or to provide nominated staff.

If the client fails to provide the resources needed for the project, or are not
suitable for the task. The consultants may seek a variation to the contract to
reflect the fact that they need to commit more of their own resources.

3. Project risk management

Pimchangthong and Boonjing (2017) stated that project risk management involved
understanding the potential problems that might occur on the project and how they
might affect project success.

Bannerman (2008) Project risk management is important to help avoid disasters, avoid
rework, focus and balance effort and stimulate success. Even though not all risks have
their sources from software practices, they all have the potential to impact the outcome
of the software process via the project mechanism through which software is delivered.
Effective risk management requires creation of a risk management plan. This plan
describes how the risk management processes should be carried out and how they fit in
with the other project management processes. Smith.L (2005) stated that to achieve
these goals, team members must maintain a shared understanding of all project related
knowledge, which include past projects, the information about the present project and
the future of project as they move from one phase to another.

isk management is an essence of project management. It increases the chances of your success up to a great extent.
Following are some of the benefits of developing and implementing an efficient risk management plan while working
on any project.

 Helps you to avoid any big disaster

 Enhances your revenues by saving your expenses
 Provides you mental satisfaction
 Ensures the successful completion of project
 Gives you competitive edge over others
 Increases the sense of responsibility and accountability
 Helps you to explore new opportunities

Gold plating in software engineering, or project management, or time management in

general, is a term used to describe the error of working on a project or task past the point
where the extra effort is worth the added value