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Project Execution Fundamentals Tracking

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Software Project Management (CS615)
LECTURE # 7
2. Software Development Fundamentals
Management Fundamentals
2.1
Evolution of Software
The understanding about software and software development has come a long
way from the days of punch cards and Ada. In the first stage of computing,
hardware mattered the most. Computers themselves were the domains of the
government, and most software was developed in defense-funded labs, dedicated
to the advancement of science and technology in the national interest.
By the 1950s, large corporations realized the benefits of using computers. They
increasingly started using computers to process and analyze financial and
production data. These computers were huge in size. There was inadequate
software available for them. Even the software that existed was designed
essentially to function on a specific hardware product. The software was
developed and maintained by the company that manufactured the hardware.
Software design and documentation existed only in the developer's head. If the
developer left the company, you would find maintenance to be a nightmare.
In the second phase of software evolution, the corporate and academic sectors
increasingly started using computers, and the perspective about both software and
software development began to change. By the late 1960s and early 1970s,
concepts such as multi-sessions, multi-user systems, multiprogramming gained a
foothold. Soon computers were developed to collect, process, transform, and
analyze data in seconds. The focus of software development shifted from custom
software to product software. Now, multiple users on multiple computers could
use the same software. This phase of software evolution also saw the emergence
of software maintenance activities. These activities comprised fixing bugs, and
modifying the software based on changes in user requirements.
The third phase in software evolution was driven by the widespread use of
silicon-based microprocessors, which further led to the development of high-
speed computers, networked computers, and digital communication. Although, all
the advancement in software and hardware was still largely restricted to enterprise
applications manufacturers had begun to see the application of the microprocessor
in something as mundane as ovens to the robots used in car plants.
The fourth, and current, phase of software evolution began in the early 1990s.
This phase saw the growth of client-server environment, parallel computing,
distributed computing, network computing, and object-oriented programming.
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Software Project Management (CS615)
This phase also witnessed the growing popularity of personal computer (PC).
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Software Project Management (CS615)
was prevalent in the early stages of software evolution hampered the application
of systematic processes. This conflict referred to as the software crisis. Some of
the reasons to which you can attribute the software crisis include:
­ Software developers used-multiple programming languages.
­ Software developers used multiple variations of standard programming
languages.
­ Most of the requirements were complex with regard to the existing
capabilities,
­ Users, who had little or no experience of developing or even using
software, formulated requirements.
­ Software developers poorly mapped requirements to the actual product.
­ Software developed had low interoperability.
­ Software maintenance was costly.
­ Hardware developed at a faster rate than software (better hardware
requires better software to operate it).
During the period of software crisis, you will find that software that was produced
was generally over budgeted, under scheduled, and of poor quality. The
immediate knee-jerk response to these problems was software maintenance,
which began to consume huge resources. During this period, maintaining software
was adopted as a short-term solution due to the costs involved in fixing software
regularly. This often resulted in the original software design approach getting lost
due to the lack of documentation.
In contrast, the situation in the present times has changed to a large extent.
Software costs have risen, although hardware is purchased easily off the shelf.
Now, the primary concerns regarding software projects are project delays, high
costs, and a large number of errors in the finished product.
2.2
Project Execution Fundamentals
Tracking
For the project manager, it is essential to be constantly informed of the true status
of the project. This is achieved by assuring the regular flow of accurate
information from the development teams. Many of the methods of acquiring
information are not objective and rely on the accuracy of the reports provided by
the project developers themselves. They include:
­
Periodic written status reports
­
Verbal reports
­
Status meetings
­
Product demonstrations (demos)
Product demonstrations are particularly subjective, because they demonstrate only
what the developer wishes to be seen. The project manager needs objective
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information. Such information can often be acquired from reports produced by
support groups, such as:
­ Quality assurance reports
­ Independent test reports
Although reports and meetings are indeed useful sources of information, nothing
can replace direct contact between the project manager and the development staff.
