Power Point

Chapter 7: Project Cost Management
Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition
Learning Objectives
Understand the importance of project cost management.
Explain basic project cost management principles, concepts, and terms.

Discuss different types of cost estimates and methods for preparing them. Understand the processes involved in cost budgeting and preparing a cost estimate and budget for an information technology project.
The Importance of Project Cost Management

IT projects have a poor track record for meeting budget goals. The 2003 CHAOS studies showed the average cost overrun (the additional percentage or dollar amount by which actual costs exceed estimates) was 43 percent. U.S. lost $55 billion in IT projects in 2002 from cancelled projects and overruns compared to $140 billion in 1994.*
What is Cost and Project Cost Management?

Cost is a resource sacrificed or foregone to achieve a specific objective, or something given up in exchange.
Costs are usually measured in monetary units, such as dollars.
Project cost management includes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within an approved budget.
Project Cost Management Processes

Cost estimating: Developing an approximation or estimate of the costs of the resources needed to complete a project. Cost budgeting: Allocating the overall cost estimate to individual work items to establish a baseline for measuring performance. Cost control: Controlling changes to the project budget.
Basic Principles of Cost Management

Most members of an executive board have a better understanding and are more interested in financial terms than IT terms, so IT project managers must speak their language. Profits are revenues minus expenses. Life cycle costing considers the total cost of ownership, or development plus support costs, for a project. Cash flow analysis determines the estimated annual costs and benefits for a project and the resulting annual cash flow.
Cost of Software Defects
It is important to spend money up-front on IT projects to avoid spending a lot more later.

Tangible costs or benefits are those costs or benefits that an organization can easily measure in dollars. Intangible costs or benefits are costs or benefits that are difficult to measure in monetary terms. Direct costs are costs that can be directly related to producing the products and services of the project. Indirect costs are costs that are not directly related to the products or services of the project, but are indirectly related to performing the project. Sunk cost is money that has been spent in the past; when deciding what projects to invest in or continue, you should not include sunk costs.
8

Learning curve theory states that when many items are produced repetitively, the unit cost of those items decreases in a regular pattern as more units are produced. Reserves are dollars included in a cost estimate to mitigate cost risk by allowing for future situations that are difficult to predict. Contingency reserves allow for future situations that may be partially planned for (sometimes called known unknowns) and are included in the project cost baseline. Management reserves allow for future situations that are unpredictable (sometimes called unknown unknowns).
Cost Estimating
Project managers must take cost estimates seriously if they want to complete projects within budget constraints. Its important to know the types of cost estimates, how to prepare cost estimates, and typical problems associated with IT cost estimates.
10
Types of Cost Estimates
11
Cost Management Plan

A cost management plan is a document that describes how the organization will manage cost variances on the project. A large percentage of total project costs are often labor costs, so project managers must develop and track estimates for labor.
12
Cost Estimation Tools and Techniques

Analogous or top-down estimates: Use the actual cost of a previous, similar project as the basis for estimating the cost of the current project. Bottom-up estimates: Involve estimating individual work items or activities and summing them to get a project total. Parametric modeling: Uses project characteristics (parameters) in a mathematical model to estimate project costs.
Computerized tools: Tools, such as spreadsheets and project management software, that can make working with different cost estimates and cost estimation tools easier.
13
Typical Problems with IT Cost Estimates

Developing an estimate for a large software project is a complex task that requires a significant amount of effort.
People who develop estimates often do not have much experience. Human beings are biased toward underestimation. Management might ask for an estimate, but really desire a bid to win a major contract or get internal funding.
14
Surveyor Pro Project Cost Estimate
15
Surveyor Pro Software Development Estimate
16
Cost Budgeting
Cost budgeting involves allocating the project cost estimate to individual work items over time. The WBS is a required input for the cost budgeting process because it defines the work items.
Important goal is to produce a cost baseline:

