Assi. Prof.

MANESH PATEL
PRESIDENT BCA COLLEGE, SAYONA CAMPUS, A’BAD

BCA Sem-5 Questions answers for Exam SPM

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15) What are the important categories of software?

 System software
 Application software
 Embedded software
 Web Applications
 Artificial Intelligence software
 Scientific software.

16) What is the main difference between a computer program and

computer software?
A computer program is a piece of programming code. It performs a well-defined task.
On the other hand, the software includes programming code, documentation and user
guide.

17) Describe the software development process in brief:

The software development is a life cycle is composed of the following stages:

 Requirement analysis
 Specification
 Software architecture
 Implementation
 Testing
 Documentation
 Training and support
 Maintenance

18) What are SDLC models available?

Waterfall Model, Spiral Model, Big-bag model, Iterative Model, and V- Model are some
of the famous SDLC models.

19) What is verification and validation?

Verification:

Verification is a term that refers to the set of activities which ensure that software
implements a specific function.

Validation:

It refers to the set of activities which ensure that software that has been built according
to the need of clients.

20) What is computer software?

Computer software is a package which includes a software program, its documentation,
and user guide on how to use the software.
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21) According to you which SDLC model is the best?

There, is no such ranking, as SDLC Models are adopted as per the need for the
development process. It may differ software-to-software.

22) Who is software project manager? What is his role?

A software project manager is a person responsible for managing the software
development project.

The project manager is doing the project planning, monitoring the progress,
communication. He or she also manages risks and resources to deliver the project
within time, cost, and quality constraints.

23) How to find the size of a software product?

The size of software product can be calculated using by following two methods

 Counting the lines of delivered code

 Counting delivered function points

24) How can you measure project execution?

We can measure project execution using Activity Monitoring, Status Reports, and
Milestone Checklists.

25) Tell me about some project management tools.

There are many types of management tools used as per the need for a software
project. Some of them are Pert Chart, Gantt Chart, Resource Histogram, Status
Reports, etc.

26) What are software requirements?

Software requirements are a functional description of a proposed software system. It is
assumed to be the description of the target system, its functionalities, and features.

27) What is feasibility study?

It is a measure to find out how practical and beneficial the software project
development will prove to the organization. The software analyzer conducts a study to
know the economic, technical and operational feasibility of the project.

1. Economic: It includes the cost of training, cost of additional and tools and overall
estimation of costs and benefits of the project.
2. Technical: It evaluate technical aspect. Is it possible to develop this system?
Assessing the suitability of machine(s) and OS on which software will execute,
knowledge of the software development and tools available for this project.
3. Operational: Here the analyst need to assess that the organization will able to
adjust smoothly to the changes done as per the demand for the project. Is the
problem worth solving at the estimated cost?
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After, studying all this the final feasibility report is created.

28) What are functional and non-functional requirements?

Functional requirements are functional features which are expected by users from the
proposed software product.

Non-functional requirements are related to security, performance, look, and feel of the
user interface.

29) What is cohesion?

Cohesion is a measure that defines the intra-dependability among the elements of the
module.

30) Mentions some software analysis & design tools?

Some of the most important software analysis and designing tools are:

 Data Flow Diagrams

 Structured Charts
 Structured English
 Data Dictionary
 Hierarchical Input Process Output diagrams
 Entity Relationship Diagrams and Decision tables

31) What is structured design?

Structured design is a conceptualization of problem. It also called solution design and
which is based on ‘divide and conquer’ strategy.

32) What is Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control?

Quality Assurance checks if proper process is followed while developing the software
while Quality Control deals with maintaining the quality of software product.

33) What is the full form of the “COCOMO” model?

a) Cost Constructive Estimation Model
b) Constructive Cost Estimation Model
c) Constructive Case Estimation Model
d) Constructive Cost Estimating Model

34) Who are project stakeholders?

 These are people who have a stake or interest in the project.

