Software Project Management

Lecture 4
Software Project Planning
Software Project Management 2
Overview
Step Wise project planning framework
Preparation of a software project plan
Planning and scheduling the activities in
software project management
Various approaches towards activity
plan
Various scheduling techniques such as
sequencing and CPM
Software Project Management 3
Step Wise An Overview
0
Select
project
1 Identify
project scope
and objectives
2 Identify
project
infrastructure
3
Analyse project
characteristics
to next slide
Software Project Management 4
Step Wise An Overview
(contd)
4
Identify the
products and activities
5
Estimate efforts
for activity
6
identify
activity risks
For each
activity
from previous slide
to next slide
Review
Lower
level
detail
from next slide
Software Project Management 5
Step Wise An Overview
(contd)
7
Allocate
resources
8
Review/
publicize plan
9
Execute
plan
10
Lower level
planning
to previous slides
from previous slide
Software Project Management 6
Step Wise An Overview
(contd)
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
Software Project Management 7
Step Wise - An Overview
(contd)
Step 5: Estimate effort for each activity
Step 6: Identify activity risks
Step 7: Allocate resources
Step 8: Review/publicize plan
Step 9: Execute plan
Step 10: Execute lower levels of
planning
Software Project Management 8
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
To ensure the unity of purpose among all
persons concerned
Software Project Management 9
Step 1: Identify Project Scope
Objectives (contd)
Step 1.3 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 between all parties
Software Project Management 10
Step 2: Identify Project
Infrastructure
Step 2.1 Identify relationship between
the project and strategic planning
To determine the order of related projects
(in the organization) being carried out
To establish a framework within which the
system fits
To ensure the hardware and software
standards are followed
Software Project Management 11
Step 2: Identify Project
Infrastructure (contd)
Step 2.2 Identify installation standards
and procedures
more appropriate name: Identify
standards and procedures related to the
software project
Step 2.3 Identify project team
organization
Software Project Management 12
Step 3: Analyse Project
Characteristics
Step 3.1 Distinguish the project as either
objective-driven or product-driven
Step 3.2 Analyse other project characteristics
(including quality-based ones)
Step 3.3 Identify high level project risks
Step 3.4 Take into account user requirements
concerning implementation
Software Project Management 13
Step 3: Analyse Project
Characteristics (contd)
Step 3.5 Select general lifecycle approach in
the light of the above
Step 3.6 Review overall resource estimates
Up to this stage,
the major risks of the project are identified
the overall approach of the project is decided
So, it is a good place to re-estimate the required
effort and other resources for the project
Software Project Management 14
Step 4: Identify Project
Products and Activities
Step 4.1 Identify and describe project
products
Identify all the products related to the project
Account for the required activities
Step 4.2 Document generic product flows
To document the relative order of the products
Step 4.3 Recognize product instances
Software Project Management 15
Step 4: Identify Project
Products and Activities(contd)
Step 4.4 Produce an ideal activity network
Activity network shows the tasks that have to be
carried out as well as their sequence of execution
for the creation of a product from another
Step 4.5 Modify the ideal to take into account
need for stages and checkpoints
To check compatibility of products of previous
activities
Software Project Management 16
Step 5: Estimate Effort for
Each Activity
Step 5.1 Carry out bottom-up estimates
need to estimate staff effort, time for each
activity, and other resources
Step 5.2 Revise plan to create
controllable activities
need to break a task into a series of
manageable sub-tasks
Software Project Management 17
Step 6: Identify Activity Risks
Step 6.1 Identify and quantify the risks
of each activity
Step 6.2 Plan risk reduction and
contingency measures where
appropriate
Step 6.3 Adjust overall plans and
estimates to take account of risks
Software Project Management 18
Step 7: Allocate Resources
(Staffing)
Step 7.1 Identify and allocate resources
type of staff needed for each activity
staff availabilities are identified
staff are provisionally allocated to task
Step 7.2 Revise plans and estimates to
take into account resource constraints
staffing constraints
staffing issues
Software Project Management 19
Step 8: Review/publicize Plan
Step 8.1 Review quality aspects of the
project plan
To ensure each activity is completed with a
quality product
Each activity should have exit
requirements.
This ensures the quality of the product on
each activity.
Software Project Management 20
Step 8: Review/publicize Plan
(contd)
Step 8.2 Document plans and obtain
agreement
all parties understand and agree to the
commitments in the plan
Software Project Management 21
Aside When to plan
Planning is an on-going process of
refinement
Planning at different stages of the
project has different emphases and
purposes
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Project Vs Activity
A project is composed of a number of
related activities
A project may start when at least one of
its activities is ready to start
A project will be completed when all of
its activities have been completed
Software Project Management 23
Project Vs Activity (contd)
An activity must have a clear start and
a clear stop
An activity should have a duration that
can be forecasted
Some activities may require that other
activities are completed before they can
begin
Software Project Management 24
Activity Planning
A project plan is a schedule of activities
indicating the start and stop for each activity
Also provide the project and resource schedules
The start and stop of each activity should be
visible and easy to measure
Each activity should have some deliverables
for ease of monitoring
Software Project Management 25
Activity Planning (contd)
During planning, managers consider:
Resource availability
Resource allocation
Staff responsibility
Project Monitoring
Cash flow forecasting
Re-planning of the project towards the pre-
defined goal
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Other Objectives of Activity
Planning
Feasibility assessment
Resource allocation
Detailed costing
Motivation
Co-ordination
Software Project Management 27
Different Levels of Plans
Project Schedule: a plan that shows
1. the dates when each activity should
start and stop
2. when and how much of the resources
will be required
Activity Plan: a plan that describes
how each activity will be undertaken
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Project Schedule in 4 Stages
Ideal Activity Plan
An activity plan without any constraints
Risk consideration for each activity
Resource consideration for whole
project
Schedule production and publication
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Various Approaches Towards
Identifying Activity
Activity-based approach
Product-based approach
Hybrid approach
Software Project Management 30
Activity-based Approach
Use Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
to generate a task list
WBS involves
identifying the main tasks
break each main task down into subtasks
The subtasks can further be broken down
into lower level tasks.
