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Unit 1 SPM

Software project management is important because a significant amount of money is spent on IT projects compared to other types of projects, but many software projects fail or go over budget due to issues like late delivery. While software projects share the same overall objectives as other projects like planning, monitoring, and meeting objectives, they differ in ways like invisibility of progress, complexity, and flexibility to change requirements. Software project management involves activities from initial feasibility studies to determine if a project is worthwhile, planning all aspects of the project, and executing the project plans while allowing for changes as needed.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
129 views

Unit 1 SPM

Software project management is important because a significant amount of money is spent on IT projects compared to other types of projects, but many software projects fail or go over budget due to issues like late delivery. While software projects share the same overall objectives as other projects like planning, monitoring, and meeting objectives, they differ in ways like invisibility of progress, complexity, and flexibility to change requirements. Software project management involves activities from initial feasibility studies to determine if a project is worthwhile, planning all aspects of the project, and executing the project plans while allowing for changes as needed.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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25-11-2022

IT8075
Software Project Management

What is special about software project


management (SPM)?
• Whether the management of software projects is really different from
other projects ?
• Objectives (projects must satisfy the real needs)
• Same as all other projects
• Key ideas ( Planning, Monitoring and Control )
• Same as all other projects
• Aim(to ensure whether their objectives are met)
• Same as all other projects

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WHY is SPM important ? What is a project?


• Lot of money is spend for ICT projects compared to other projects ( roads, • Dictionary meaning
railways..) • A specific plan or design
• Not all the projects are always successful • A planned undertaking
• due to mismanagement of projects • A large undertaking
• Only one third of the projects are successful • Ex : public work scheme
• due to issues such as late delivery and over budgeting
• Key points above are planning and size of task
• Main reasons for project failure
• Lack of skills • Project – Planned activity
• Lack of proven approach to project management • Planning is an essence of careful thinking about something before doing it
• Lack of risk management
• Hence SPM is a must to overcome the shortcomings

Projects vs Job and Exploration Characteristics of projects


• Job – Repetition of very well-defined and well understood tasks with
very little uncertainty A task is more ‘project-like’ if it is:
• Exploration–The outcome is very uncertain; e.g. finding a cure for • Non-routine
cancer • Planned
• Projects– In the middle! • Aiming at a specific target
• Work carried out for a customer
• Involving several specialisms
• Made up of several different phases
• Constrained by time and resources
• Large and/or complex
• Temporary work group

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Are software projects really different Contract management and technical project
from other projects?
management
Not really with all the characteristics ! …but…differ in terms of • In house projects
• Invisibility • Client (users) and developers work for the same organization
• Progress is visible for a physical artefact (something made by human being; eg : bridge construction) • Contract projects
• Progress in software is invisible
• SPM helps to make invisible visible • Developer from outside the organization
• Complexity • Project managers
• Complexity is more in software projects • Client organization
• Conformity • to supervise the contract
• Software developers have to conform to the requirements of human clients • delegate many technically oriented decisions to the contractors
• Flexibility • will not be concerned about estimating the effort(budget and time)
• Software is easy to change • Supplier organization
• Otherwise called ‘technical project managers’
• Concerned with the more technical management issues

Activities covered by software project management Activities covered by software project management (Cont…)
• Feasibility study
• Whether the project is worth starting
• Information is gathered about the requirement of the project
• Developmental and operational costs with the benefits are estimated
• Could be part of a strategic planning exercise examining
• Prioritizing a range of potential software developments
• Planning
• If it is viable from feasibility study , planning will start
• Detailed planning is not done for large project at the beginning
• Outline plan for the whole project and a detailed one for the first stage will be created
• More detailed planning of the later stages would be done as they approach
Feasibility study • Project execution
Is project technically feasible and worthwhile from a business point of view? • Contains design and implementation sub-phases
• Design and planning are not the same
Planning • Design is making decisions about the form of the products
Only done if project is feasible • Planning details the activities to be carried out
Execution
Implement plan, but plan may be changed as we go along
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The software development life-cycle (ISO 12207) (Cont…)


The software development life-cycle (ISO 12207)
• Requirement analysis
• Architecture design
• Detailed design
• Code and test Some activities are concerned with system
while others relate to software
• Integration
• Qualification testing
• Installation
• Acceptance support

