UNIT-1

Introduction to software project

management
It consists of three terms: Software, Project and Management. So, let us
understand each term separately. Software includes a set of programs,

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documentation and user manual for a particular software project. So, it is
basically the complete procedure of the software development starting from
the
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maintenance. Project means a planned activity which consists of several
well defined tasks. Management makes sure that the product comes out as
and

planned.
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There are many constraints of the software projects but the main and
fundamental constraints includes: Time, Cost and Quality. Any one of the two
factors can severely affect the third one. Therefore, Software Project
Management is essential to develop software projects within time and the
specified budget and that too of good quality.

Importance of Software Project

Management
Software Project Management is a sub-discipline of project management in

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which software projects are planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.

• Project management is the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling,

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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.

Importance of software project management

– First there is a question of money. A lot of money is at stake with ICT projects.
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– Secondly, the projects are not always successful, studies show that only one
third of software projects were proved to be successful.

• The reason for these project shortcomings is most often the management of
software projects.
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 Activities covered by SPM

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1)The Feasibility Study

– Assesses whether a project is worth starting .

– Information is gathered about the requirements of the proposed application and

this process can be complex and difficult.

– Developmental and operational costs are estimated .

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– Benefits of new systems will be estimated.

2)Planning

– If a feasibility study indicates the project as worthy, planning starts .

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– Normally a complete detailed plan is created for smaller projects.

– For larger projects, an outline plan for the whole project and a detailed one for
the first stage will be created.

3)Project Execution

– Execution often contains design and implementation sub phases.

– Design is making decisions about the form of the products to be created.

– External appearance of the software, UI.

– Plan details the activities to be carried out to create the products.

Methodologies
Waterfall

Just as the name suggests this is a sequential model. You work your way from
one step to the next and can’t start a step until you’ve finished the preceding one.
Waterfall is used practically everywhere. It’s great to use if your project is very

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complicated or needs to follow a specific step by step process. On the negative
side, it can be a very rigid methodology and in all honesty it’s not really suitable

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for fast moving or iterative projects.

Agile

Agile is the antithesis of waterfall methodology. Its whole premise is to be flexible

and light touch. It emphasises team collaboration and the idea that everything is
iterative. At the end of every cycle or sprint the product is evaluated so it’s really
easy to adapt to changes and it can even be that the final product bears no
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resemblance to the one that was originally planned. Agile is great for companies
that are releasing products quickly and regularly. It’s one of the reasons why it’s
so popular in software development. It’s also got strong support in manufacturing
and creative industries. It’s not great for projects that don’t need or want a lot of
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stakeholder input or if the project is really complicated.

PRINCE2

PRINCE2 stands for Projects in Controlled Environments2 and it's a structured

project management methodology. It came out of the UK government and has
spread around the world. It consists of 6 tolerances, 7 principles, 7 themes and 7
processes. It also prescribes 26 management products that should be created.
This is a great methodology for accidental and incidental project managers as it
hand holds you through the entire end to end process of managing a project as
well as giving you templates for each of the key project documents. It’s used
extensively in public sector projects, particularly in the UK, Australia and New
Zealand.

Given its complexity, it is advised not to use it on smaller projects and its very
prescriptive nature means it’s unlikely to work well in fast moving project
environments.

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Hybrid Project Management

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A combination of methodologies. It means you get the best of both worlds without
the downside of either.

This won’t work if you work in an organisation that’s wedded to a particular

methodology or if the team is unfamiliar with one or other of the methodologies
being hybridised. Of course using more than one methodology at the same time
is risky so it is advised to use it with caution!

Critical Path
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The critical path, or golden thread is a way of visualising your project. Its premise
is that there are some tasks that can’t be started until something else is
completed. When you string them all together you get the critical path of your
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project. If you focus all of your effort and resources on achieving this critical path
then you get the most important work done and can reprioritise the non critical
path tasks. It’s great for working out exactly what resources you’ll need and
when, but that very positive also means it’s less suited to projects that change
quickly. To make it work effectively you need to have an extremely detailed work
breakdown structure so it’s less effective on bigger projects where getting that
level of detail can be difficult.
Critical Chain Management

Focuses on the resources that you’ll need to complete a project. It encompasses

equipment, people and space. The aim is to keep everything balanced and be
flexible with start dates, it builds buffer time around those activities and it’s been
credited with delivering projects 10 – 50% faster than traditional methods.