Software Project Management 31
Activity-based Approach
(contd)
Work Breakdown Structure (an extract)
Requirements
Analysis
Data
Design
Process
Design
System
Design
Coding Testing
Software
project
Software Project Management 32
Activity-based Approach
(contd)
Advantages
More likely to obtain a task catalogue that
is complete and is composed of non-
overlapping tasks
WBS represents a structure that can be
refined as the project proceeds
The structure already suggests the
dependencies among the activities
Software Project Management 33
Activity-based Approach
(contd)
Disadvantage
Very likely to miss some activities if an
unstructured activity list is used
Software Project Management 34
Product-based Approach
Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)
To show how a system can be broken
down into different products for
development
Product Flow Diagram (PFD)
To indicate, for each product, which
products are required as inputs
Software Project Management 35
Product-based Approach
(contd)
Advantages
Less likely to miss a product unexpectedly
from a PBS
Software Project Management 36
Product-based Approach An
example
A Product Breakdown Structure (an extract)
Item
Addition
Item
Deletion
Item
Modification
Item
Database
Vendor
Database
Inventory
Databases
Item
Purchasing
Invoicing
subsystem
Sales Order
Processing
Item
Sales
Item
Processing
Item
Reporting
Sales
Reporting
Management
Reporting
Inventory
Control
Software Project Management 37
Hybrid Approach
A mix of the activity-based approach
and the product-based approach
More commonly used approach
The WBS consists of
a list of the products of the project; and
a list of activities for each product
Software Project Management 38
Hybrid Approach (contd)
Analyse requirements
Detailed design
Integrate system
Test system
Deliver system
System Installation
Review requirements
Outline design
Detailed design
Code software
Test software
Software component
Analyse requirements
Design manual
Document manual
Capture screens
Print Manual
User manual
Design course
Write materials
Print course materials
Training
User Training
Software Project
Software Project Management 39
Hybrid Approach (contd)
IBM in its MITP methodology suggests
5 levels
Level 1: Project
Level 2: Deliverables (software, manuals
etc)
Level 3: Components
Level 4: Work-packages
Level 5: Tasks (individual responsibility)
Software Project Management 40
Planning and Scheduling the
Activities
Once we have a project plan (or,
project schedule), we need to schedule
the activities in a project taking into
account the resource constraints
Software Project Management 41
Scheduling Techniques
Simple sequencing
Suitable for small projects
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Suitable for large software projects
The most commonly used networking
technique
Software Project Management 42
Simple sequencing
A simple sequencing of the tasks and
the responsible personnel taken into
account of the resources
Easily presented in a simple bar chart
see figure 6.6 in Hughes book
Suitable for allocating individuals to
particular tasks at an early stage
Software Project Management 43
Critical Path Method (CPM)
Primary objectives:
Planning the project so that it can be
completed as quickly as possible
Identifying those activities where their
delays is likely to affect the overall project
completion date
Developed by Du Pont Chemical
Company and published in 1958
Software Project Management 44
Critical Path Method (contd)
Capture the activities and their inter-
relationships using a graph
Lines are used to represent the activities
Nodes are used to represent the start and
stop of activities
Software Project Management 45
Critical Path Method (contd)
Adding time dimension
The forward pass
calculate the earliest start dates of the activities
To calculate the project completion date
The backward pass
calculate the latest start dates for activities
identify the critical path from the graph
Software Project Management 46
Critical Path Method (contd)
Identifying critical path and critical
event
Critical event: an event that has zero
slack
Critical path: a path joining those
critical events
Software Project Management 47
Example to construct a CPM
Id. Activity Name Duration (weeks) Precedents
A Hardware selection 7
B Software design 4
C Hardware Installation 6 A
D Coding 4 B
E Data Preparation 5 B
F User Documentation 9
G User Training 5 E,F
H System Installation 3 C,D
Software Project Management 48
Example to construct a CPM
(contd)
3
6
7 1
Event Number
Earliest start
date
Latest start
date
Slack
Software Project Management 49
Example to construct a CPM
(contd)
1
0
0 0
2
0
7 7
3
2
6 4
4
0
13 13
5
2
11 9
6
0
16 16
A=7
B=4 D=4
C=6
H=3
F=9 G=5
E=5
Software Project Management 50
Activity Float
Time allowed for an activity to delay
3 different types:
Total float (without affecting the completion of the
project)
= latest start date earliest start date
Free float (without affecting the next activity)
= earliest start date of next activity latest end date
of previous activity
Interfering float (= total float - free float)
Software Project Management 51
Significance of critical path
During planning stage
Shortening the critical path will reduce the
overall project duration
During management stage
Pay more attention to those activities
which fall in the critical path
Software Project Management 52
References
Hughes, B., and Cotterell, M. (1999)
Software Project Management, 2
nd

edition, McGraw-Hill.
Pfleeger, S.L. (1998) Software
Engineering: Theory and Practice,
Prentice Hall.