 Stakeholders can be categorized as:

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1. Internal to the project team

2. External to the project team but within the same organization

3. External to both the project and the organization (ex. Freelancer)

35) Which are Responsibilities of a Project Manager?

1. Managing risks and issues.

2. Create the project team and assigns tasks to several team members.
3. Activity planning and sequencing.
4. Monitoring and reporting progress.
5. Modifies the project plan to deal with the situation.

36) Objectives of activity planning

1. Feasibility assessment-Whether project can be finished

2. within specified time scales
3. Resource allocation
4. Detailed costing-Cost
5. Motivation
6. Co-ordination

37) What is Risk?

 “Risk is an uncertain future event with a probability of occurrence and potential for
loss”

 Risk identification and management are the main concerns in every software
project.

38) Write down reasons for Schedule risks.

1. Time is not estimated perfectly
2. Improper resource allocation
3. Tracking of resources like system, skill, staff etc
4. Frequent project scope expansion
5. Failure in function identification and its’ completion

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39) Write down Causes of Operational risks.

1. Failure to address priority conflicts
2. Failure to resolve the responsibilities
3. Insufficient resources
4. No proper subject training
5. No resource planning
6. No communication in team.
40) Write down Some reasons for Technical risks.
1. Frequent changes in requirement
2. Less use of future technologies
3. Less number of skilled employee
4. High complexity in implementation
5. Improper integration of modules
41) Write down Types of asset.
1. Hardware
2. Software: purchased or developed programs
3. Data
4. People: who run the system
5. Documentation: manuals, administrative procedures, etc
6. Supplies: paper forms, magnetic media, printer liquid, etc
7. Money
42) How can we Responses to risk?

1. Avoid it completely by withdrawing from an activity

2. Accept it and do nothing
3. Reduce it with security measures

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43) Draw Risk monitoring figure.

 Monitor the risks throughout the project;

44) Define process.

A software process provides the framework from which a comprehensive plan

for software development can be established.

45) Write the elements of product process.

1. Defined by the life cycle used.
2. Defined by the American society of quality(ASQ),
3. Certified Software Quality Engineer(CSQE)

46) What are the characteristics which makes software project s

different from other project?

Invisibility: When a physical artifact such as a bridge or road is being constructed the
progress being made can actually be seen. With software, progress is not
immediately visible.

Complexity: Per dollar, pound or euro spent, software products contain more
complexity than other engineered artifacts.

Flexibility: The ease with which software can be changed is usually seen as one of
its strengths. However this means that where the software system interfaces with a
physical or organizational system, it is expected that, where necessary, the software
will change to accommodate the other components rather than vice versa. This
means the software systems are likely to be subject to a high degree of change.

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47) Mention the characteristics of software projects.

 Non-routine tasks are involved
 Planning is required
 Specific objectives are to be met or a specified product is to be created
 The project has a pre-determined time span
 Work is carried out for some one other than yourself
 Work involves several specialisms
 Work is carried out in several phases
 The resources that are available for use on the project are constrained.
 The project is large or complex

48) Write short notes about contract management?

 Contract administration is the management of contracts made with

customers, vendors, partners, or employees.
 The client organization will often appoint a project manager to supervise the
contract
49) What are the activities within stepwise planning?
 Select project
 Identify projects scope and objectives
 Identify project infrastructure
 Analyse project characteristics
 Identify project products and activities
 Estimate effort for each activity
 Identify activity risks
 Allocate resources
 Review/publicize
 Execute plan
 Lower levels of planning

50) Define milestones.

The milestones represent the completion of important stages of the project of

which they would want to take particular note

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51) List some problems with software projects.

 People-related problems
 Process-related problems
 Product-related problems
 Technology-related problems

52) What are the steps involved in step wise planning?

 Identify project scope and objectives.
 Identify project infrastructure.
Analyze project characteristics.
 Identify project products and activities.
 Estimate effort for each activity.
 Identify activity risks.
 Allocate resources.
 Review / publicize plan
Execute plan/ lower levels of planning

53) How to identify project infrastructure?

