Software Project Management

Bob Hughes and Mike Cotterell: Book 1

Unit – 1
Page Nos: 1-36

Dr.A.P.Sastri
 Project
• A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a
unique product or service
Some dictionary definitions:
“A specific plan or design”
“A planned undertaking”
“A large undertaking e.g. a public works
scheme”
 Characteristics of a Project
• Non-routine tasks are involved
• Planning is required
• Specific objectives are to be met or specified product
is to be created
• Pre-determined time span
• Work is carried out for someone other than yourself
• Work involves several specialisms
• Work is carried out in several phases
• Resources that are available are constrained
• Project is large or complex
 Project Parameters
• Scope
– What is included
– What is NOT included
• Quality
– Product
– Process
– People
• Cost
– Project cost
– Customer budget
• Time
• Resources
– People
– Equipment
– Physical facilities
 Software Projects Vs
Other Engineering Projects
• 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:
– Software project has the characteristics of changing its code at any time
and can produce the expected result.
– 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.
 Management
• 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.
 Management Activities
• Planning – deciding what is to be done
• Organizing – making arrangements
• Staffing – selecting the right people for the job
• Directing – giving instructions
• Monitoring – checking on progress
• Controlling – taking action to remedy hold-ups
• Innovating – coming up with solutions when problems
emerge
• Representing – liaising with clients, users, developers
and other stakeholders
 Activities covered by project management
• Feasibility Study
– Is project technically feasible and worthwhile from a business point of
view?
– investigation to decide whether a prospective project is worth starting
• Planning
– Only done if project is feasible
– in short in defined as “deciding what is to be done”.
– However, for a large project, we would not do all our detailed planning
right at the beginning.
– More detailed planning of the later stages would be done as they
approached.
• Project Execution
– Implement plan, but plan may be changed as we go along.
– This is the final stage of project, which meant to put the built system to
work or operate under suitable environment
– The execution of a project often contains design and implementation sub-
phases.
Activities covered by project management
(Continued)

Different stages of project life cycle

 Activities covered by project management
(Continued)
• Requirements Analysis
– Defined as finding out in detail what the users require of the system that the project is to
implement.
• Specification
– Detailed documentation of what the proposed system is to do
• Design
– Diagrammatic representation of project which we going to do.
• Coding
– Programming lines are termed as coding, which develops software and the system.
• Verification and Validation
– Verification of process is done during the development stage. It is meant for correctness.
– Validation of process is done after the development of system.
• Implementation/Installation
– The process of making the system operational
– Includes setting up standing data, setting system parameters, installing on operational
hardware platforms, user training etc
• Maintenance and Support
– Including maintenance and enhancement
 Stakeholders
• The people involved in or affected by the project actives:
• Internal to project team:
– Under the direct managerial control of the project leader.
• Outside the project team, but within the same
organization:
– Project leader might need the assistance of the information
management group in order to add some additional data types
to a database or the assistance of the users to carry out systems
testing.
• Outside both the projects team and the organization:
– Customers (or users) who will benefit from the system that the
project implements or contractors who will carry out work for
the project.
 Problems with Software Projects
• Stakeholders Identified the following
commonly experienced problems:
– Poor estimates and plans
– Lack of quality standards and measures
– Lack of guidance about making organizational
decisions
– Lack of techniques to make progress visible
– Poor role definition – who does what?
– Incorrect success criteria
 Problems with Software Projects
(Continued)
• List of the problems identified by a number of
Computing and Information Systems degree students
who had just completed a year’s industrial
placement:
– Inadequate specification of work
– Management ignorance of IT
– Lack of knowledge of application area
– Lack of standards
– Lack of up-to-date documentation
– Preceding activities not completed on time – including late
delivery of equipment
 Problems with Software Projects
(Continued)
– Lack of communication between users and technicians
– Lack of communication leading to duplication of work
– lack of commitment – especially when a project is tied
to one person who then moves
– narrow scope of technical expertise
– changing statutory requirements
– changing software environment
– deadline pressure
– lack of quality control
– remote management
– lack of training
 Objectives Vs Goals
• What do we have to do to have a success?
• Need for a project authority
– Sets the project scope
– Allocates/approves costs
• Could be one person -or a group
– Project Board
– Project Management Board
– Steering committee
 Objectives Vs Goals (Continued)
• Objectives:
– Informally, the objective of a project can be
defined by completing the statement:
The project will be regarded as a success
if......................................
– Rather like post-conditions for the project focus
on what will be put in place, rather than how
activities will be carried out
 Objectives Vs Goals (Continued)
• Objectives should be SMART
• S–Specific, that is, concrete and well-defined
• M–Measurable, that is, satisfaction of the
objective can be objectively judged
• A–Achievable, that is,it is within the power of the
individual or group concerned to meet the target
• R–Relevant, the objective must be relevant to the
true purpose of the project
• T–Time constrained: there is defined point in
time by which the objective should be achieved
 Objectives Vs Goals (Continued)
• Goals/sub-objectives:
– These are steps along the way to achieve the
objective.
– Informally, these can be defined by completing the
sentence...

