Software Project Management_Unit_1_Notes_.doc

INTRODUCTION

1. UNIT -I: Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management is the art of matching a project's goals, tasks, and resources to
accomplish a goal as needed. We say "as needed" because one has limited time, money, and
resources (human and machinery) with which to accomplish a goal. One can think of a project as
a process.
Project management is the science (and art) of organizing the components of a project,
whether the project is development of a new product, the launch of a new service, a marketing
campaign, or a wedding. A project isn't something that's part of normal business operations. It's
typically created once, it's temporary, and it's specific. As one expert notes, "It has a beginning
and an end." A project consumes resources (whether people, cash, materials, or time), and it has
funding limits.
Project Definition:
Project is a one-time, multitask job with a definite starting point, definite ending point, a clearly
defined scope of work, a budget, and usually a temporary team
When the project is finished it must be evaluated to determine whether it satisfies the objectives
and goals.
Project Constraints
Scope (S): The magnitude or size of the project
Performance requirements (P): technical and functional
Cost (C): Cost to do the job / project
Duration (T): Time required for the project
Mathematically C = f(P,T,S)
Project Characteristics:
Here are some of the characteristics
The following characteristics distinguish projects:
Non routine tasks are involved
Planning is required
Specific Objectives to be met
Has a predetermined time span
Projects are large or complex
Resources are generally limited and under pressure
Work is carried out for someone other than yourself
Work involves several specialisms
People are formed into temporary work group to carry out the task
Work is carried out in several phases.

2. Project Examples

Software Projects Vs Other Projects:
Software projects have peculiar characteristics which makes them special from other projects:
1. Invisibility: With Software progress is not immediately visible, however for physical artefacts
like Bridge progress can be seen over the period of time.
2. Complexity: Software project contain more complexity than other engineered artefacts.
3. Conformity: Physical systems are governed by consistent physical law while Software
developers have to conform to the requirements of human clients.
4. Flexibility: Software systems are particularly subject to change.
Project Management Basics
No matter what the type of project, project management typically follows the same pattern:
1.Definition
2.Planning
3.Execution
4.Control
5.Closure

3. Defining the Project
In this stage the project manager defines what the project is and what the users hope to achieve
by undertaking the project. This phase also includes a list of project deliverables, the outcome of
a specific set of activities. The project manager works with the business sponsor or manager who
wants to have the project implemented and other stakeholders -- those who have a vested interest
in the outcome of the project.
Planning the Project
Define all project activities. In this stage, the project manager lists all activities or tasks, how the
tasks are related, how long each task will take, and how each tasks is tied to a specific deadline.
This phase also allows the project manager to define relationships between tasks, so that, for
example, if one task is x number of days late, the project tasks related to it will also reflect a
comparable delay. Likewise, the project manager can set milestones, dates by which important
aspects of the project need to be met.
Define requirements for completing the project. In this stage, the project manager identifies how
many people (often referred to as "resources") and how much expense ("cost") is involved in the
project, as well as any other requirements that are necessary for completing the project. The
project manager will also need to manage assumptions and risks related to the project. The
project manager will also want to identify project constraints. Constraints typically relate to
schedule, resources, budget, and scope. A change in one constraint will typically affect the other
constraints. For example, a budget constraint may affect the number of people who can work on
the project, thereby imposing a resource constraint. Likewise, if additional features are added as
part of project scope, that could affect scheduling, resources, and budget.
Executing the Project
Build the project team. In this phase, the project manager knows how many resources and how
much budget he or she has to work with for the project. The project manager then assigns those
resources and allocates budget to various tasks in the project. Now the work of the project
begins.
Controlling the Project
The project manager is in charge of updating the project plans to reflect actual time elapsed for
each task. By keeping up with the details of progress, the project manager is able to understand
how well the project is progressing overall. A product such as Microsoft Project facilitates the
administrative aspects of project management.
Closure of the Project
In this stage, the project manager and business owner pull together the project team and those
who have an interest in the outcome of the project (stakeholders) to analyze the final outcome of
the project.
Time, Money, Scope
Frequently, people refer to project management as having three components: time, money, and
scope. Reducing or increasing any one of the three will probably have an impact on the other
two. If a company reduces the amount of time it can spend on a project, that will affect the scope
(what can be included in the project) as well as the cost (since additional people or resources
may be required to meet the abbreviated schedule).