 Establish relationship between project and strategic planning.
 Identify installation standards and procedures.
 Identify project team organization.

54) How to manage activity risks?

 Identify and quantify activity-based risks.
 Plan risk reduction and contingency measures where appropriate
 Adjust plans and estimates to take account of risks.

55) Define project stake holders.

Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by the project actives

Stake holders’ power Integrate all expectations of several people.

56) Define Feasibility Study.

It is based on an outline design of system requirements in terms of Input,

Processes, Output, Fields, Programs, and Procedures.
This can be quantified in terms of volumes of data, trends, frequency of
updating, etc.

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57) What is meant by planning?

Planning as a process involves the determination of future course of action,
that is, why an action, what action, how to take action, and when to take
action.
These why, what, how, and when are related with different aspects of planning
process.

58) What is management?

Management can be defined as all activities and tasks undertaken by one or
more Persons for the purpose of planning and controlling the activities of
others in order to achieve objectives or complete an activity that could not be
achieved by others acting independently

59) What is cost-benefit analysis?

Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes called benefit costs analysis (BCA),

is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of
alternatives; it is used to determine options that provide the best approach to
achieve benefits while preserving savings.
60) What is programme?
A programme is a collection of projects that all contributes to the same overall
organization goals.

61) What are the types of management in strategic assessment?

a. Typical issues and questions to be considered during strategic assessment.
b. Portfolio management.
62) What are the types of cost?
Development costs->Includes salary and other employment cost of staff
involved.

Setup costs->Includes the cost of implementation of system.

Operational costs->Cost require to operate system.

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63) What are the categories of benefits?

Direct benefits: Directly obtained benefits by making use of operating the system.

Assessable indirect benefits: These benefits are obtained due to update of current
system.

Intangible benefits: These benefits are longer term.

64) What is meant by cost flow forecasting?

A cash flow forecast is document that shows predicted future cash inflows and
outflows of a business over a given period of time
65) Define project Evaluation.

Project evaluation is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using

information to answer questions about projects, policies and programs,
particularly about their effectiveness and efficiency
66) What are the benefits of management?

1)Mandatory compliance
2) Quality of service
3)Productivity
4)More motivated force
5)Internal management benefits
6)Risk reduction

67) Define motivation?

To providing targets and being seen to monitor achievement against targets is
an effective way of motivating staff.

68) Define ideal activity plan?

A plan of when each activity would ideally be undertaken was resources not a
constraint.

69) Define sequencing?

Sequencing is defined as identifying the depending among activities by the
development process.
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70) Define scheduling?

Scheduling is defined as process of specifying the time for when each activity
should take place.

71) In what based bar chart is drawn?

The chart has been drawn up taking account of the nature of the development
process and the resources that are available.

72) What are the network planning models?

 CPM- Critical Path Method.
 PERT-Program Evaluation Review Techniques.
73) What are the types of nodes?
1. Source node
2. Sink node
3. Intermediate node

74) Define slack?

Slack is the difference between the earliest date and the latest date for an event

75) Define critical path?

The critical path is identified in a way similar to that used in activity-on-node
network.

76) Define risk management?

Risk management is the identification, assessment and prioritization of risk.

77) What are the main components of the risk management?

Risk analysis.
Risk management.

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78) What are the risks to business impact?

 Risk identification
 Risk evaluation
 Risk estimation

Risk management

o Risk Control
o Risk Monitoring
o Risk directing
o Risk staffing

79) What do you understand by work breakdown structure.

• Use Work Breakdown Structure WBS)to generate a task list
• WBS involves • It consists of creating a list of all activities of a project.
• It makes use of brain stroming sessions or past similar projects to identify the
activities.
• identifying the main tasks
• break each main task down into subtasks
• The subtasks can further be broken down into lower level tasks.

80) What is free float?

 Free float is a term in stocks trading.
 It describes the proportion of shares of a publicly traded company that is
traded in the stock market.

81) Mention some of the objectives of activity planning.