As it’s a less technical methodology it can be used pretty much anywhere that
runs projects.

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Extreme Project Management

It’s related to Extreme Programming and is used on projects where there is a

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high level of unpredictability, when there needs to be huge amounts of flexibility
or when a lot of stakeholder engagement is required. One of the main differences
between this and other project management methodologies is that it demands
huge commitment from the project sponsor, who needs to be actively involved at
all steps of the project

Categorizing of Software Projects

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1. Compulsory Vs Voluntary systems (projects):

○ Compulsory systems are the systems which the staff of an
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organisation have to use if they want to do a task.

○ Voluntary systems are the systems which are voluntarily used by the
users eg. computer gaming, school project, etc.
2. Information Vs Embedded systems (projects):
○ Information systems are used by staff to carry out office processes
and tasks eg. stock control system.
 ○ Embedded systems are used to control machines eg. a system
controlling equipment in a building.
3. Objective-based Vs Product-based systems (projects):
○ Project whose requirement is to meet certain objectives which could
be met in a number of ways, is objective-based project.
○ Project whose requirement is to create a product, the details of
which have been specified by the client, is product-based project.

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SH Setting objectives
Effective objectives in project management are specific. A specific objective
increases the chances of leading to a specific outcome. Therefore objectives
shouldn't be vague, such as "to improve customer relations," because they are
not measurable. Objectives should show how successful a project has been.
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While there may be one major project objective, in pursuing it there may be
interim project objectives. In lots of instances, project teams are tasked with
achieving a series of objectives in pursuit of the final objective. In many cases,
teams can only proceed in a stair step fashion to achieve the desired outcome. If
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they were to proceed in any other manner, they may not be able to develop the
skills or insights along the way that will enable them to progress in a productive
manner.

Objectives can often be set under three headings:

1. Performance and Quality

The end result of a project must fit the purpose for which it was intended. At one
time, quality was seen as the responsibility of the quality control department. In
more recent years the concept of total quality management has come to the fore,
with the responsibility for quality shared by all staff from top management
downwards.

2. Budget

The project must be completed without exceeding the authorised expenditure.

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Financial sources are not always inexhaustible and a project might be
abandoned altogether if funds run out before completion. If that was to happen,
the money and effort invested in the project would be forfeited and written off. In

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extreme cases the project contractor could face ruin. There are many projects
where there is no direct profit motive, however it is still important to pay proper
attention to the cost budgets, and financial management remains essential.

3. Time to Completion

Actual progress has to match or beat planned progress. All significant stages of
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the project must take place no later than their specified dates, to result in total
completion on or before the planned finish date. The timescale objective is
extremely important because late completion of a project is not very likely to
please the project purchaser or the sponsor.
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Management Principles
1. Vision and Mission

Every project or initiative should begin with the end in mind. This is effectively
accomplished by articulating the Vision and Mission of the project so it is
crystal-clear to everyone. Creating a vision and mission for the project helps
clarify the expected outcome or desired state, and how it will be accomplished.

2. Business Objectives

The next step is to establish two to three goals or objectives for the project. Is it
being implemented to increase sales and profit, customer loyalty, employee
productivity and morale, or product/service quality? Also, it's important to
specifically quantify the amount of improvement that is expected, instead of being
vague.

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3. Standards of Engagement

It means establishing who will be part of the project team? What will be the

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frequency of meetings? What are the meeting ground rules? Who is the project
owner? Who is designated to take notes, and distribute project meeting minutes
and action steps? This goes along with any other meeting protocol that needs to
be clarified.

4. Intervention and Execution Strategy

This is the meat of the project and includes using a gap analysis process to
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determine the most suited intervention (solution) to resolve the issue you are
working on. There are many quality management concepts that can be applied
ranging from a comprehensive "root cause analysis" to simply "asking why five
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times." Once the best possible intervention has been identified to resolve the
issue, then we must map out our execution strategy for implementing the
intervention. This includes identifying who will do what, when, how, and why?

5. Organisational Alignment

To ensure the success and sustainability of the new initiative or process brought
on by this project, everyone it will directly impact must be onboard. To achieve
organisational alignment (or buy-in), ongoing communication must be employed
in-person during team meetings, electronically via email and e-learning (if
applicable), and through training.

