AIITL

IT Project Management

Module II

Software Project Planning and Management

Dr. Archana Sahai

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Project Management AIITL

Applications

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Project Life Cycle AIITL

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Network Planning Techniques AIITL

• Program Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT):

– Developed to manage the Polaris missile project
– Many tasks pushed the boundaries of science &
engineering (tasks’ duration = probabilistic)

• Critical Path Method (CPM):

– Developed to coordinate maintenance projects in the
chemical industry
– A complex undertaking, but individual tasks are
routine (tasks’ duration = deterministic)

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Both PERT and CPM AIITL

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 Network Diagrams AIITL

• Activity-on-Node (AON):
– Uses nodes to represent the activity
– Uses arrows to represent precedence relationships
 Step 1-Define the Project: Cables By Us is bringing a new
product on line to be manufactured in their current facility in existing
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space. The owners have identified 11 activities and their
precedence relationships. Develop an AON for the project.

Immediate Duration
Activity Description
Predecessor (weeks)
A Develop product specifications None 4
B Design manufacturing process A 6
C Source & purchase materials A 3
D Source & purchase tooling & equipment B 6
E Receive & install tooling & equipment D 14
F Receive materials C 5
G Pilot production run E&F 2
H Evaluate product design G 2
I Evaluate process performance G 3
J Write documentation report H&I 4
K Transition to manufacturing J 2
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Step 2- Diagram the Network for AIITL

Cables By Us

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Step 3 (a)- Add Deterministic Time AIITL

Estimates and Connected Paths

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 Step 3 (a) (Con’t): Calculate the
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Project Completion Times

Paths Path duration
ABDEGHJK 40
• The
ABDEGIJK
longest path (ABDEGIJK) 41 limits the
project’s
ACFGHJKduration (project cannot
22 finish in
lessACFGIJK
time than its longest path)
23
• ABDEGIJK is the project’s critical path
 Some Network Definitions AIITL

• All activities on the critical path have zero slack

• Slack defines how long non-critical activities can be
delayed without delaying the project
• Slack = the activity’s late finish minus its early finish (or
its late start minus its early start)
• Earliest Start (ES) = the earliest finish of the immediately
preceding activity
• Earliest Finish (EF) = is the ES plus the activity time
• Latest Start (LS) and Latest Finish (LF) = the latest an
activity can start (LS) or finish (LF) without delaying the
project completion

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ES, EF Network AIITL

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LS, LF Network AIITL

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 Calculating Slack AIITL

Late Early Slack

Activity
Finish Finish (weeks)
A 4 4 0
B 10 10 0
C 25 7 18
D 16 16 0
E 30 30 0
F 30 12 18
G 32 32 0
H 35 34 1
I 35 35 0
J 39 39 0
K 41 41 0
 Revisiting Cables By Us Using AIITL

Probabilistic Time Estimates

Optimistic Most likely Pessimistic
Activity Description
time time time
A Develop product specifications 2 4 6
B Design manufacturing process 3 7 10
C Source & purchase materials 2 3 5
D Source & purchase tooling & equipment 4 7 9
E Receive & install tooling & equipment 12 16 20
F Receive materials 2 5 8
G Pilot production run 2 2 2
H Evaluate product design 2 3 4
I Evaluate process performance 2 3 5
J Write documentation report 2 4 6
K Transition to manufacturing © Wiley 20102 2 2
 Using Beta Probability Distribution to Calculate
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Expected Time Durations

• A typical beta distribution is shown below, note that it

has definite end points
• The expected time for finishing each activity is a
weighted average

optimistic  4most likely  pessimisti c

Exp. time 
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 Calculating Expected Task Times AIITL

optimistic  4most likely   pessimisti c

Expected time 
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Optimistic Most likely Pessimistic Expected
Activity
time time time time
A 2 4 6 4
B 3 7 10 6.83
C 2 3 5 3.17
D 4 7 9 6.83
E 12 16 20 16
F 2 5 8 5
G 2 2 2 2
H 2 3 4 3
I 2 3 5 3.17
J 2 4 6 4
K 2 2 © Wiley 2010 2 2
 Network Diagram with AIITL

Expected Activity Times

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 Estimated Path Durations throughAIITL
the Network

Activities on paths Expected duration

ABDEGHJK 44.66
ABDEGIJK 44.83
ACFGHJK 23.17
ACFGIJK 23.34
• ABDEGIJK is the expected critical path &
the project has an expected duration of
44.83 weeks
Adding ES and EF to Network AIITL

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 Gantt Chart Showing Each Activity AIITL

Finished at the Earliest Possible Start

Date

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Adding LS and LF to Network AIITL

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Gantt Chart Showing the Latest Possible AIITL

