SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Module 02
Chapter 01
A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a
unique product or service with a defined beginning and end
(usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding
or staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives,
to bring about beneficial change or added value.

It is an activity to meet the creation of a unique product or

service and thus activities that are undertaken to accomplish
routine activities cannot be considered projects.
• Schools and Universities

• Civil and Industry (Private)

• Military and State (Government)

• Computer Software (IT-based)

Project management is the practice of initiating, planning,
executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to
achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria
at the specified time.

The primary challenge of project management is to

achieve all of the project goals within the given
constraints. This is usually described in project
documentation, created at the beginning of the
development process.
A professional in the field of project management, in-charge
of people and responsibilities such as planning, execution,
controlling, and closing of any project.

A project manager needs to understand the order of

execution of a project to schedule the project correctly as well
as the time necessary to accomplish each individual task
within the project. They are the people accountable for
accomplishing the stated project objectives.
Project Management is not a tool or a person,
it’s a practice.”
As a discipline, project management developed from
several fields of application including civil construction,
engineering, and heavy defense activity.

Two forefathers of project management are Henry Gantt,

called the father of planning and control
techniques, famous for his use of the ”Gantt Chart”
and Henri Fayol for his creation of the five management
functions that form the foundation of the body of knowledge
associated with project and program management
Gantt Chart created using Microsoft Project with the red marks indicating the
critical path or the longest stretch of the project
The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern project
management era where core engineering fields come
together to work as one. Project management became
recognized as a distinct discipline arising from the
management discipline with engineering mode.

At that time, two mathematical project-scheduling models

were developed, the “Critical Path Method" (CPM) and the
“Program/Project Evaluation and Review Technique"
(PERT).
A PERT chart is a project management tool used to
schedule, organize, and coordinate tasks within a
project.

It is basically a method to analyze the tasks involved

in completing a given project, especially the time
needed to complete each task, and to identify the
minimum time needed to complete the total project.
Project management methods can be applied to any
project. It is often customized to a specific type of project
based on size, nature and industry.

For example, the construction industry, which focuses on

the delivery of things like buildings, roads, and bridges,
has developed its own specialized form of project
management that it refers to as construction project
management and in which project managers can become
trained and/or certified.
Plan: The planning and forecasting activities.

Process: The overall approach to all activities and project

governance.

People: Including dynamics of how they collaborate and

communicate.

Power: Lines of authority, decision-makers, organograms,

policies for implementation and the like.
• Integration • Procurement
• Scope • Human resources
• Time • Communications
• Cost • Risk management
• Quality • Stakeholder management
• Initiation;
• Planning and design;
• Execution;
• Monitoring and
Controlling;
• Closing or Completion.
The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of
the project. If this stage is not performed well, it is unlikely
that the project will be successful in meeting the business’
needs.

The key project controls needed here are an understanding

of the business environment and making sure that all
necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any
deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation
should be made to fix them.
After the initialization, the project is planned to an
appropriate level of detail. The main purpose is to plan
time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work
needed and to effectively manage risk during project
execution.

As with the initiation process group, a failure to

adequately plan greatly reduces the project's chances of
successfully accomplishing its goals.
While executing, one must know what are the planned
terms to be executed. The implementation phase
ensures that the project management plan's
deliverables are executed accordingly.

This phase involves proper allocation, co-ordination

and management of human resources and any other
resources such as material and budget. The output of
this phase are the project deliverables.
Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes
performed to observe project execution so that potential
problems can be identified in a timely manner and
corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to
control the execution of the project.

The key benefit is that project performance is observed

and measured regularly to identify variances from the
project management plan.
Closing includes the formal acceptance and ending of
the project. Administrative activities include the archiving
of the files and documentation. This phase consists of:

• Contract closure: Complete and settle each contract

(including the resolution of any open items) and close
each contract applicable to the project or phase.

• Project close: Finalize all activities across all of the

process groups to formally close the project or phase.
Documenting everything within a project is key to being
successful. To maintain budget, scope, effectiveness and
pace a project must have physical documents pertaining
to each specific task.

With correct documentation, it is easy to see whether or

not a project's requirement has been met. To go along
with that, documentation provides information regarding
what has already been completed for that project.
Documentation throughout a project provides a
documented trail for anyone who needs to go back and
reference the work in the past. In most cases,
documentation is the most successful way to monitor
and control the specific phases of a project.

With the correct documentation, a project's success can

be tracked and observed as it goes on. If performed
correctly, it can be the backbone to a project's success.
• Projects should always have a specific start
and end dates;
• They are performed and completed by a group
of people working as one;
• The output should deliver a working/unique
product or service;
• They are temporary in nature; and
• They are progressively elaborated.
Project Tracking and Control – assess the progress of the
project plan.

Risk Management – assess risks that may affect the product

outcome.

Quality Assurance – conduct activities to ensure product quality.

Technical Review – assess the work product to identify errors

beforehand.
Measurement – defines and collects process to deliver and meet the
needs of the stakeholders.

Configuration Management – manages the effects of changes in the

software process.

Reusability Management – defines criteria to establish mechanisms

for reusable components.

Work Product Preparation and Production – it encompasses activities

required to create work products such as models or documentation.
Cleland, D. I. (2006). Global Project Management Handbook. ISBN 0-07-146045-4: Mc
Graw-Hill Professional

Juneja, P. (2019). What is a Project? Retrieved from, https://

www.managementstudyguide.com/what-is-project.htm

Mesly, O. (2017). Project Feasibility: Tools for Uncovering Points of Vulnerability. ISBN
978-1498757911: CRC Press, NY

Philips, J. (2018). PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide. 5th Edition,
ISBN-13 978-1259861987: Mc Graw-Hill
PMI (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. 6th Edition, ISBN-
978-1628251845: Project Management Institute

Sebastian, N. (2008). The Definitive Guide to Project Management: The Fast Track to
Getting the Job Done on Time and on Budget. 2nd Edition, ISBN-13 978-0273710974: FT
Press