6. Measurement and Accountability

And last, how will we determine success? Well, a simple project scorecard that is
visually interesting is a great way to keep everyone updated and engaged. A
scorecard is an excellent resource for holding employees, teams, and leaders
accountable for the implementation, refinement, and sustainability of the new
initiative or project.Accountability means that consistently, top performers will be

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rewarded and recognised

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Project portfolio management
Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralized management of the processes,
methods, and technologies used by project managers and project management offices
(PMOs) to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on
numerous key characteristics.

The objectives of PPM are to determine the optimal resource mix for delivery and to
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schedule activities to best achieve an organization’s operational and financial goals,
while honoring constraints imposed by customers, strategic objectives, or external
real-world factors.

Standards for Portfolio Management include Project Management Institute's framework

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for project portfolio management and Management of Portfolios by Office of

Government Commerce.

Portfolio management (PPM) refers to a process used by project managers and project
management organizations (PMOs) to analyze the potential return on undertaking a
project. By organizing and consolidating every piece of data regarding proposed and
current projects, project portfolio managers provide forecasting and business analysis
for companies looking to invest in new projects.
Project portfolio management gives organizations and managers the ability to see the
big picture.

● Executives – know what project managers to reach

● Project Managers – easy access to team members
● Team Members – improved communication with leadership and other
teammates
● Stakeholders – kept in the loop with reliable and consistent feedback

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The portfolio management process supports the fundamentals of project
management by offering a clear path to prioritization that allows project
managers to create flexible timetables.

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Objectives:

● The need to create a descriptive document, which contains vital

information such as name of project, estimated timeframe, cost and
business objectives.
● Evaluation of the project on a regular basis to ensure that the project is
meeting its target and stays in its course.
● Selection of the team players, who will work towards achieving the
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project's objectives.

Project portfolio management sets out a methodology used to predict potential

problems, review progress towards operational goals, manage budgets, and
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address stakeholder concerns, allowing project managers to then follow up

with precision execution.

Advantages:

● Helps to concentrate on the strategies, which will help to achieve the

targets rather than focusing on the project itself.
● The responsibilities of IT are focused on part of the business rather than
scattering across several.
● Greater adaptability towards change.

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Cost-benefit evaluation technology
Cost-benefit evaluation technology is a technique used to compare the total costs
of a programme/project with its benefits, using a common metric (most
commonly monetary units). This enables the calculation of the net cost or benefit
associated with the programme.

As a technique, it is used most often at the start of a programme or project when

different options or courses of action are being appraised and compared, as an
option for choosing the best approach. It can also be used, however, to evaluate the

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overall impact of a programme in quantifiable and monetised terms.

Cost-benefit evaluation technology adds up the total costs of a programme or activity

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and compares it against its total benefits.

The technique assumes that a monetary value can be placed on all the costs and
benefits of a programme, including tangible and intangible returns to other people and
organisations in addition to those immediately impacted.

As such, a major advantage of cost-benefit analysis lies in forcing people to explicitly

and systematically consider the various factors which should influence strategic choice.
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Decisions are made through Cost-benefit evaluation technology by comparing the net
present value (NPV) of the programme or project’s costs with the net present value of its
benefits.

Decisions are based on whether there is a net benefit or cost to the approach, i.e. total
benefits less total costs.
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Costs and benefits that occur in the future have less weight attached to them in a
cost-benefit analysis. To account for this, it is necessary to ‘discount’ or reduce the
value of future costs or benefits to place them on a par with costs and benefits incurred
today. The ‘discount rate’ will vary depending on the sector or industry, but public sector
activity generally uses a discount rate of 5-6%. The sum of the discounted benefits of an
option minus the sum of the discounted costs, all discounted to the same base date, is
the ‘net present value’ of the option.
 Risk evaluation
Risk is a potential problem.

It’s an activity or event that may compromise the success of a software development
project.

It’s is the possibility of suffering loss, and total risk exposure to a specific project will
account for both the probability and the size of the potential loss.

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Risk management means risk containment and mitigation. First, you’ve got to identify
and plan. Then be ready to act when a risk arises, drawing upon the experience and

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knowledge of the entire team to minimize the impact to the project.

Risk evaluation attempts to define what the estimated risk actually means to people
concerned with or affected by the risk. A large part of this evaluation will be the
consideration of how people perceive risks.