Start Times if the Project Is to Be

Completed in 44.83 Weeks

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 Estimating the Probability ofAIITL
Completion Dates
• Using probabilistic time estimates offers the advantage of predicting
the probability of project completion dates
• We have already calculated the expected time for each activity by
making three time estimates
• Now we need to calculate the variance for each activity
• The variance of the beta probability distribution is:

2
2 p o
σ  
 6 
– where p=pessimistic activity time estimate
o=optimistic activity time estimate
 Project Activity Variance AIITL

Activity Optimistic Most Pessimisti Variance

Likely c
A 2 4 6 0.44
B 3 7 10 1.36
C 2 3 5 0.25
D 4 7 9 0.69
E 12 16 20 1.78
F 2 5 8 1.00
G 2 2 2 0.00
H 2 3 4 0.11
I 2 3 5 0.25
J 2 4 6 0.44
K 2 2 2 0.00
Variances of Each Path through
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the Network
Path Activities on Path Variance
Number Path (weeks)
1 A,B,D,E,G,H,J, 4.82
k
2 A,B,D,E,G,I,J,K 4.96

3 A,C,F,G,H,J,K 2.24

4 A,C,F,G,I,J,K 2.38
Reducing Project Completion AIITL
Time

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Reducing Project Completion AIITL
Time – con’t

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 Reducing the Time of a Project (crashing)
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Activit Normal Normal Crash Crash Max. Reduce

y Time Cost ($) Time Cost weeks of cost per
(wk) ($) reduction week
A 4 8,000 3 11,000 1 3,000
B 6 30,000 5 35,000 1 5,000
C 3 6,000 3 6,000 0 0
D 6 24,000 4 28,000 2 2,000
E 14 60,000 12 72,000 2 6,000
F 5 5,000 4 6,500 1 1500
G 2 6,000 2 6,000 0 0
H 2 4,000 2 4,000 0 0
I 3 4,000 2 5,000 1 1,000
J 4 4,000 2 6,400 2 1,200
K 2 5,000 2 5,000 0 0
 Crashing Example: Suppose the Cables By UsAIITL
project manager wants to reduce the new
product project from 41 to 36 weeks.
• Crashing Costs are considered to be linear
• Look to crash activities on the critical path
• Crash the least expensive activities on the critical path
first (based on cost per week)
– Crash activity I from 3 weeks to 2 weeks $1000
– Crash activity J from 4 weeks to 2 weeks $2400
– Crash activity D from 6 weeks to 4 weeks $4000
– Recommend Crash Cost $7400

• Question: Will crashing 5 weeks return more in

benefits than it costs?

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Crashed Network Diagram AIITL
 The Critical Chain ApproachAIITL

• The Critical Chain Approach focuses on project due dates rather than on
individual activities and the following realities:
– Project time estimates are uncertain so we add safety time
– Multi-levels of organization may add additional time to be “safe”
– Individual activity buffers may be wasted on lower-priority activities
– A better approach is to place the project safety buffer at the end

Original critical path

Activity A Activity B Activity C Activity D Activity E

Critical path with project buffer

Activity Activity Activity C Activity Activity Project Buffer
A B D E
 Adding Feeder Buffers to Critical Chains
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• The theory of constraints, the basis for critical chains, focuses on

keeping bottlenecks busy.
• Time buffers can be put between bottlenecks in the critical path
• These feeder buffers protect the critical path from delays in non-critical
paths
Project Management within AIITL

OM: How it all fits together

• Project management techniques provide a structure
for the project manager to track the progress of
different activities required to complete the project.
Particular concern is given to critical path (the longest
connected path through the project network)
activities.
• Any delay to a critical path activity affects the project
completion time. These techniques indicate the
expected completion time and cost of a project. The
project manager reviews this information to ensure
that adequate resources exist and that the expected
completion time is reasonable.

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Project Management OM AIITL

Across the Organization

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 Highlights AIITL

• A project is a unique, one time event of some duration that

consumes resources and is designed to achieve an
objective in a given time period.
• Each project goes through a five-phase life cycle: concept,
feasibility study, planning, execution, and termination.
• Two network planning techniques are PERT and CPM.
Pert uses probabilistic time estimates. CPM uses
deterministic time estimates.
• Pert and CPM determine the critical path of the project and
the estimated completion time. On large projects, software
programs are available to identify the critical path.
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 Highlights con’t AIITL

• Pert uses probabilistic time estimates to determine the

probability that a project will be done by a specific time.
• To reduce the length of the project (crashing), we need
to know the critical path of the project and the cost of
reducing individual activity times. Crashing activities that
are not on the critical path typically do not reduce project
completion time.
• The critical chain approach removes excess safety time
from individual activities and creates a project buffer at
the end of the critical path.

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HAPPY LEARNING!!

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