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The software development life-cycle (ISO 12207) (Cont…) The software development life-cycle (ISO 12207) (Cont…)
• Requirement analysis
• Starts with requirement elicitation or requirements gathering • Detailed design
• Requirements are gathered from potential users • Each software component is made up of a number of software units.
• It could be • Each unit is separately coded and tested
• Function- the system should do something • Detailed design of these units is carried out separately
• Quality requirement- how well the functions must work • Code and test
• System requirement- Training to ensure that the operators use the system efficiently • Refers to writing code for each software unit
• Software requirement- specification for development
• Initial testing to debug the individual software units
• Resource requirement-application development cost
• Integration
• Architecture design • The components are tested together to see if they meet the overall requirement
• Identification of components for each requirement
• Qualification testing
• Not only software but could be new hardware or work processes • All the system components have to be tested carefully
• The design of system architecture is an input to the software requirements • To ensure that all the requirements have been fulfilled

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The software development life-cycle (ISO 12207) (Cont…)


Plans, methods and methodologies
• Plan- activity based on some idea of a method of work
• Installation • Ex: for testing a software
• Analyze the software requirements
• Process of making the new system operational
• Device and write test cases
• Includes activities such as • Create test scripts
• Setting up of standing data • Compare the actual results and the expected results
• Setting system parameters • Identify discrepancies
• Installing the software onto hardware parameters • Method – type of activity that converts plan into real activity
• User training • For each activity method identifies
• Acceptance support • Its start and end dates
• Resolving problem with all the new system • Who will carry out
• What tools and materials including information will be needed
• Includes
• Correction of errors • Methodologies- group of methods
• Implementing agreed extensions and improvements • The output from one method might be the input to another
• Maintenance and enhancement

Categorizing Software Projects Categorizing Software Projects (Cont…)


• Compulsory versus Voluntary Users • Outsourced Projects
• Projects developed by external agencies
• Compulsory users- recording a sale in a business system • Reasons for outsourcing
• Voluntary users – computer games • Lack of expertise
• Cost effectiveness
• Information Systems versus Embedded systems • Indian s/w companies excel in outsourcing
• Information systems • Outsourcing projects fetch one time revenue (unlike product development projects)
• enable staff to carry out office processes • Objective-driven development
• Ex: Stock control system • Distinguishing based on the aim whether
• To meet certain objectives
• Embedded systems(process control) • Could be met in number of ways
• enable to control machine • To produce a product
• Ex: controlling the air conditioning equipment in a building • Details are specified by the client
• Clients are responsible to justify the product
• Some systems may have both
• stock control system( information) with automated warehouse(embedded)

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Setting objectives
Stakeholders
• Objective
• Should define what the project team must achieve for project success
• Stakeholders- people who have interest(stake) in the project • All stake holders are involved for setting the objectives
• Informally, the objective of a project can be defined by completing the statement:
• Categories
• Internal to the project team The project will be regarded as a success if………………………………..
• Direct managerial control of the project leader
• External to the project team but within the same organization • Focus on what will be put in place, rather than how activities will be carried out
• Ex : ‘Customers can order our products online’ rather than
• External project managers might need assistance from the internal users ‘to build an e-commerce website’
• External to both the project team and the organization • Project authority is a project steering committee( project board or project management
• External users may be customers board)
• Over all responsibility on objectives
• External developers may be contractors • Setting
• Monitoring
• modifying

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Sub-objectives and Goals


• In order to achieve the objective, certain sub-objective or goals have to be
achieved first Measures of effectiveness
• Informally the sub-objective can be expressed as a set of statements
‘To reach objective ……………….. The following must be in place’ • Provides practical methods for checking that an objective has been
met
SMART is sometimes used to describe well defined objectives • It is a performance measurement
• S – Specific, that is, concrete and well-defined • Can only be taken once the system is operational
• 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 should be a defined point in time by which the objective should be
achieved

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The Business Case (Justification)


Project success and failure
• Established at the time of the project’s feasibility study.
• Is seen in terms of cost benefit analysis • Project objectives are different from business objectives
• Quantification of benefits requires the formulation of a ‘Business • A project could meet the targets but the application once delivered
could fail to meet business case
model ‘ • Ex: a commercial website used for online sales could be created successfully
• how the new application can generate the claimed benefits but customers might not use it to buy products
• Ex: new web-based application • Reason: they could buy the goods more cheaply
• Any project plan must ensure that the business case is kept intact • Here, a project can be a success on delivery but then be a business
• Development costs are not allowed to exceed the value of benefits failure
• Features are not reduced to the level below the expected benefits • The gap between project and business concerns may be reduced by
• Delivery date is not delayed to avoid unaccepted loss of benefits having broader view of projects
• Customer relationship is also important for the success of a project