Frequent informal talks with the developers are excellent sources of information,
especially when held in an informal atmosphere (and not in the project manager's
office).
The project manager must keep on constant guard against an error commonly
referred to as the '90/50 syndrome', which states that, 'it takes 50 percent of the
time to complete 90 percent of the work, and an additional 50 percent of the time
to complete the remaining 10 percent of the work'. This means that project
developers will begin to boast quite early that they have 'almost finished' their
tasks. Unfortunately, there is a great difference between 'almost finished' and
`finished'.
Finishing a task -writing documentation, and polishing off the last few problems,
often takes longer than developers anticipate. This is because these activities
produce very few visible results, and developers tend (wrongly) to associate work
with results. Therefore, managers can obtain more information from developers
by asking them how long they estimate it will take to finish, and not how much of
their work has been completed.
·
Status reports
Status reports should be required from every member of the development team,
without exception. The reports should be submitted periodically, usually weekly
or bi-weekly, and should contain at least the following three sections (see Fig.
5.8):
1.
Activities during the report period
Each subsection within this section describes a major activity during the report
period. The description of each activity should span two to three lines. Activities
should be linked to the project task list or work breakdown structure (WBS) (see
Chapter 10 for a description of the WBS).
2.
Planned activities for the next report period
Each subsection within this section describes a major activity planned for the next
report period. The description of each activity should span one to two lines.
3.
Problems
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Each subsection within this section describes a major problem that either occurred
during the report period, or that was reported previously and has not yet been
resolved. This means that problems will be repeatedly reported until they are
resolved. In particular, this section must explain why this report's Section 1 does
not correspond to the previous report's Section 2.
All reports should also contain:
1. Date of report
2. Report period (e.g. 3 July to 10 July 1992)
3. Name of report (e.g. Communications team status report)
4. Name of person submitting the report
The preparation of a periodic status report should take about 20 minutes, but not
longer than 30 minutes. Developers should submit their status reports to their
team leader. The team leader then combines the reports of the team into a single
status report, while maintaining the same report structure. This activity should
take the team leader about 30 minutes, but not longer than 45 minutes (this is
easily done when the reports are prepared and submitted by electronic mail).
Each team leader submits the team status report to the project manager. The
individual status reports need not be submitted; these should be filed and
submitted to the project manager only on request.
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From: John Doe, Team leader
To: Frank Smith, Project Manager
Date: 15 June 1993
User interface team: Weekly status report
for the period 5-12 June 1993
1. Activities during the report period:
1.1 The design of the user help screens (activity 3.12.6) was completed on schedule.
The design specs were submitted to configuration control.
1.2 Coding of the command pass through modules (activity group 5.12) continues, and is
currently behind schedule by about 1 week.
2. Activities planned for next week:
2.1 Coding of the command pass through modules (activity group 5.12) will be
completed, and unit tests will be started.
2.2 Two members of the team (Ed and Joan) will attend a two day course on the
Programmer's interface to the new user interface package. This is an unscheduled
activity that was approved at the last project meeting. This will not delay the
schedule, due to the early completion of the command pass through modules (see
Section 1.2 above).
3. Problems:
3.1 The user interface package we originally planned to use was found to be inadequate
for the project. Two team members will study the new proposed package (sec Section 2.2
above). If the new package is also found to be unsuitable, then this will severely impact
our development schedule.
3.2 One of our team members (Jack Brown) has been using an old VTI00 terminal
instead of a workstation for the past two weeks, due to the acute shortage of
workstations. This is the reason why Jack's task 5.12 was not completed this week, as
scheduled.
Figure 5.8: Example of a weekly status report
The project manager also receives status reports from other project support
personnel such as the project systems engineer or the deputy project manager. The
project manager then prepares the project status report by combining the
individual reports received into a single three-part report. The project status report
is then submitted to top management.
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Project status reports are not necessarily submitted at the same frequency as
internal project status reports. Project reports may be submitted bi-weekly or
monthly.