Objective X will be achieved If the following goals are

all achieved
A...............
B...............
C............... etc.
 Objectives Vs Goals (Continued)
• Often a goal can be allocated to an individual.
• Individual may have the capability of achieving
goal, but not the objective on their own
e.g.
Objective–user satisfaction with software
product
Analyst goal–accurate requirements
Developer goal–software that is reliable
 Objectives Vs Goals (Continued)
• Measure of effectiveness
• How do we know that the goal or objective
has been achieved?
– By a practical test, that can be objectively
assessed. e.g. for user satisfaction with software
product:
– Repeat business –they buy further products from
us
– Number of complaints –if low etc etc
Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
 Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
• Step 0 : Select project
• Step 1 :Identify projects scope and objectives
• Step 2 : Identify project infrastructure
• Step 3 :Analyse project characteristics
• Step 4 :Identify project products and activities
• Step 5 :Estimate effort for each activity
• Step 6 :Identify activity risks
• Step 7 :Allocate resources
• Step 8 :Review/publicize
• Step 9 :Execute plan
• Step 10 :Lower levels of planning
 Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
• Step 0 : Select project
– This is called step 0 because in a way of project planning ,
it is out side the main project planning process. Feasibility
study suggests us that the project is worthwhile or not.
• Step 1 : Identify project scope and objectives
– The activities in this step ensure that all parties to the
project agree on the objectives and are committed to the
success of the project.
• Step 1.1 : Identify objectives and practical measures of the
effectiveness in meeting those objectives
• Step 1.2 : Establish project authority
• Step 1.3 : Stakeholders analysis – Identify all stakeholders in the
project and their interest.
• Step 1.4 : Modify objectives in the light of stakeholder anaylsis.
• Step 1.5 : Establish method of communication
 Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
• Step 2 : Identify project infrastructure
– Projects are rarely carried out in a vacuum.
– There is usually some kind of infrastructure into
which the project must fit.
• Step 2.1: Identify relationship between the project and
strategic planning
• Step 2.2 : Identify installation standards and
procedures.
• Step 2.3 : Identify project team organization.
 Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
• Step 3 : Analyze project characteristics.
– Ensure that the appropriate methods are used for the
project.
• Step 3.1 : Distinguish the project as either objective- product
driven
• Step 3.2 : Analyze other project characteristics ( including
quality –based ones)
• Step 3.3 : Identify high level project risks
• Step 3.4 : Take into account user requirement concerning
implementation.
• Step 3.5 : Select development methodology and life cycle
approach.
• Step 3.5 : Review overall resources estimates
 Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
• Step 4 : Identify project products and activities
– The more detailed planning of the individual activities
takes place.
– The longer term planning is broad and in outline,
while the more immediate tasks are planned in some
detail.
• Step 4.1: Identify and describes project products ( or
deliverables )
• Step 4.2 : Document generic product flows
• Step 4.3 : Record product instance
• Step 4.4 : produce ideal activity network
• Step 4.5 : Modify the ideal to take into account need for
stages and checkpoints.
 Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
• Step 5: Estimate effort for each activity.
– Step 5.1: Carry out bottom-up estimates
– Step 5.2: Revise plan to create controllable activities.
• Step 6 : Identify activity risks.
– Step 6.1 : Identify and quantify activity based risks
– Step 6.2 : Plan risk reduction and contingency
measures where appropriate
– Step 6.3 : Adjust overall plans and estimates to take
account of the risks
 Project Planning: Step-wise planning
activities (Continued)
• 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 plan
– Step 8.1 : Review quality aspects of the project plan.
– Step 8.2 : Document plans and obtain agreement.
• Step 9 & 10 : Execute plan / lower level of planning
– Once the project is underway, plans will need to be drawn up in
greater detail for each activity as it becomes due.
– Detailed and lower level of planning of the the later stages will
need to be delayed because more information will be available
nearer the start of the stage.
• Project planning is an iterative process. As the time
approaches for the particular activities to be carried out
they should be re-planned in more detail.
Question Bank
 References
• Software Project Management, 3rd Edition,
Bob Hughes and Mike Cotterell, McGraw Hill,
2002 – Chapter 1 and Chapter 2