Principal activities of management


What is Management? • Project managers time is spent only on three of the eight identified
activities
• Project planning
• Activities of management • Estimation
• Planning – deciding what is to be done • Cost Principal Project Management Processes
• Duration
• Organizing- making arrangements • Effort
• Staffing- selecting the right people for the job • Scheduling Project Monitoring and Control
• Directing – giving instructions • Staffing
• Risk management
• Monitoring – checking on progress • Miscellaneous plans
Project
Project
Planning Project Plan Revision
• Controlling – taking action to remedy hold ups • Monitoring and Control
Closing

• Innovating – coming up with new solutions • To ensure that the software


• Representing – liaising with clients, users, developers, suppliers and stake development proceeds as planned Project Initiation Project Execution Project closing
holders • Project Closing
• Logical completion of all activities
and contracts

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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 a day’

• Comparison with objectives/goals


Project Evaluation and
Programme Management
• 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

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A business case
PROJECT EVALUATION
• A business case can be otherwise referred as feasibility study or project
justification
Why is project evaluation important: • A business case document may contain
Project evaluation is important for answering the following questions • Introduction and background to the proposal
- what progress has been made? • The proposed project
• The market
- were the desired outcomes achieved? • Organizational and Operational infrastructure
- whether the project can be refined to achieve better outcomes? • The benefits
• Outline implementation plan
- do the project results justify the project inputs? • Costs
• The financial case
• Risks
• Management plan

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A business case (Cont…) A business case (Cont…)


• Organizational and operational infrastructure
• Introduction and background to the proposal • Describes how the structure of the organization is affected by the
• Description of the current environment of the proposed project implementation of the project
• Problem to be solved or an opportunity to be exploited is identified • Benefits
• Proposed project • To quantify the benefits(profit) of the project, financial value needs to be
quoted
• A brief outline about the project is provided
• The market • Outline implementation plan
• Contains information such as • Activities such as marketing promotion and operational &maintenance
• estimated demand for the product or service and
infrastructures need to be considered
• competitors • Activities to be outsource need to identified
• Responsibilities for the different tasks are allocated
• Key decision points or milestones should be identified

A business case (Cont…)


• Costs Project Portfolio Management
• Schedule of expected costs associated with planned approach is
presented • Provides an overview all the projects that an organization is under
taking
• The financial case
• Information about the income and cost is analyzed using various • Project portfolio management includes
evaluation techniques • Identifying which project proposals are worth implementation
• Assessing the amount of risk of failure that a potential project has
• Risk • Deciding how to share limited resources, including staff time and finance
• Project risk – relating to threads to successful project execution • Being aware of the dependencies between projects
• Business risk- relating to factors threatening the benefits of the • Ensuring that projects do not duplicate work
delivered projects • Ensuring that necessary developments have not been inadvertently been
missed

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Project Portfolio Management (Cont…) Evaluation of Individual projects


• Key aspects • Technical Assessment
• Consists of evaluating whether the required functionality can be achieved with
current affordable technologies
• Project portfolio definition • Organizational policy is also taken into account
• Records all current projects details in a single repository • Cost –Benefit Analysis
• Useful for taking decisions • Comprises of two steps
• Project portfolio management • Identifying all of costs and benefits of carrying out the project and operating the delivered
• Detailed costings along with managers hope are recorded for all the projects application
• Base for more rigorous screening of new projects • Development costs, operating costs, setup costs and benefits from the new system
• Expressing these costs and benefits in common units
• Portfolio optimization • Easy to express most of the direct costs in monetary terms
• Helps to achieve better balance between two types of projects
• Projects with high profit & high risk and • Cash flow forecasting
• Project with Low profit & Lower risk • Indicates when expenditure and income will take place

Net profit
Cost Benefit Evaluation techniques • Net profit
• Difference between the total cost(investment) and the total income over the
It considers life of the project
• the timing of the costs and benefits Net profit=total cost - total income
• the benefits relative to the size of the investment
Ye Project1 Project2 project3
ar
Common methods for comparing projects on the basis of their cash flow forecasting. 0 -100000 -10,00,000 -1,20,000
• 1) Net profit (NP) 1 10,000 2,00000 30,000
• 2) Payback Period (PBP) 2 10,000 2,00000 30,000
• 3) Return on investment(ROI) 3 10,000 2,00000 30,000
• 4) Net present Value(NPV) 4 20,000 2,00000 30,000
• 5) Internal rate of return(IRR) 5 100000 3,00000 75,000

