Outline
Introduction
Project Planning
Project Scheduling
Risk Management
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What is a project?
A project is a temporary effort to create a unique
product or service.
Projects usually include constraints and risks
regarding cost, schedule or performance
outcome.
A project is Planned set of interrelated tasks to be
executed over a fixed period and within certain
cost and other limitations.
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Introduction.
Software project management is aimed to ensure that the
software is delivered on time, within budget and schedule
constraints, and satisfies the requirements of the client
Management of software projects is different from other
types of management because:
Software is not tangible
Software processes are relatively new and still “under trial”
Larger software projects are usually “one-off” projects
Computer technology evolves very rapidly
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Tangible refers to something that can be perceived by touch; it
is physical and has a solid presence in the real world. Tangible
objects or items can be seen, touched, and physically
interacted with.
A "one-off" project refers to a unique, single-instance project
that is typically designed to meet specific requirements or solve
a particular problem. These projects are not part of an ongoing
series or routine activities
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.Introduction
Management activities:
Writing proposals
Planning the project
Scheduling the project
Estimating the cost of the project
Monitoring and reviewing the project’s progress
Selecting, hiring, and evaluating personnel
Writing reports and giving presentations
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Project Planning…
A project plan should be drawn at the start of the project. This plan
drives the project and needs to be continuously adjusted
The role of the project manager is to anticipate possible problems and
be prepared with solutions for these problems
Other plans that need be developed:
Quality plan
Validation and verification plan
Configuration management plan
Maintenance plan
Staff development plan
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.Project Planning..
The planning process [Fig 5.2, SE-8]
Establish the project constraints
Make initial assessments of the project parameters
Define project mile stones and deliverables
while p roje ct has not been completed or cancelled loop
Draw up project sche dule
Initiate activities acco rd ing to schedule
Wait ( for a while )
Review p ro je ct progress
Revise estimates of project parameters
Update the pro ject schedule
Re-neg otiate p ro ject constraints and deliverables
if ( pro blems arise ) then
Initiate technical review and possib le revision
end if
end loop
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..Project Planning.
The structure of the project plan:
Introduction (objectives, constraints)
Project organization (team structure, personnel involved, roles)
Risk analysis (types of risk, probabilities, solutions to prevent or
reduce the risk)
Hardware and software resources needed (prices, delivery schedule)
Work breakdown (activities, milestones, deliverables)
Project schedule (dependencies between activities/tasks, work
assignments, time allocated per task)
Monitoring and reporting mechanisms (reports, dates)
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…Project Planning
Milestone = end-point of a specific, distinct software process
activity or task (for each milestone a report should be
presented to the management)
Deliverable = project result delivered to the client
In order to establish milestones the phases of the software
process need be divided in basic activities/tasks. Example for
requirements engineering [Fig. 5.3, SE-8]
ACTIVITIES
Feasibility Requir ements Prototype Design Requir ements
study analysis development study specification
Feasibility Requir ements Evaluation Architectural Requir ements
report definition report design specification
MILESTONES
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Project Scheduling……
Software managers:
Divide the project in activities/tasks
Estimate time and resources needed to finish the project
Allocate resources to tasks
Try to employ efficiently all the project personnel
Minimize dependencies between tasks and teams
Prepare contingency plans
Rely on experience and intuition
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.Project Scheduling…..
The scheduling process [Fig. 5.4, SE-8]
Identify Identify activity Estimate resources Allocate people Create project
activities dependencies for activities to activities charts
Software Activity charts
requirements and bar charts
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..Project Scheduling….
Graphical notations used in software
project scheduling:
Tables: summary description of tasks
Bar charts: show schedule against the time
Activity charts: graphs that depict dependencies between tasks and
indicate the critical path (the longest path in the activity graph)
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…Project Scheduling…
Example of tabular description [Fig. 5.5, SE-8]:
Task Duration (days) Dependencies
T1 8
T2 15
T3 15 T1 (M1)
T4 10
T5 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)
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….Project Scheduling..
Example of activity chart [Fig. 5.6, SE-8]
1 4 / 7 /0 3 15 da ys
15 da ys
M1 T3
8 da ys
T9
T1 5 da ys 4/ 8/03 2 5 / 8/03
2 5 / 7 /0 3
4/ 7 /0 3 T6 M4 M6
M3
st ar t 2 0 da ys 7 da ys
15 da ys
T7 T1 1
T2
25 / 7 /0 3 11 / 8/03 5/ 9/03
10 da ys 10 da ys
M2 M7 M8
T4 T5 15 da ys
T1 0 10da ys
1 8/ 7 /0 3
T12
M5
2 5 da ys
T8 Fi ni sh
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19 / 9/03
…..Project Scheduling.
