Unit – I Presentation

Unit – 1 (Introduction to Software Project management)Definition:-

Software project management is the art and science of planning and leading software projects.

 The software projects are planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.

Advantages:-Easily manage your company’s projectsAccessibilityCost

FlexibilitySupport Speed Integration Updates. 

Goal :- Enable a group of engineers to work efficiently towards

successful completion of a software project.

Importance of Software Project Management:-Software project management comprises of product

development techniques and management skills.The product development technique defines the following,

1) Assessing performance2) Awareness of the process standards3) Defining the product4) Evaluating alternative processes5) Managing requirements6) Managing subcontractors7) Performing the initial assessment8) Selecting the methods and tools9) Tailoring processes10) Tracking product quality11) Understanding development activities

Management skills consist of project management and people management skills.

Project management skills include,1) Building an work breakdown structure2) Documenting plans3) Estimating cost and effort4) Managing risks5) Monitoring development6) Scheduling7) Selecting metrics8) Selecting project management tools9) Tracking processes and project progress

People management skills are described in perspective with product and project competencies.

People management skills include,1) Appraising performance2) Handling intellectual property3) Holding effective meetings4) Interaction and communication5) Leadership6) Managing change7) Negotiating successfully8) Planning careers9) Presenting effectively

10) Recruiting11) Selecting a team12) Team Building

8

Four Project Dimensions

People

Product

Technology

Tools

ManagementStructure

BusinessEnvironment

Process

Methods

One solution!

People Process Product Technology

1) Project Definition

• A Specific plan or design.

• A Planned undertaking or large undertaking.

• It assumes that to a large extent we can determine

how we are going to carry out a task before we

start.

• Eg – Public works scheme

Jobs– repetition of very well-defined and well understood tasks with very little uncertainty.Exploration– e.g. finding a cure for cancer: the outcome is very uncertain.Projects– in the middle.

1.1) Activities of Project Management

Project management plan begins with a set of activities that are involved in the development process.

Overview of the project Project deliverables Managerial processes Technical processes Work packages Schedule of the project Budget estimation.

1.2) Characteristics of project

Some of the characteristics of project include,

Planning of process is required Clear objectives have to be specified Project must have a predetermined time span Involves different phases of work Resources used on the project are constrained Non routine tasks are involved.

2) Contract management

The client organization will appoint a project manager to supervise the contract.

Project manager will be able to delegate many technical oriented decisions to the contractors.

The project manager will not be concerned about estimating the effort needed to write individual software components.

The overall project is fulfilled within budget and on time.Supplier side-project managers are concerned with more

technical management issues.

3) Activities covered by Software Project ManagementA software project is not only concerned with the actual

writing of software.Three successive processes

Feasibility Study, Planning, Project Execution

3.1) Feasibility StudyProspective project is worth starting Information is gathered about the requirements of the

proposed application.Requirements elicitation can at least initially be complex

and difficult.

3.2) Planning A large project would not do all detailed planning right at the

beginning. Formulate an outline plan for the whole project a detailed one for

the first stage and more detailed planning of the later stages.

Feasibility study

Plan

Project execution

How do we do it?

Is it worth doing

?Do it!

3.3) Project execution

The execution of a project often contains design and

implementation sub phases.Design is thinking and making decisions about the precise

form of the products that the project is to create.Planning and design can be confused because at the most

detailed level, planning decisions are influenced by design

decisions.

Set of activities are,

Requirements analysis Architecture design Detailed design Code and Test Integration Qualification testing Installation Acceptance support.

4) Overview of Project Planning - Stepwise Project Planning

The plan is nothing – the planning is everything.

Step 0:Select ProjectStep 1:Identify project scope and objectives

Identify objectives and measures of effectiveness in meeting them.

Establish a project authority

STEP WISE PROJECT PLANNING

0.Select Project

1.Identify scope and objectives

2.Identify project infrastructure

3.Analyse project characteristics

4.Identify products and activities

5.Estimate effort for each activity

6.Identify activity risks

7.Allocate resources

8.Review plan

9.Execute plan

Identify stakeholders Modify objectives in the light of stakeholder analysis Establish methods of communication with all parties.

Step 2:Identify project infrastructure Establish relationship between project and strategic

planning Identify installation standards and procedures Identify project team organization.

Step 3:Analyse project characteristics Distinguish the project as either objectives or product

driven

Analyse other project characteristics Identify high level project risks Take into account user requirements concerning

implementation. Select general life cycle approach Review overall resources estimates.

Step 4:Identify project products and activities Identify and describe project productsDocument generic products flowsRecognize product instances

Produce ideal activity networkModify ideal to take in to account need for stages and

checkpoints.

Step 5:Estimate effort for each activity Carry out bottom-up estimates Revise plan to create controllable activities.

Step 6:Identify activity risks Identify and quantify activity-based risks Plan risk reduction and contingency measures where

appropriate Adjust plans and estimates to take account of risks.

Step 7:Allocate resources

Identify and allocate resources Revise plans and estimates to take account of resource constraints. Staff priority list is generated based on the task allocated to them because

some staffs are used for more than one task. Gantt chart pictorially represents when activities have to take place and

which one has to be executed at the same time. The chart represents when staff will be carrying out the tasks in each month.

Step 8:Review/publicize plan

Review quality aspects of project plan. Document plans and obtain agreement. Steps involved in project plan review are,

Define the problem1) What, if any review work has already been done?2) What is the problem we are trying to solve?

Determine the focus Select the appropriate tools Identify the participants Document the review plan

Step 9 and 10 :Execute plan/lower levels of planning

It may require the reiteration of the planning process at a lower level.

Detailed planning of later stages is necessary because more information will be available than the start stage.