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Net profit
• Net profit Payback Period
• Difference between the total cost and the total income over the life of the
project
• The payback period is the time taken to recover the initial
Net profit=total cost - total income investment.
Ye
ar
Project1 Project2 project3 Year Project1 Project2 project3
Advantages
0 -100000 -1,000,000 -120000 0 -100000 -1,000,000 -120000 • simple and easy to calculate.
1 10,000 2,00000 30,000 1 10,000 2,00000 30,000
• Not sensitive to small forecasting errors
2 10,000 2,00000 30,000 2 10,000 2,00000 30,000
3 10,000 2,00000 30,000 3 10,000 2,00000 30,000 Disadvantages
4 20,000 2,00000 30,000 4 20,000 2,00000 30,000 • Ignores the overall profitability of the project
5 100000 3,00000 75,000 5 100000 3,00000 75,000

Net 50,000 1,00,000 75,000


profit

RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI)


Payback Period
• Also known as Accounting rate of return (ARR)
• Calculate Payback Period • Compares the net profitability to the investments required
average annual profit
Year Project1 Project2 project3
ROI = ----------------------------- X 100
0 -100000 -1000000 -120000
1 10,000 2,00000 30,000 total investment
2 10,000 2,00000 30,000
net profit
3 10,000 2,00000 30,000
Average annual profit = --------------------
4 20,000 2,00000 30,000 total no. of years
• Advantages
5 100000 3,00000 75,000 • Simple, easy to calculate measure of return on capital
• Disadvantages
Payback 5 years 5 years 4 years • It takes no account of the timing of the cash flows.
period • Rate of returns bears no relationship to the interest rates offered or changed by bank.

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RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI)


• Calculate ROI for project 1.
Year Project1 Project2 project3
Ex1
Total investment =1,00,000
Net profit = 50,000
0 -100000 -1,000,000 -120000 • Calculate the ROI for the following projects and comment, which is
Total no. of year = 5
1 10,000 2,00000 30,000 the most worthwhile.
2 10,000 2,00000 30,000
3 10,000 2,00000 30,000
average annual profit • Investment Netprofit
4 20,000 2,00000 30,000
ROI = ----------------------------- X 100 • Project1 150000 50000
5 100000 3,00000 75,000
total investment • Project2 1,00000 1,00000
net profit Net profit 50,000 1,00,000 75,000
• Project3 450000 40,000
Average annual profit = --------------------
total no. of years • The period of above project is 5 years.

Average annual profit=50,000/5=10,000


ROI= (10,000/1,00,000) *100 = 10%

Net present value (NPV)


Ex:2
• A project evaluation technique that takes into account the profitability of a project and the timing of the
cash flows that are produced
• There are two projects x and y. each project requires an investment of rs 20,000. you are required
to rank these projects according to the pay back method from the following information. • Present value = value in year t 1 / (1+r)t
• where r is the discount rate expressed as decimal value
• t is the number of years

Year project x project y • Alternatively present value of the cash flow can be calculated by multiplying the cash flow by the
appropriate discount factor
• 1 1000 2000
• NPV for a project is obtained by discounting each cash flow and summing the discounted values
• 2 2000 4000
• It is normally assumed that any initial investment takes place immediately(indicated as year 0) and is not
• 3 4000 6000 discounted.
• 4 5000 8000 • Later cash flows are normally assumed to take place at the end of each year and are discounted by the
appropriate amount.
• 5 8000
• Disadvantage
• Selecting an appropriate discount rate for the project is difficult

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Net present value (NPV)

Calculate NPV by applying discount factors


Year Cash-flow

0 -100,000
1 10,000
2 10,000
3 10,000
4 20,000
5 100,000
Net profit 50,000

50

Example: Comparing Competing Investments with NPV.