 Feasibility assessment
 Resource allocation
 Detailed costing
 Motivation
 Coordination

82) What is a hazard?

 A hazard is an event that might occur and will create a problem for the
successful completion of the project, if it does occur.

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83) What do you understand by risk transfer? Give an example.

 Risk transfer is the underlying tenet behind insurance transactions.
 The purpose of this action is to take a specific risk, which is detailed in the
insurance contract, and pass it from one party who does not wish to have this
risk, the insured, to a party who is willing to take on the risk for a fee, or
premium, the insurer.
 For example, whenever a person purchases home insurance, he is essentially
paying an insurance company to take the risk involved with owning a home.

84) Name the three estimates in PERT.

 In PERT, these three estimate times are derived for each activity.
 This way, a range of time is given for each activity with the most probable
value, TLIKELY.
 Following are further details on each estimate:

1.TOPT

This is the fastest time an activity can be completed.

For this, the assumption is made that all the necessary resources are
available and all predecessor activities are completed as planned.

2. TLIKELY

Most of the times, project managers are asked only to submit one estimate.
In that case, this is the estimate that goes to the upper management.

3.TPESS

This is the maximum time required to complete an activity.

In this case, it is assumed that many things go wrong related to the activity.
A lot of rework and resource unavailability are assumed when this estimation
is derived.

85) Define resource allocation.

 What are the most effective ways of allocating resources to the project?
 When should the resources be available?
 The project plan allows us to investigate the relationship between timescales
and resource availability

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86) What are the three different approaches to identifying the

activities?
Activity-based approach- constraints stemming from the relationships between
projects

Product-based approach- instructor becomes an active member of the project team

Hybrid approach- Decision support system for software project management.

87) What is meant by forward pass?

 The forward pass is carried out to calculate the earliest dates on which each
activity may be started and completed.
 Significance - calculation method used in Critical Path Method.

88) What is meant by backward pass?

 The second stage in the analysis of a critical path network is to carry out a
backward pass to calculate the latest date at which each activity may be
started and finished without delaying the end date of the project.
 The calculating the latest dates, we assume that the latest finish date for the
project is the same as the earliest finish date- that is we wish to complete the
project as early as possible.

89) Define risk assessment.

 Using this formula

 Risk exposure = (potential damage) * (probability of occurrence)

90) What are the risks to business impact?

 Effect of this product on company revenue?
 Reasonableness of delivery deadline?
 Number of customers who will use this product
 Interoperability constraints
 Sophistication of end users?
 Costs associated with a defective product?

91) Define planned expenditure.

 Planned expenditure is one in which the costs increased by the project is
estimated before project starts

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92) Define baseline budget.

o The assigned value in the original budgeted cost for the item is known as the
baseline budget

93) Define earned value. Give the Formula.(Nov -2013)

The total value credited to a project at any point is known as the earned value

Earned value = Percentage completed X Budget (Cost or Man – Hour Terms)

94) Define crashing.

 Adding more resources to a project to shorten its duration is called crashing

95) Define time/cost trade off.

 Timescales can also be shortened by buying more resources.
 This rule is called time/cost trade off

96) Define functional point. (June-2017)

 A functional point is a unit of measurement to express the amount of business
functionality an information system provides to a user

97) Define contract management. (MAY -2010)

 Contract management is the management of contracts made with customers,
vendors, partners or employees

98) What are the two factors used to progress of project? (MAY -2012)
o Size of the project
o Degree of risk of the project
99) What are the two methods used to progress of project in picture.(MAY -2010)
1. Gantt charts
2. Timeline charts

100) write the uses of ball charts.

 Ball chart is used to indicate whether the expected target is met or not

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101) what are the information available in circles?

1. Original scheduled dates
2. Recent target dates

102) What are the advantages & disadvantages of fixed price

contracts? (Nov -2013)
Advantages

1. Fixed pricing is intended to attract more customers and clients because it

offers them assurances.
2. The client to know how much he will pay prior to agreement.
3. customers get used to your pricing and you have less risk of offending them by
fluctuating prices over time.
4. Sales forecasting and profit estimates are also simpler when you know your
price point.

