Software Project Management

Introduction to Project Management

 Software Project Management

Introduction to Project Management

Roadmap

• Interest in project management

• Track record of IT projects
• Advantages of project management
• Project
• Project constraints
• Project management
• Project management framework
• Improving the track record of IT projects
• Project success criteria
• Programs
• Project management software
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Interest in project management

• There seems to be new or renewed interest in project management. We need to

determine the forces behind the new or renewed interest.

• Project management has emerged and expanded because the characteristics of

our turn-of-the-century society demands the development of new methods of
management. Many forces have fostered the emergence and expansion of project
management, including the following major ones:
1. Exponential expansion of human knowledge e.g. more than 16 million people
regard project management as their profession; the number of people earning
their Project Management Professional (PMP) certification continues to
increase.
2. Growing demand for a broad range of complex, sophisticated, customized
goods and services e.g. total global spending on technology goods, services,
and staff was projected to reach $2.4 trillion in 2008, an 8% increase from
2007; narrow product launch windows.
3. Evolution of global competitive markets for the production and consumption of
goods and services. ICT infrastructure, S/W, and the use of interdisciplinary
and global work teams have radically changed the work environment.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Track record of IT projects

In 1995, the Standish Group published a study entitled “CHAOS”. The study found that:
•Only 16.2% of IT projects in US were successful in meeting project goals on time and
on budget.
•Over 31% of IT projects in US were canceled before completion (costing companies
and government agencies over US$ 81 billion).

In 2004, PricewaterhouseCoopers did a study of 200 companies from 30 different

countries about their project management maturity. The study found that:
•Over 50% of all projects fail.
•Only 2.5% of corporations consistently meet their targets for scope, time, and cost
goals for all types of project.

The above findings do emphasize the need to incorporate formal project management
especially in the IT industry.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Advantages of project management

• Better control of financial, physical, and human resources

• Improved customer relationships
• Shorter development time
• Lower costs
• Higher quality and increased reliability
• Higher profit margins
• Improved productivity
• Better internal coordination
• Higher worker morale (confidence, cheerfulness, emotion, willing to succeed)
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project

What is a project?
•A temporary endeavor(i.e., effort) undertaken to create a unique product, service, or
result (PMBOK Guide).
•A unique venture with a beginning and an end, conducted by people to meet
established goals within parameters of cost, schedule and quality.
Projects end when their objectives have been reached or the project has been
terminated.
Projects can be large or small, and can take a short or long time to complete.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Attributes of a project

There are several attributes that are unique about a project, including:
• Unique purpose
• Temporary (definite start and end dates; one-time ‘process’)
• Developed using progressive elaboration
• Requires resources, often from various areas (and is limited by cost, schedule,
and resources)
• Should have a primary customer or sponsor: project sponsor usually provides the
direction and funding for the project; customer-focused
• Involves uncertainty

Question: What is an IT project, and how is it different from traditional projects?

Examples of IT projects:
A small software development team adds a new feature to an internal software
application for the finance department.
A college campus upgrades its infrastructure to provide campus-wide wireless Internet
access.
A company decides what VoIP system to purchase and how it will be implemented.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project constraints

Projects are constrained by scope, time, and cost.

These limitations are sometimes referred to in PM as the triple constraint.
• Scope: What work will be done as part of the project? What unique product,
service, or result does the customer or sponsor expect from the project?
• Time: How long should it take to complete the project? What is the project’s
schedule?
• Cost: What should it cost to complete the project? What is the project’s budget?
What resources are needed?

The project manager must consider scope, time, and cost and balance these three
often-competing constraints.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project constraints (contd.)

Other people focus on the quaduple constraint, which includes quality.

•Quality: How good does the quality of the products or services need to be? What do
we need to do to satisfy the customer?

Some people suggest the four constraints plus risk.

•Risk: How much uncertainty are we willing to accept on the project?

Note: Project managers must not only strive to meet specific scope, time, cost, risk, and
quality requirements of projects, they must also facilitate the entire process to meet the
needs and expectations of the people involved in or affected by project activities.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to

project activities to meet project requirements.