Net present value (NPV) • Consider two competing investments in computer equipment.
• Each calls for an initial cash outlay of $100, and each returns a total a $200 over the next 5 years making net gain of $100. But
the timing of the returns is different, as shown in the table below (Case A and Case B), and therefore the present value of each
Calculate NPV by applying discount factors years return is different. The sum of each investments present values is called the Discounted Cash flow (DCF) or Net Present
Value (NPV). Using a 10% discount rate
Year Cash-flow Discount factor @ Discounted cash
10% flow CASE A CASE B
Discount
Timing Rate(10%) Net Cash Present Net Cash
Present Value
0 -100,000 1.0000 -100,000 Flow Value Flow

1 10,000 0.9091 9,091 Now 0 1 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00


Year 1 0.9091 $60.00 $54.54 $20.00 $18.18
2 10,000 0.8264 8,264
Year 2 0.8264 $60.00 $49.59 $20.00 $16.52
3 10,000 0.7513 7,513
Year 3 0.7513 $40.00 $30.05 $40.00 $30.05
4 20,000 0.6830 13,660
Year 4 0.6830 $20.00 $13.70 $60.00 $41.10
5 100,000 0.6209 62,090
Year 5 0.6209 $20.00 $12.42 $60.00 $37.27
Net profit 50,000 NPV 618
Net profit NPVA = Net profit =
Total NPVB = $43.12
= $100.00 $60.30 $100.00
51

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Ex :3 Solution

Ex:4

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Ex : 5
Consider the following fictitious scenario and some questions related to it. The table below Based on the above table, answer the following questions:
gives the estimated cash flow for three different projects

1 Calculate the net profit of each project.


2 Based on your answer to Question 1 above, which project would you select to develop?
3 Using the shortest payback method as discussed in Hughes and Cotterell, which
project would you now select for development and why?
4 Calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) of each of these projects.
5 Based on your calculation of the ROI of each project in Question 4 above, which
project would you select to develop?
6 Assume a discount rate of 12%. Calculate the Net Present Value (NPV) of each
project.
7 Based on your calculation of each project’s NPV, which project would you now select for development? In general, what
conclusion do you reach regarding the viability of these projects? (Base your answer on the NPVs of each project.)

Ans a16.pdf

IRR (Internal Rate Return)


• IRR is calculated as the percentage discount rate that could produce an NPV of 0 Risk Evaluation
• Every project involves risk
CASE A CASE B
• Types of risks
Timing
Net Cash Flow Net Cash Flow • Project risk
Now 0 $100.00 $100.00 • Prevents the project from being completed successfully
Year 1 $60.00 $20.00 • Business risk
Year 2 $60.00 $20.00 • The delivered product are not profitable
Year 3 $40.00 $40.00 • Business risk is focused here.
Year 4 $20.00 $60.00
Year 5 $20.00 $60.00

For Case A, an interest rate of 0.38 produces NPV = 0, whereas Case B NPV arrives at 0 with an interest rate of 0.22.
Case A therefore has an IRR of 38%, Case B an IRR of 22%.
IRR as the decision criterion, the one with the higher IRR is the better choice.

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Risk Identification and Ranking


• Identify the risk and quantify their effects Risk and net present value
• Construct a project risk matrix utilizing a check list of possible risk
• Classify the risk according to their importance and their likelihood • For a relatively risky project, higher discount rate is used to calculate
• Importance and likelihood needs to be assessed separately net present value (NPV)
(High(H),Medium(M), Low(L),Unlikely (--) ) • The risk premium might be an additional 2% for reasonably safe
project or 5% for fairly risk project
• Projects may be categorized as high ,medium or low risk using a
scoring method and risk premiums are designated for each category

Decision trees Decision trees • The expected value of Extending


system=
• Identify over risky projects
(0.8*75,000)-
• Choose best from risk
(0.2*100,000)=40,000 Rs.
• Take suitable course of action

Decision tree of analysis risks helps us to • The expected value of Replacing


system=
• Extend the existing system (0.2*250,000)-
 increase sales (0.8*50,000)=10,000 Rs.
 improve the management information
Therefore, organization should
• Replace the existing system choose the option of extending the
 Not replacing system leads in loss existing system.
 Replace it immediately will be expensive.

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An overview of Step Wise Project planning

STEP WISE PLANNING

Step 0 : Select project


Step 1 : Identify project scope and objectives
• This is called step 0 because in a way of project planning , it is out side • The activities in this step ensure that all parties to the project agree
the main project planning process. on the objectives and are committed to the success of the project.
• Feasibility study suggests us that the project is worthwhile or not. • 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 anaylsis.
• Step 1.5 : Establish method of communication

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Step 2 : Identify project infrastructure