·
Project status meetings
Project status meetings should be held periodically, usually once a week. A good
time for status meetings is either at the end of the last day of the week, or at the
beginning of the first day of the week. Status meetings also contribute to the
atmosphere of order and control within the project, and should be held regularly,
at a fixed time. Participants who cannot participate in the project status meeting
may, with the project manager's approval, delegate participation to another
member of their team.
The project manager prepares for the status meeting by reviewing the status
reports submitted by the key project members (particularly scrutinizing the
problem section). Therefore the status reports should be submitted at least two to
three hours before the status meeting. Project status meetings are attended by the
key project members. The meeting begins with a report of project activities and
general issues by the project manager. Then each participant should be given
about five to ten minutes to report on the activity of his or her team or area of
responsibility. The discussion of problems should not be restricted to the person
reporting the problem and the project manager. All problems may be addressed by
all participants, with possible assistance offered between team leaders, thus
making their experience available throughout the project. It is not the project
manager's role to provide solutions to the problems, but rather to guide the team
members toward solutions.
Solutions should be worked out whenever possible during the status meeting. Any
problem not resolved within five minutes should be postponed for discussion by
the relevant parties after the status meeting. The proceedings of all project status
meetings must be recorded. Verbatim minutes are not required, though the
following items should appear in the record:
1. Date of meeting
2. Name of meeting
3. Present (list of participants)
4. Absent (list of absent invited participants)
5. Action items (name, action, and date for completion)
6. Major decisions and items discussed
The record of the project status meeting should be typed and distributed as soon
as possible, but no later than by the end of the day. This is particularly important
when there are action items to be completed on the same day. When the project is
sufficiently large to justify a secretary, then the record will be taken and typed by
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the secretary. In smaller projects, the project manager can rotate this task each
week between the participants.
2.3
Software Project Management Framework
You all know that a project is much more than a collection of methodologies,
tasks, resources, and reviews. A project is a synchronized event where there is
perfect harmony and understanding between the participants. The participants are
equipped with the essential skills of planning, cooperating, helping, and
communicating. However, the most important activity here is to orchestrate the
movement of the participants. The onus lies with the project manager to
synchronize the activities of the project to result in a perfect presentation.
Although each project manager has a unique style of functioning, there are some
fundamental approaches that guide a project manager. These approaches are
traditional project management concepts and software engineering concepts. To
understand software projects and their dynamics, you must be aware of the
environment in which a software project is executed. This further requires an
understanding of the larger framework of software project management.
In this chapter, you will learn to, build a connection between traditional project
management concepts and software engineering concepts. Both traditional and
software projects share the same methodologies, techniques, and processes.
However, managing software projects requires a distinct approach. In this,
chapter, you will learn to apply traditional project management principles to
software projects. Further, you will learn about the responsibilities of a software
project manager. You will also learn about the phases in a software project and
the activities within each phase. Finally, the chapter will provide you an overview
of the problems that affect a software project and the myths prevalent about
software project management.
2.4
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
The development of a software project consists of many activities spread across
multiple phases. Dividing a software project into phases helps you in managing
the complexities and uncertainties involved in the software project.
2.5
Phases of a Software project
Each phase represents the development of either a part of the software product or
something associated with the software project, such as user manual or testing.
Each phase is composed of various activities. You can consider a phase complete
when all activities are complete.
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A phase is named according to the primary deliverable set that is achieved at the
end of that phase. For example, if the requirements document is required as the
output, the phase is called the requirements phase. Similarly, most software
projects have phases for analysis, design, construction, implementation, and
testing.
A typical software project includes the following phases:
­
Software requirement analysis phase
­
Software Design Phase
­
Software Planning Phase
­
Software construction phase
­
Software testing phase
­
Software acceptance and maintenance phase
2.6
SDLC Models
Different organizations have different ways of assessing and arranging the phases
in a project. These are called process models. Process models define how a
software life cycle actually works. They provide you with a framework to plan
and execute the various phases in the project. Typically, project life cycles display
the following characteristics:
·
The level of cost and effort required in a software project life cycle is small to
begin with but grows larger towards the end of the project. This happens
because the phases such as software construction and implementation, which
come at later stages in a software project, require more resources than the
initial phases of the project.