Disadvantages

1. It doesn't allow for adjustments if you get into product or service delivery and
realize your cost basis is higher than expected.
2. The customer pays the established price regardless of changes in your time or
costs.
3. This may mean you undercharge a customer due to a lot of additional work
hours beyond those estimated in the price quote.
4. Fixed pricing also doesn't allow for adjustments over time to sell off extra
inventory or available seats for entertainment.

103) What are the levels of prioritizing monitoring. (May -2013)

o Priority list of activity to monitor
o Critical activities
o Non-critical activities with no free float
o Non-critical activities with less than a specified float
o High risk activities
o Activities with critical resources

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104) State earned value analysis. (June – 2014)

 Earned value analysis is based on assigning a value to each task or work
package based on the original expenditure forecasts.
The assigned value is the original budgeted cost for the item and is known as
the baseline budget or budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS).

105) What is slip chart? Mention its use. (Dec-2014)

The slip chart is a very similar alternative favored by some project managers who
believe it provides a more striking visual indication of those activities that are not
progressing to schedule – the more the slip line bends, the greater the variation from
the plan.

Advantages:

 It indicates the project variation from the plan by slip line bends.
 It provides a more striking visual indication of those activities that progressing
as per schedule

106) How are proposals evaluated? (May-2016)

Proposals are evaluated based on

 Clarity of the Proposal

 Scientific significance of the proposal objectives
 Sound research methodology
 Applicability
 Budget estimation

107) write down the stages of contract placement. (May-2016)

 Requirements analysis
 Evaluation
 Invitation to tender
Evaluation of proposals

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108) Define outsourcing? (NOV/Dec 2017)

Outsourcing is a business practice in which a company hires another company or an
individual to perform tasks, handle operations or provide services that are either
usually executed or had previously been done by the company's own employees.

109) What is cost variance (CV) and schedule variance (SV)?

Cost variance is the difference between a task’s estimated cost and its actual cost.
CV= BCWP -ACWP.

Schedule variance (SV) is the difference between the current progress and the
schedule progress of a task in terms of cost.
SV = BCWP -BCWS.

110) What is ACWP and BCWP?

 The actual cost required to complete all or some portion of the tasks, up to the
status date.
 This is to the actual cost of work performed (ACWP).
 The value of the work earned by the work performed and is called the
budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP).

111) What is cost performance index (CPI) and schedule

performance index (SPI)?
Cost performance index is the ratio of budgeted costs to actual costs.

CPI= BCWP ACWP

Schedule performance index is the ratio of work performed to work schedule

SPI= BCWP/BCWS

112) What is standard in contract?

Standard:
ISO 12207 standard relating to the software life cycle and its documents.
ISO 12207 standard provides for the customer to have access to quality
documentation.
ISO 9000 series for progress meetings and progress information.
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113) What are the different types of contracts?

a) Fixed price contracts.
b) Time and materials contracts.
c) Fixed price per delivered unit contracts

114) What is cost monitoring?

 Cost Monitoring is monitoring expenditure for the project.

 Project costs may be monitored by a company’s accounting system.

115) Where to use time and materials contract?

 A time and materials contract may be used only when it is not possible at the
time of placing the contract to estimate accurately the extent or duration of the
work or to anticipate costs with any reasonable degree of confidence.

116) What are the services to be provided in contracts?

 Training
 Documentation
 Installation
 Conversion of existing files
 Maintenance agreements
 Transitional insurance agreements.

117) Mention the advantages and disadvantages of fixed price

contracts.
Advantages:

1. Known customer expenditure

2. Supply motivation
3. Higher prices to allow for contingency

Disadvantages:

1. Difficulties in modifying requirements

2. Upward pressure on the cost of changes
3. Threat to system quality.

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118) Define leadership.

 Leadership is the ability to influence others in a group to act in a particular way
in order to achieve group goals.

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