Determination of risk management priorities through establishment of qualitative and/or

quantitative relationships between benefits and associated risks.
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The most common way of analysing risks is to use a scale that rates each risk on:

● the likelihood of it occurring

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● the consequences of it occurring.

Software Risk Evaluation (SRE) is a process for identifying, analyzing, and developing
mitigation strategies for risks in a software intensive system while it is in development.

Risk management includes the following tasks:

● Identify risks and their triggers

● Classify and prioritize all risks
 ● Craft a plan that links each risk to a mitigation
● Monitor for risk triggers during the project
● Implement the mitigating action if any risk materializes
● Communicate risk status throughout project

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Risk Identification
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Before plunging into risk assessment, the project manager will have compiled a list of
risks from previous project experiences.
These will be reviewed at the beginning of the project as a way to identify some
common risks.
This will also give an insight to the members to predict possible risks. While there are
many methods for identifying risks, the Crawford Slip method is very common and
effective.
Each risk identified and discussed should be stated in a complete sentence which
states the cause of the risk, the risk, and the affect that the risk has on the project.

Categorize and Group Duplicates

Categorizing risks is a way to systematically identify the risks and provide a foundation
for awareness, understanding and action. Each project will have its own structure and
differences.
Categorization makes it easy to identify duplicate risks and acts as to trigger for
determining additional risks. The most common, easy and the most effective method for
this is to post the sticky notes on a large board where the manager has posted
categories.
The participants then put their risks on the board beneath the appropriate category. As
they identify duplicate risks they stick the duplicates on top of the other. The project
manager then discusses the risks identified under each category with the participants.
All the risks identified, categorized should be documented for the approval of all

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stakeholders.

Qualify Risks (Assign Probability and Impact to Each Risk)

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The key questions to assess any risk in projects are: • What is the risk – how will I
recognize it if it becomes a reality?

• What is the probability of it happening – high, medium or low?

• How serious a threat does it pose to the project – high, medium or low?

• What are the signals or triggers that we should be looking out for? A risk assessed as
highly likely to happen and as having a high impact on the project will obviously need
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closer attention than a risk that is low in terms of both probability and impact.

Determine Risk Response

For the risks which have been identified with a high risk score, the participants will
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determine the triggers or causes and identify responses.

Responses may include:

• Adding the risk to the project plan and scheduling for it.

• Adding funding to the project to mitigate any potential increase in costs,

• Adding resources to the project to mitigate any potential shortage in assigned

resources;
• Developing a course of action for avoiding the risk.

Documentation of Risks

The Project Manager will enter all the risks, probability-impact scores, and
responses and maintain a document to explain all risks.

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The high scoring risks will be added to the Project Management Plan. This
document will also be included as an appendix to the Project Management Plan.

Additionally, the risks with a high score will be added to the project schedule as a

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method to track the risk at the correct time. Although these risks are added to the
schedule, the schedule itself is not necessarily changed.

This step is to provide awareness and visibility to the participants of all high
scoring risks throughout the project’s lifecycle.

Strategic Project Management

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Strategic Project Management (SPM) defines the big picture of how the project
may benefit the company's efficiency and as a whole. This process combines
business strategy and project management methodologies and techniques
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to deliver organizational breakthroughs.

Project management is the centralized coordinated management of a program

to achieve the program's strategic benefits and objectives.This strengthens the
alignment to organizational strategy and ensures better control and focus on
benefits realization.
Project management involves the initiation, planning and control of a range of
tasks required to deliver the end product(which could be a physical product, it
could be new software, or just a new way of working).

There are five essential tasks of strategic management.

They include developing a strategic vision and mission, setting objectives,

crafting tactics to achieve those objectives, implementing and executing
the tactics, and evaluating and measuring performance.

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Strategic project management identifies and implements the organisation’s
long-terms goals and objectives into the project. With top tier management
involvement, it explains why the organisation exists and the context within which

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it operates.

There are three common components which drive the project to its ultimate goal
for the company:

1. Strategic analysis
This forms the basis for which projects an organization chooses to
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undertake. Each project needs to link to the organization’s mission and be key to
meeting long-term objectives.
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However, bearing in mind that strategic management is about the big picture, it
also addresses external factors that could affect progress. Thus, project
managers often use strategic analysis tools such as PESTLE to identify potential
issues and minimize their impact.

