System Analysis and Design

Chapter 2
Managing IS
Project
 Outline
 Project initiation
 Project planning
 Project execution
 Project closedown
 Schedule project plans
 Gantt chart, network diagram
 Microsoft project: a tool

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 IS project mgmt
 Project management is an important aspect of
the development of information systems and a
critical skill for a systems analyst.
 The focus is to ensure that systems
development projects meet customer
expectations and are delivered within budget
and time constraints.

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 System Service Request(SSR)
 The first deliverable of IS
project
 Consists:
 Requester company, dept
name, date, location, address
 Type and urgency of request
 Short problem statement
 Service request statement
 Sponsor
 Request approval/rejection
 Assigned to
 Starting date
 Signatures
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Project manager Activities/Skills

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 Project management process
 Consists 4 core processes
 Initiating the project
 Planning the project
 Executing the project
 Closing down the project

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 1. Initiating
 Project manager performs several activities to
assess the size, scope, and complexity of the
project and to establish procedures to support
subsequent activities.

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 1. Initiating…
 Establishing the project initiation team
 Organizing an initial core of project team members
to assist in accomplishing the project initiation
activities
 Establishing a relationship with the customer
 A thorough understanding of your customer builds
stronger partnerships and higher levels of trust
 Establishing the project initiation plan
 Define the activities required to organize the
initiation team while it is working 8
 1. Initiating…
 Establishing management procedures
 Develop effective management procedures:
Job assignment, reporting, change, funding, comm
 Establishing the environment and workbook
 A repository of all project-related documents that
is accessible by all team members
 Developing the project charter
 Short (a page), high-level document prepared for
the customer that describes what the project will
deliver and outlines the key elements of the project9
 Elements of project charter
 Project title and date of authorization
 Project manager name and contact information
 Customer name and contact information
 Projected start and completion dates
 Key stakeholders, project role, and
responsibilities
 Project objectives and description
 Key assumptions or approach
 Signature section for key stakeholders 10
 2. Planning
 Process of defining clear, discrete activities
and the work needed to complete each activity
within a single project.
 Two common plans
 Short-term plan – a detailed plan of activities that
should be done earliest
 Long-term plan – a general and scope-related plans
that undergo in far future

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 Planning activities…
1. Describing Scope, Alternatives, and
Feasibility
 Understand the content and complexity of the
project.
 agreement on the following questions:
 What problem or opportunity does the project address?
 What are the quantifiable results to be achieved?
 What needs to be done?
 How will success be measured?
 How will we know when we are finished?
2. Dividing the Project into Manageable Tasks
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 Design the work breakdown structure
 Planning activities…
 Dividing the project into manageable tasks
 “Task” is the process of creating a deliverable
 Characteristics of a “task”:
 can be done by one person or a well-defined
group,
 has a single and identifiable deliverable ,
 has a known method or technique,
 has well-accepted predecessor and successor steps,
 is measurable so that the percentage completed can
be determined.
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 Planning activities…
3. Estimating Resources, Creating Resource Plan
 estimate resource requirements for each project
activity and to use this information to create a
project resource plan
 COCOMO - an automated software estimation
model that uses historical project data and current
as well as future project characteristics to estimate
project costs.
4. Developing a Preliminary Schedule
 assign time estimates to each activity in the work
breakdown structure based on tasks and resource
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availability
 Planning activities…
5. Developing a Communication Plan
 outline the communication procedures among
management, project team members, and the
customer. E.g.: project communication matrix
6. Determining Project Standards and Procedures
 specify how various deliverables are produced and
tested by you and your project team.
7. Identifying and Assessing Risk
 identify sources of risk and estimate the consequence
 use of new technology, prospective users’ resistance to
change, availability of critical resources,
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 Planning activities…
8. Creating a Preliminary Budget
 outline the planned expenses and revenues
associated with your project.
E.g. cost-benefit analysis
9. Developing a Project Scope Statement
 outline work that will be done and clearly
describes what the project will deliver.
10. Setting a Baseline Project Plan
 provides an estimate of the project’s tasks and
resource requirements and is used to guide the next
project phase—execution. Updatable regularly 16
 3. Executing the project
 3rd phase in which plan is put into action
 Consists of 5 key activities:
1. Executing the Baseline Project Plan
2. Monitoring Project Progress against the Baseline
Project Plan
3. Managing Changes to the Baseline Project Plan
4. Maintaining the Project Workbook
5. Communicating the Project Status

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 4. Closing down project
 Projects can conclude with a natural
termination – when all the requirements have
been met – or unnatural termination – when
the project is stopped before completion
 3 common activities are carried out
 Closing down the project
 Conducting post-project reviews
 final reviews of the project should be conducted with
management and customers
 Closing the customer contractual agreement 18
Estimating expected time duration
 PERT (Program Evaluation Review
Technique) A technique that uses optimistic,
pessimistic, and realistic time estimates to
calculate the expected time of tasks.
 Expected Time value is used to predict task
time
ET = ( o + 4 * r + p ) / 6
 where ET = expected time for the completion for an activity
 o = optimistic (minimum) completion time for an activity
 r = realistic completion time for an activity
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 p = pessimistic(maximum) completion time for an activity
Representing & Scheduling plans

Gantt chart

Network
diagram
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