• Projects are rarely carried out in a vacuum. Step 3 : Analyze project characteristics.
• 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 • The general purpose of this part of planning operation is to ensure
out the precise nature of this infrastructure. that the appropriate methods are used for the project.
• Step 2.1: Identify relationship between the project and strategic planning • Step 3.1 : Distinguish the project as either objective- product driven
• Group of projects should contribute to the common organizational strategy • Step 3.2 : Analyze other project characteristics ( including quality –
• Proposed new systems should also fit to the technical frame work based ones)
• New created projects must be compatible with the previous projects
• Step 2.2 : Identify installation standards and procedures.
• Step 3.3 : Identify high level project risks
• Installation standards are required to ensure that changes in requirements are • Step 3.3 : Take into account user requirement concerning
implemented in a safe and orderly way implementation.
• Procedural standards checks the quality at each point of the project life cycle and
documented in quality standards and procedures manual • Step 3.4 : Select development methodology and life cycle approach.
• Step 2.3 : Identify project team organization. • Step 3.5 : Review overall resources estimates
• Project leaders must have control over the project team especially for large projects

Step 4.1 Identify and describe project products ( deliverables)


Step 4: Identify project products and activities • Products CAN BE deliverable
or intermediate
• The main products will have
• Step 4.1 Identify and describe project products - ‘what do we have to
sets of component products
produce?’
which in turn may have sub-
• Step 4.2 document generic product flows component products and so
• Step 4.3 Recognize product instances on .
• Step 4.4. Produce ideal activity network • Product Breakdown
Structure (PBS).
• Step 4.5 modify the ideal to take into account for stages and check
points • Bottom most products are
tangible and cannot be
further subdivided

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Step 4.2 Document generic product flows


Step 4.3 Recognize product instances
• Some products need one
or more other products to
exist first before creation • The PBS and PFD will probably have identified generic products e.g.
and is shown in Product ‘software modules’
Flow Diagram – PFD
• It might be possible to identify specific instances e.g. ‘module A’,
‘module B’ …

Step 4.4. Produce ideal activity network Step 4.5 modify the ideal to take into account for
• Identify the activities stages and check points
needed to create each
product in the PFD
• Sequencing activities( activity network) minimizes the overall duration
• More than one activity or elapsed time for the project.
might be needed to create a
single product • Project is modified by dividing into stages and introducing check point
activities to check the compatibility of the preceding activity
• By identifying these • These check point may introduce some delay
activities create a activity • These checkpoint activities are milestones which represent the completion of
network which shows the important stages of projects
task and the order in which
they have to be executed

An example of an activity network

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Step 5:Estimate effort for each activity


Step 6: Identify activity risks
• Step 5.1 Carry out bottom-up estimates • 6.1.Identify and quantify risks for activities
• Difference between effort and elapsed time should be noted • Any project plan is always based on a huge number of assumptions
• Effort is the amount of work needs to be done • Some way of picking up of risks that are most important is needed
• Elapsed time is the time between the start and end of a task • The damage that each risk could cause have to be gauged
• Ex: if a task requires 3 members to work for 2 full days then • 6.2. Plan risk reduction and contingency measures where appropriate
• Effort = 6 days
• The identified risks can be avoided or reduced by some contingency plans
• Elapsed time = 2 days( if all of them start and end at the same time)
• Contingency plan specifies the action that is to be taken if a risk materialises
• Step 5.2. Revise plan to create controllable activities
• break up very long activities into a series of smaller ones
• 6.3 Adjust overall plans and estimates to take account of risks
• e.g. add new activities which reduce risks associated with other activities e.g.
• bundle up very short activities (create check lists?)
training, pilot trials, information gathering etc

Step 7: Allocate resources


• Step 7.1 Identify and allocate resources to activities
• The type of staff needed for each activity is recorded
Step 8 : Review / Publicize plan
• The staff available for the project are identified and are provisionally allocated to tasks
• Step 8.1 : Review quality aspects of the project plan.
• Step 7.2 Revise plans and estimates to take into account resource constraints
• It is important to know that when a task is reported as completed, whether
• Some resources may Be needed at the same time, and in this case an order of priority the quality of the task is satisfied or not.
has to be established with out causing delay in other activities
• Each task should have a quality criteria
• Gantt chart showing when staff will be carrying out tasks
• These quality checks that have to be passed before the activity can be “signed
off” as completed
• Step 8.2 : Document plans and obtain agreement.
• It is important that the plans be carefully documented and that all parties to
the project understand and agree to the commitments required of them in
the plan

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Step 9 & 10 : Execute plan / lower level of


planning
• Once the project is under way, plans will need to be drawn up in
greater detail for each activity as it becomes due.
• Detailed planning of the later stages will need to be delayed
because more information will be available nearer the start of
the stage.

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