2. Strategic choice
Just how does a company decide which projects to be involved with? Managing
multiple projects is a complex task, and something that project managers do in
their daily routine. But deciding on the ‘right’ projects is an important step which
requires a strategic choice.

Essentially, it means identifying projects that meet the aspirations and

expectations of stakeholders, while also playing to the company’s
strengths. There’s also a need to identify and take advantage of external
opportunities, while avoiding external threats.

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3. Strategic implementation
With the scene set, the third stage of strategic management is implementation.
Here, strategic project management sets out the long-, medium- and short-term

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goals for projects and programmes.

Every company wants to grow. So they need to take advantage of opportunities

they create for themselves and optimise external influences. Strategic
implementation examines all kinds of benefits, including:
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● The use and benefits of collaborative tools in projects
● How people and resources are assigned
● The ‘why?’ of projects, not just at a base level, but from the top of a
company.
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Measuring the success of strategic project management

Any strategy and project within the ‘bigger picture’ needs to have indicators to
measure success. The same is true for strategic project management.

Strategic project managers often use these four categories of performance

measurement:
 1. Finance
2. Customer
3. Learning and growth
4. Internal business processes.

Essentially, they provide the basis for defining objectives for programmes,
portfolios and projects.

Stepwise Project Planning

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Steps in Project Planning:

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● Step 0: Select project.
● Step 1: Identify project scope and objectives.
● Step 2: Identify project infrastructure.
● Step 3: Analyze project characteristics.
● Step 4: Identify project products and activities.
● Step 5: Estimate effort for each activity.
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● Step 6: Identify activity risks.
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Planning is the most difficult process in project management. The
framework described is called the Stepwise method to help to distinguish it
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from other methods.

Step 0: Select Project

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Step 1: Identify project scope and objectives

Step 1.1 : Identify objectives and practical measures of the effectiveness in

meeting those objectives

Step 1.2 : Establish a project authority

Step 1.3 : Stakeholder analysis - identify all stakeholders in the project and
their interests.

Step 1.4 : Modify objectives in the light of stakeholder analysis.

Step 1.5 : Establish methods of communication with all parties.

Step 2 : Identify project infrastructure

Step 2.2 : Identify installation standard and procedures

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Step 2.3 : Identify project team organization

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Step 3 : Analyse project characteristics

Step 3.1 : Distinguish the project as either objectives- or product-driven.

Step 3.2 : Analyse other project characteristics

Step 3.3 : Identify high-level project risks

Step 3.4 : Take into account use requirements concerning implementation

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Step 3.5 : Select development methodology and life-cycle approach

Step 3.6 : Review overall resource estimates

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Step 4 : Identify project products and activities

Step 4.1 : Identify and describe project products

Step 4.2 : Document generic product flows

Step 4.3 : Recognize product instances

Step 4.4 : Produce ideal activity network

Step 4.5 : Modify the ideal to take into account need for stages and
checkpoints

Step 5 : Estimate effort for each activity

Step 5.1 : Carry out bottom-up estimates

- distinguish carefully between effort and elapsed time

Step 5.2 : Revise plan to create ontrollable activities

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- breakup very long activities into a series of smaller ones

- bundle up very short activities

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Step 6 : Identify activity risks

Step 6.1 : Identify and quantify activity based risks

- damage if risk occurs

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- likelihood if risk occuring

Step 6.2 : Plan risk reduction and contingency measures

- risk reduction : activity to stop risk occuring

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- contingency : action if risk does occurs

Step 6.3 : Adjust overall plans and estimates to take account of risks

Step 7 : Allocate resources

Step 7.1 : Identify and allocate resources

Step 7.2 : Revise plans and estimates to take into account resource
constraints

Step 8 : Review/ Publicize plans

Step 8.1 : Review quality aspects of the project plan

Step 8.2 : Documentr plans and obtain agreement

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Step 9 and 10 : Execute plan. Lower levels of planning

Once the project is underway, plans will need to be drawn up in greater

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detail for each activity as it becomes due. Detailed planning of the later
stages will have to be delayed because more information will be available
nearer the start of the stage. It is necessary to make provisional plans for
the more distant tasks, because thinking about what has to be done can
help unearth potential problems, but sight should not be lost of the fact that
these plans are provisional.
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