Project Management

Nitin V Pujari B.E– CS - Software Engineering – Project Management Slide 1

Project management

Organising, planning and scheduling software projects


Objectives

To introduce software project management and to describe its distinctive characteristicsTo discuss project planning and the planning processTo show how graphical schedule representations are used by project managementTo discuss the notion of risks and the risk management process


Topics covered

Management activitiesProject planningProject schedulingRisk management


Concerned with activities involved in ensuring that software is delivered on time and on schedule and in accordance with the requirements of the organisations developing and procuring the softwareProject management is needed because software development is always subject to budget and schedule constraints that are set by the organisation developing the software

Software project management


The product is intangibleThe product is uniquely flexibleSoftware engineering is not recognized as an engineering discipline with the same status as mechanical, electrical engineering, etc.The software development process is not standardisedMany software projects are 'one-off' projects

Software management distinctions


Proposal writing includes Feasibility, Project costing, Overall requirements (Internal and External), terms and conditions

Resource requirements also include Personnel selection

Project planning and scheduling

Project monitoring and reviews also including Personnel and Process evaluation

Report writing and presentations

Management activities


These activities are not peculiar to software managementMany techniques of engineering project management are equally applicable to software project managementTechnically complex engineering systems tend to suffer from the same problems as software systems

Management commonalities


Project staffing

May not be possible to appoint the ideal people to work on a project• Project budget may not allow for the use of highly-

paid staff• Staff with the appropriate experience may not be

available• An organisation may wish to develop employee skills

on a software projectManagers have to work within these constraints especially when (as is currently the case) there is an international shortage of skilled IT staff


Project planning

Probably the most time-consuming project management activityContinuous activity from initial concept through to system delivery. Plans must be regularly revised as new information becomes availableVarious different types of plan may be developed to support the main software project plan that is concerned with schedule and budget


Types of project plan

Plan DescriptionQuality plan Describes the quality procedures and

standards that will be used in a project.Validation plan Describes the approach, resources and

schedule used for system validation. Configurationmanagement plan

Describes the configuration managementprocedures and structures to be used.

Maintenance plan Predicts the maintenance requirements ofthe system, maintenance costs and effortrequired.

Staff development plan. Describes how the skills and experience ofthe project team members will bedeveloped.


Project planning process

Establish the project constraints Make initial assessments of the project parameters Define project milestones and deliverableswhile project has not been completed or cancelled loop

Draw up project scheduleInitiate activities according to schedule

Wait ( for a while ) Review project progress Revise estimates of project parameters Update the project schedule Re-negotiate project constraints and deliverables if ( problems arise ) then Initiate technical review and possible revision end ifend loop


Project plan structure

IntroductionProject organisationRisk analysisHardware and software resource requirementsWork breakdownProject scheduleMonitoring and reporting mechanisms


Activity organization

Activities in a project should be organised to produce tangible outputs for management to judge progressMilestones are the end-point of a process activityDeliverables are project results delivered to customersThe waterfall process allows for the straightforward definition of progress milestones


Milestones in the RE process

Evaluationreport

Prototypedevelopment

Requirementsdefinition

Requirementsanalysis

Feasibilityreport

Feasibilitystudy

Architecturaldesign

Designstudy

Requirementsspecification

Requirementsspecification

ACTIVITIES

MILESTONES


Project scheduling

Split project into tasks and estimate time and resources required to complete each taskOrganize tasks concurrently to make optimal use of workforceMinimize task dependencies to avoid delays caused by one task waiting for another to completeDependent on project managers intuition and experience


The project scheduling process

Estimate resourcesfor activities

Identify activitydependencies

Identifyactivities

Allocate peopleto activities

Create projectcharts

Softwarerequirements

Activity chartsand bar charts


Scheduling problems

Estimating the difficulty of problems and hence the cost of developing a solution is hardProductivity is not proportional to the number of people working on a taskAdding people to a late project makes it later because of communication overheadsThe unexpected always happens. Always allow contingency in planning