A time-phased budget that project managers use to measure and monitor cost performance.
17
Cost Control
Project cost control includes: Monitoring cost performance. Ensuring that only appropriate project changes are included in a revised cost baseline.
Informing project stakeholders of authorized changes to the project that will affect costs.
Many organizations around the globe have problems with cost control.
18
Media Snapshot
Australia: Problems with the installation of an ERP system at Crane Group Ltd. led to an estimated cost overrun of $11.5 million. India: As many as 274 projects currently under implementation in the Central sector are suffering serious cost and time overruns.
Pakistan: Pakistan has sustained a cost overrun of Rs 1.798 billion (over $30 million U.S. dollars) in the execution of the 66.5 megawatt Jagran Hydropower Project in the Neelum Valley. United States: Northern California lawmakers were outraged over Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's announcement that commuters should have to pay construction costs on Bay Area bridges. Maybe it takes the Terminator to help control costs!
19
Earned Value Management (EVM)

EVM is a project performance measurement technique that integrates scope, time, and cost data.
Given a baseline (original plan plus approved changes), you can determine how well the project is meeting its goals.
You must enter actual information periodically to use EVM.
More and more organizations around the world are using EVM to help control project costs.
20
Earned Value Management Terms

The planned value (PV), formerly called the budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS), also called the budget, is that portion of the approved total cost estimate planned to be spent on an activity during a given period. Actual cost (AC), formerly called actual cost of work performed (ACWP), is the total of direct and indirect costs incurred in accomplishing work on an activity during a given period. The earned value (EV), formerly called the budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP), is an estimate of the value of the physical work actually completed.
EV is based on the original planned costs for the project or activity and the rate at which the team is completing work on the project or activity to date.
21
Table 7-5. Earned Value Formulas
22
Rules of Thumb for Earned Value Numbers

Negative numbers for cost and schedule variance indicate problems in those areas.
A CPI or SPI that is less than 100 percent indicates problems.
Problems mean the project is costing more than planned (over budget) or taking longer than planned (behind schedule).
23
Project Portfolio Management

Many organizations collect and control an entire suite of projects or investments as one set of interrelated activities in a portfolio. Project portfolio management has five levels: 1. Prioritize the projects in your database. 2. Divide your projects into two or three budgets based on type of investment. 3. Automate the repository. 4. Apply modern portfolio theory, including risk-return tools that map project risk on a curve.
24
Benefits of Portfolio Management

Schlumberger saved $3 million in one year by organizing 120 information technology projects into a portfolio. META Group research shows that: Organizations that evaluate information technology projects by what their business impacts are and what their potential business values will be implement projects that result in 25 percent more improvement to the bottom line. By 2005-2006, more than 50 percent of the CIOs for Global 2000 companies will adopt project portfolio management tools and techniques for IT projects, asset management, and budget planning and monitoring. Business executives state that using project portfolio management allows managers to make decisions faster and with more confidence.*
25
Using Software to Assist in Cost Management

Spreadsheets are a common tool for resource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting, and cost control.
Many companies use more sophisticated and centralized financial applications software for cost information. Project management software has many cost-related features, especially enterprise PM software.
26

Power Point

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Power Point

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Power Point

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 7: Project Cost Management

Information Technology Project Management, Fourth Edition

Explain basic project cost management principles, concepts, and terms.

The Importance of Project Cost Management

What is Cost and Project Cost Management?

Project Cost Management Processes

Basic Principles of Cost Management

Cost of Software Defects

Basic Principles of Cost Management

Basic Principles of Cost Management

Types of Cost Estimates

Cost Management Plan

Cost Estimation Tools and Techniques

Typical Problems with IT Cost Estimates

Surveyor Pro Project Cost Estimate

Surveyor Pro Software Development Estimate

Important goal is to produce a cost baseline:

Earned Value Management (EVM)

Earned Value Management Terms

Table 7-5. Earned Value Formulas

Rules of Thumb for Earned Value Numbers

Project Portfolio Management

Benefits of Portfolio Management

Using Software to Assist in Cost Management

You might also like