4. Software Project Management Activities:
A software project is concerned not only with the actual writing of software. In fact, where a
software application is bought in 'off-the-shelf', there might be no software writing as such. This
is still fundamentally a software project because so many of the other elements associated with
this type of project are present. Usually, there are three successive processes that bring a new
system into being:
l. The feasibility study This is an investigation to decide whether a prospective project is worth
starting. Information will be gathered about the general requirements of the proposed
system. The probable developmental and operational costs, along with the value of the benefits
of the new system are estimated. With a large system, the feasibility study could be treated as a
project in its own right.
2. Planning If the feasibility study produces results that indicate that the prospective project
appears viable, then planning of the project can take place. In fact, for a large project, we would
not do all our detailed planning right at the beginning. We would formulate an outline plan for
the whole project and a detailed one for the first stage. More detailed planning of the later stages
would be done as they approached. This is because we would have more detailed and accurate
information upon which to base our plans nearer to the start of the later stages.
3. Project execution The project can now be executed.
Individual projects are likely to differ considerably but a SDLC(ISO12207) is shown in Figure
below

5. ISO 12207 life-cycle
• Requirements analysis
• Requirements elicitation: what does the client need?
• Analysis: converting ‘customer-facing’ requirements into equivalents that developers can
understand
• Requirements will cover
• Functions
• Quality
• Resource constraints i.e. costs
• Architecture design
• Based on system requirements
• Defines components of system: hardware, software, organizational
• Software requirements will come out of this
• Code and test
• Of individual components
• Integration
• Putting the components together
• Qualification testing
• Testing the system (not just the software)
• Installation
• The process of making the system operational
• Includes setting up standing data, setting system parameters, installing on operational
hardware platforms, user training etc
• Acceptance support
• Including maintenance and enhancement
Categories of Software Projects:
Objective versus Product: It should be very clear in the start whether the main objective
of the project is to produce a product or to meet certain objectives.

6. A lot of software projects operates in two stages. First is an object driven project resulting
in recommendations. Secondly create a software product.
Compulsory Versus Voluntary Users : In many organisations, there are systems which
staff have to use if they want to do something such as recording a sales transaction.
However the use of a system is becoming voluntary as in the case of computer games. In
such cases it is difficult to elicit precise requirements from potential users as we could
with a business system. What the game will do will thus depend much on the informed
ingenuity of the developers, along with techniques such as market surveys, focus groups
etc.
 Information Systems Versus Embedded Systems : Information systems control
processes whereas embedded systems controls machines like home automation,
automated warehouse
Stakeholders:
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by the project actives. Stakeholders
include
The project sponsor and project team
Support staff
Customers
Users
Suppliers
Opponents to the project
Stakeholders can be categorized as
Internal To Project Team: They are under direct managerial control of project
lead
External To Project Team But within Same Organization: Example, the
project lead might need the assistance of people to carry out system testing.
External To Both Project Team and Organization: These are the people,who
will benefit from the system that project implements.Ex: Contractors ,suppliers
etc..
Project managers can sometimes miss an important stakeholder group , so the
recommended practice is for a communication plan to be created at the start of the project
itself.
Challenges in Software Projects:
There are various types of projects undertaken by the software industry and equally as
many challenges, including the following:
Globalization causing high competition.
Older legacy systems and infrastructure issues.
Adoption rates and time to market pressures.

7. Internal sourcing or outsourcing.
Sufficient software requiring specific expertise.
Integration and interface issues.
Multiple software bug testing & resolution iterations.
Multiple and complex user level requirements.
Difficulty attracting and retaining applicable talent.
ROI (return on investment).
Setting objectives: Answering the question ‘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:
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 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 relevant to the true purpose of the project
T – Time constrained: there is defined point in time by which the objective should be achieved
Goals/sub-objectives:

8. 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
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
What is Management?
Management can be 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 functions can be categorized as
Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Directing
Controlling
Management Functions:
Planning
Predetermining a course of action for accomplishing organizational Objectives
Organizing
Arranging the relationships among work units for accomplishment of objectives and the
granting of responsibility and authority to obtain those objectives
Staffing
Selecting and training people for positions in the organization

9. Directing
Creating an atmosphere that will assist and motivate people to achieve desired end results
Controlling
Establishing, measuring, and evaluating performance of activities toward planned
objectives
Management control
Data – the raw details e.g. ‘6,000 documents processed at location X’
Information – the data is processed to produce something that is meaningful and useful e.g.
‘productivity is 100 documents per day’
Comparison with objectives/goals e.g. we will not meet target of processing all documents by
31st March
Modelling – working out the probable outcomes of various decisions e.g. if we employ two
more staff at location X how quickly can we get the documents processed?
Implementation – carrying out the remedial actions that have been decided upon

10. Project Planning:
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.

11. 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 analysis.
Step 1.5 : Establish method of communication
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. Where the project manager are new to the organization ,
they must find out the precise nature of this infrastructure.
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.
Step 3 : Analyze project characteristics.
The general purpose of this part of planning operation is to 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

12. Step 3.4 : Take into account user requirement concerning implementation.
Step 3.5 : Select development methodology and life cycle approach.
Step 3.6 :Review overall resources estimates
Step 4 : Identify project products and activities
The more detailed planning of the individual activities now 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

13. 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.
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
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.