Bar charts and activity networks

Graphical notations used to illustrate the project scheduleShow project breakdown into tasks. Tasks should not be too small. They should take about a week or twoActivity charts show task dependencies and the the critical pathBar charts show schedule against calendar time


Task durations and dependenciesTask Duration (days) Dependencies

T1 8T2 15T3 15 T1 (M1)T4 10T5 10 T2, T4 (M2)T6 5 T1, T2 (M3)T7 20 T1 (M1)T8 25 T4 (M5)T9 15 T3, T6 (M4)

T10 15 T5, T7 (M7)T11 7 T9 (M6)T12 10 T11 (M8)


Activity network

start

T2

M3T6

Finish

T10

M7T5

T7

M2T4

M5

T8

4/7/99

8 days

14/7/99 15 days

4/8/99

15 days

25/8/99

7 days

5/9/99

10 days

19/9/99

15 days

11/8/99

25 days

10 days

20 days

5 days25/7/99

15 days

25/7/99

18/7/99

10 days

T1

M1 T3T9

M6

T11

M8

T12

M4


Activity timeline4/7 11/7 18/7 25/7 1/8 8/8 15/8 22/8 29/8 5/9 12/9 19/9

T4

T1T2

M1

T7T3

M5

T8

M3

M2

T6

T5

M4

T9

M7

T10

M6

T11M8

T12

Start

Finish


Staff allocation4/7 11/7 18/7 25/ 1/8 8/8 15/8 22/8 29/8 5/9 12/9 19/9

T4

T8 T11

T12

T1

T3

T9

T2

T6 T10

T7

T5

Fred

Jane

Anne

Mary

Jim


Risk management

Risk management is concerned with identifying risks and drawing up plans to minimise their effect on a project.A risk is a probability that some adverse circumstance will occur. • Project risks affect schedule or resources• Product risks affect the quality or performance of the

software being developed• Business risks affect the organisation developing or

procuring the software


Software risksRisk Risk t ype DescriptionStaff turnover Project Experienced staff w ill leave the

projec t before i t is finished.Management change Project There will be a c hange of

organisational management withdifferent priorities.

Hardw are unavailability Project Hardw are which is essential for theprojec t w ill not be delivered onschedule.

Requirements change Project andproduct

There will be a larger numb er ofchanges to the requirements thananticipate d.

Specification delays Project andproduct

Specifications of essential interfacesare not available on schedule

Size underestimate Project andproduct

The size of the system has beenunderestimated.

CAS E t ool under-performance

Product CASE t ools w hich support theprojec t do not perform as anticipated

Tec hnology change Business The underlying technology on whichthe sys tem is b uilt is su perseded bynew tec hnology.

Product co mpetition Business A competitive product is marketedbefore the sys tem is com plete d.


The risk management process

Risk identification• Identify project, product and business risks

Risk analysis• Assess the likelihood and consequences of these

risksRisk planning• Draw up plans to avoid or minimise the effects of the

riskRisk monitoring• Monitor the risks throughout the project


The risk management process

Risk avoidanceand contingency

plans

Risk planning

Prioritised risklist

Risk analysis

List of potentialrisks

Riskidentification

Riskassessment

Riskmonitoring


Risk identification

Technology risksPeople risksOrganisational risksRequirements risksEstimation risks


Risks and risk typesRisk type Poss ible risksTechno logy The da tabase used in the system canno t proce ss as many

transa ctions per se cond as exp ected.Software co mponen ts wh ich shou ld be reused cont ain de fectswh ich limit their fun ction ality.

Peop le It is im pos sible to recruit staff with the skills required .Key staff are ill and unava ilable at criti cal times.Requi red training for staff is not av ailable.

Organ isationa l The o rgan isation is restructured so that different manag ementare respons ible for the project.Organ isationa l f inancial problems force reduc tions in the pro jectbudge t.

Tool s The cod e gen erated by CASE tools is inefficient.CA SE tools canno t be integrated.

Requi rements Changes to requ irements wh ich requ ire major design rewo rk areproposed .Customers fail to unde rstand the impact o f requ irementschang es.

Estimation The time requ ired to deve lop the software is unde restimated.The rate of defect repa ir is underestim ated.The size o f the software is unde restimated.