Recall that project managers must not only strive to meet specific scope, time, cost,
risk, and quality requirements of projects, they must also facilitate the entire process to
meet the needs and expectations of the people involved in or affected by project
activities.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project management framework

 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project management framework (contd.)

Stakeholders
These are the people involved in or affected by project activities. They include :
•Project sponsor
•Project manager
•Project team
•Support staff
•Customers
•Users
•Suppliers
•Opponents to the project

Question: Who are customers and users?

Stakeholders’ needs and expectations are important in the beginning and throughout
the life of a project. Successful project managers develop good relationships with
project stakeholders to understand and meet their needs and expectations.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project management framework (contd.)

9 Project Management Knowledge Areas

The knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. They are defined below:
•Project scope management involves working with all appropriate stakeholders to
define, gain written agreement for, and manage all the work required to complete the
project successfully.
•Project time management includes estimating how long it will take to complete the
work, developing an acceptable project schedule given cost effective use of available
resources and ensuring timely completion of the project.
•Project cost management consists of preparing and managing the budget for the
project.
•Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied
needs for which it was undertaken.
•Project human resource management is concerned with making effective use of the
people involved with the project.
•Project communications management involves generating, collecting, disseminating,
and storing project information.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project management framework (contd.)

9 Project Management Knowledge Areas (contd.)

•Project risk management includes identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks
related to the project.
•Project procurement management involves acquiring or procuring goods and services
for a project from outside the performing organization.
•Project integration management is an overarching function that coordinates the work of
all other knowledge areas. It affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project management framework (contd.)

Project Management Tools and Techniques

They assist project managers and their teams in various aspects of project
management. Some specific ones include:
•Scope statement, WBS, etc (scope)
•Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, etc (time)
•Cost estimates, earned value, etc (cost)
•Etc
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Improving the track record of IT projects

A follow-up study by the Standish Group regarding the “CHAOS” study showed some
improvements in IT projects in the US:
•The number of successful projects has doubled, from 16% in 1994 to 32% in 2008.
•The number of failed projects decreased from 31% in 1994 to 24% in 2008.

The study describes what factors contribute most to the success of IT projects
•Executive support
•User involvement
•Experienced project manager
•Clear business objectives
•Minimized scope
•Standard software infrastructure
•Firm basic requirements
•Formal methodology
•Reliable estimates
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project success criteria

There are several ways to define project success:

•The project met scope, time, and cost goals.
•The project satisfied the customer or sponsor.
•The results of the project met its main objectives, such as making or saving a certain
amount of money, providing a good return on investment.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Programs

In the context of project management, a program is a group of related projects

managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from
managing them individually.

Examples of programs:
•An IT company may have three programs such as system development, ICT
infrastructure, and ICT research, such that the programs handle system development
projects, ICT infrastructure projects, and ICT research projects respectively.
•A clothing firm may have a program to analyze customer-buying patterns. Projects
under this program might include one to send out and analyze electronic surveys, one
to conduct several focus groups in different geographic locations with different types of
buyers, and a project to develop an information system to help collect and analyze
current customers’ buying patterns.
•A construction firm may have programs for building single-family homes, apartment
buildings, and office buildings.
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

Project management software

There are hundreds of different software products for supporting project management.

The choice could depend on factors such as: the size of the project, number of projects
to be supported by the product, number of project team members who will need to use
the product, whether the project team members and are dispersed and will require
collaboration, enterprise requirements (e.g. integration with other parts of the
enterprise), etc.

Examples: Microsoft Project, Microsoft Enterprise Project Management, ApolloHQ, etc.

Free and open-source project management tools include:

•OpenProj (www.openproj.org)
•Zoho Project (www.projects.zoho.com)
•Open Workbench (www.openworkbench.org)
•Freedcamp (freedcamp.com)
•dotProject (www.dotproject.net)
•TaskJuggler (www.taskjuggler.org)
•etc
 SPM
Introduction to Project Management

AOB

Any Questions?