·
At the start of the SDLC, external entities, such as the customer and the
organization, play an important role with regard to their effect on the
requirements. However, towards the end of the software project as the cost
and effort required to implement changes rise, the requests for change in
requirements decreases.
·
The uncertainty faced by the software project is highest at the beginning of the
SDLC. Their level decreases as the project progresses.
There are a few standard software process models that you can use, with some
customization. Some standard process models are given below:
·
The Waterfall model: This is the traditional life cycle model. It assumes that
all phases in a software project are carried out sequentially and that each
phase is completed before the next is taken up.
·
The Prototyping Model: A model that works on an iterative cycle of gathering
customer requirements, producing a prototype based on the requirement
specifications, and getting the prototype validated by the customer. Each
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iteration of the life cycle builds on the prototype produced in the previous
iteration.
·
The Incremental Model: The Incremental model is an example of an
evolutionary life cycle model. It combines the linear nature of the Waterfall
model and the iterative nature of the Prototyping model. The Incremental
model divided the development life cycle into multiple linear sequences, each
of which produces an increment of the final software product. In this model,
the software product is developed in builds. A build is defined as a self-
contained unit of the development activity. The entire development cycle is
planned for a specific number of logical builds, each having a specific set of
features.
·
The Spiral model: Another evolutionary life cycle model that combines the
linear nature of the Waterfall model and the iterative nature of the Prototyping
model. The project life cycle is divided into phases, and each phase is
executed in all of the iteration of the Spiral Model.
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Table of Contents:
  1. Introduction & Fundamentals
  2. Goals of Project management
  3. Project Dimensions, Software Development Lifecycle
  4. Cost Management, Project vs. Program Management, Project Success
  5. Project Management’s nine Knowledge Areas
  6. Team leader, Project Organization, Organizational structure
  7. Project Execution Fundamentals Tracking
  8. Organizational Issues and Project Management
  9. Managing Processes: Project Plan, Managing Quality, Project Execution, Project Initiation
  10. Project Execution: Product Implementation, Project Closedown
  11. Problems in Software Projects, Process- related Problems
  12. Product-related Problems, Technology-related problems
  13. Requirements Management, Requirements analysis
  14. Requirements Elicitation for Software
  15. The Software Requirements Specification
  16. Attributes of Software Design, Key Features of Design
  17. Software Configuration Management Vs Software Maintenance
  18. Quality Assurance Management, Quality Factors
  19. Software Quality Assurance Activities
  20. Software Process, PM Process Groups, Links, PM Phase interactions
  21. Initiating Process: Inputs, Outputs, Tools and Techniques
  22. Planning Process Tasks, Executing Process Tasks, Controlling Process Tasks
  23. Project Planning Objectives, Primary Planning Steps
  24. Tools and Techniques for SDP, Outputs from SDP, SDP Execution
  25. PLANNING: Elements of SDP
  26. Life cycle Models: Spiral Model, Statement of Requirement, Data Item Descriptions
  27. Organizational Systems
  28. ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING, Organizational Management Tools
  29. Estimation - Concepts
  30. Decomposition Techniques, Estimation – Tools
  31. Estimation – Tools
  32. Work Breakdown Structure
  33. WBS- A Mandatory Management Tool
  34. Characteristics of a High-Quality WBS
  35. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
  36. WBS- Major Steps, WBS Implementation, high level WBS tasks
  37. Schedule: Scheduling Fundamentals
  38. Scheduling Tools: GANTT CHARTS, PERT, CPM
  39. Risk and Change Management: Risk Management Concepts
  40. Risk & Change Management Concepts
  41. Risk Management Process
  42. Quality Concept, Producing quality software, Quality Control
  43. Managing Tasks in Microsoft Project 2000
  44. Commissioning & Migration