Risk analysis

Assess probability and seriousness of each riskProbability may be very low, low, moderate, high or very highRisk effects might be catastrophic, serious, tolerable or insignificant


Risk analysisRisk Probability EffectsOrgan isationa l f inancial problems force reduc tionsin the project budge t.

Low Catastroph ic

It is impos sible to recruit staff with the skillsrequ ired for the p roject.

High Catastroph ic

Key staff are ill at c rit ical times in the project. Mod erate SeriousSoftware co mponen ts wh ich shou ld be reusedcon tain defects wh ich limit their func tiona lity.

Mod erate Serious

Changes to requ irements which requ ire majordesign rewo rk a re propo sed.

Mod erate Serious

The o rgan isation is restructured so that differentmanage ment are respons ible for the project.

High Serious

The da tabase used in the system canno t proce ss asmany transactions per second as expec ted.

Mod erate Serious

The time requ ired to deve lop the software isunde restimated.

High Serious

CA SE tools canno t be integrated. High Tolerab leCustomers fail to unde rstand the impact o frequ irements change s.

Mod erate Tolerab le

Requi red training for staff is not av ailable. Mod erate Tolerab leThe rate of defect repa ir is underestim ated. Mod erate Tolerab leThe size o f the software is unde restimated. High Tolerab leThe cod e gen erated by CASE tools is inefficient. Mod erate Insignificant


Risk planning

Consider each risk and develop a strategy to manage that riskAvoidance strategies• The probability that the risk will arise is reduced

Minimisation strategies• The impact of the risk on the project or product will

be reducedContingency plans• If the risk arises, contingency plans are plans to deal

with that risk


Risk management strategiesRisk StrategyOrgan isationa lfinanc ial problems

Prepar e a b riefing docu ment for senior manage ment show inghow the p roject is making a very im por tant con tribu tion to thegoa ls of the bus iness.

Recru itmentproblems

Alert cu stomer of po tential difficulties and the pos sibility ofdelays, inves tigate buy ing- in componen ts.

Staff illness Reorgan ise team so that there is more ove rlap o f work andpeop le therefo re unde rstand each other ’s jobs .

Defectivecomponen ts

Replace pot entially defective componen ts with bough t-incomponen ts of known reliability.

Requi rementschang es

Derive traceability info rmation to assess requ irements chang eimpac t, maximise information hid ing in the des ign.

Organ isationa lrestructuring

Prepar e a b riefing docu ment for senior manage ment show inghow the p roject is making a very im por tant con tribu tion to thegoa ls of the bus iness.

Da tabaseperformanc e

Inves tigate the po ssibility o f buy ing a high er-performanc edataba se.

Unde restimateddeve lopment time

Inves tigate buy ing in componen ts, inve stigate u se of a programgene rator.


Risk monitoring

Assess each identified risks regularly to decide whether or not it is becoming less or more probableAlso assess whether the effects of the risk have changedEach key risk should be discussed at management progress meetings


Risk factors

Risk type Pote ntial indi cato rsTechno logy Late d elivery of hardwa re o r suppo rt software, many

repor ted techno logy prob lemsPeop le Poor staff morale, poo r relationsh ips amongst team

member, job av ailabilityOrgan isationa l organ isationa l gos sip, lack of action by sen ior

manage mentTool s reluctance by team members to u se tools, complaints

abou t CA SE tools, de mand s for highe r-powe redwo rkstations

Requi rements many requ irements chang e reque sts, cu stomercomplaints

Estimation failure to meet ag reed sch edul e, failure to c learrepor ted de fects


Key points

Good project management is essential for project successThe intangible nature of software causes problems for managementManagers have diverse roles but their most significant activities are planning, estimating and schedulingPlanning and estimating are iterative processes which continue throughout the course of a project


A project milestone is a predictable state where some formal report of progress is presented to management. Risks may be project risks, product risks or business risks Risk management is concerned with identifying risks which may affect the project and planning to ensure that these risks do not develop into major threats

Key points

Date post:	10-Jun-2015
Category:	Business
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