Example of bar chart [Fig. 5.7, SE-8]
4/ 7 11/ 7 1 8/ 7 2 5/ 7 1/ 8 8/ 8 1 5/ 8 2 2/ 8 2 9/ 8 5/ 9 1 2/ 9 1 9/ 9
S t art
T4
T1
T2
M1
T7
T3
M5
T8
M3
M2
T6
T5
M4
T9
M7
T 10
M6
T1 1
M8
T12
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F i ni s h
……Project Scheduling
Staff allocation chart [Fig. 5.8, SE-8]
4/7 11/7 18/7 25/ 1/8 8/8 15/8 22/8 29/8 5/9 12/9 19/9
Fred T4
T8 T11
T12
Jane T1
T3
T9
Anne T2
T6 T10
Jim T7
Mary T5
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Risk Management…….
Risk = some adverse circumstance that may happen and affect negatively
the project, the product, and/or the business
Categories of risk:
Project risks
Product risks
Business risks
Risk management means anticipating risks and preparing plans to
reduce their effect
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.Risk Management……
Examples of risks in the software process [Fig. 5.9, SE-8]
Risk Affects Description
Staff turnover Project Experienced staff will leave the project before it is finished.
Management change Project There will be a change of organisational management with
different priorities.
Hardware unavailability Project Hardware that is essential for the project will not be
delivered on schedule.
Requirements change Project and There will be a larger number of changes to the
product requirements than anticipated.
Specification delays Project and Specifications of essential interfaces are not available on
product schedule
Size underestimate Project and The size of the system has been underestimated.
product
CASE tool under- Product CASE tools which support the project do not perform as
performance anticipated
Technology change Business The underlying technology on which the sys tem is built is
superseded by new technology.
Product competition Business A competitive product is marketed before the system is
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..Risk Management…..
The risk management activities [Fig. 5.10, SE-8]
Risk Risk analysis Risk planning Risk
identification monitoring
List of potential Risk avoidance Risk
Prioritised risk and contingency
risks list assessment
plans
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…Risk Management….
Types of risk in risk identification [Fig. 5.11, SE-8]
Risk type Potential indicators
Technology Late delivery of hardware or support software, many reported
technology problems
People Poor staff morale, poor relationships amongst team member,
job availability
Organisational Organisational gossip, lack of action by senior management
Tools Reluctance by team members to use tools, complaints about
CASE tools, demands for higher-powered workstations
Requirements Many requirements change requests, customer complaints
Estimation Failure to meet agreed schedule, failure to clear reported
defects
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….Risk Management…
Risk analysis:
Estimate risk probability :
Very low (< 10%)
Low (10-25%)
Moderate (25-50%)
High (50-75%)
Very high (> 75%)
Establish risk seriousness :
Insignificant
Tolerable
Serious
Catastrophic
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…..Risk Management..
Risk planning means preparing a strategy to deal with each of the
risks identified
Classes of strategies:
Avoidance strategies: the probability of the risk will be diminished
Minimization strategies: the effect of the risk will be reduced
Contingency strategies: plans for the worst case scenarios
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……Risk Management.
Examples of risk management strategies [Fig. 5.13, SE-8]
Risk Strategy
Organisational Prepare a briefing document for senior management
financial problems showing how th e project is making a very important
contribution to the goals of the business.
Recruitment Alert customer of potential difficulties and the
problems possibility of delays, investigate buying-in
components.
Staff illness Reorganise team so that there is more overlap of work
and people therefore understand each other’s jobs.
Defective Replace potentially defective components with bought-
components in components of known reliabilit y.
Risk Strategy
Requirements Derive traceability information to assess requirements
changes change impact, maximise information hiding in the
design.
Organisational Prepare a briefing document for senior management
restructuring showing how th e project is making a very important
contribution to the goals of the business.
Database Investigate the possibilit y of buying a higher-
performance performance database.
Underestimated Investigate buying in components, inve stigate use of a
development time program generator
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…….Risk Management
Risk monitoring:
Frequently re-assess the risks
Changes in risk probability?
Changes in risk gravity?
Take into consideration risk factors
Discuss key risks at each management project progress meeting
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