Lecture 1: Introduction and

SPM Fundamentals

Dr. Nelly Condori-Fernandez

Software Project Management-course 2014-2015

 What will you learn?
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. Apply best practices to develop competencies and skills in planning
projects to ensure successful outcomes.
2. Identify the most classic mistakes in managing software projects
3. Select the most appropriate software life cycle according to software
projects characteristics.
4. Create a software project plan using different management techniques that
deal successfully with the main triple constraint: cost, time and scope.
5. Appreciate the need for careful planning, monitoring and control of
software projects
 Theory

How is organized the course?

Practice

Week Tuesday Thursday

W1 Lesson 1: Project Management Fundamentals Group presentation: Classic Mistakes

Working group: new green/sustainable software
application (Brainstorming)
W2 Lesson2: Project Scope management Group presentation: Project Mandate
Working group: project scope definition
W3 Lesson 3: Selection of an appropriate project Group presentation: Project Scope
approach Working group: WBS at level 2
W4 Guest Lecturer Working group: WBS at level 3 plus lifecycle rationale
W5 Lesson 4: Measurement and Estimation I MIDTERM EXAM
Group Presentation: WBS and lifecycle rational
W6 Lesson 5: Scheduling Group presentation: Measurement and estimation I
Working group: Scheduling

W7 Lesson 6: Estimation II - Software cost Group presentation: Scheduling

Working group: Software cost
W8 Lesson 7: Risk Management Group presentation: Cost estimation, Risk assessment
and planning
Working group: Risk Management

W9: Final exam and presentation

Schedule
 8 weeks: from 31 March to 21 May
 Tuesday and Thursday

IMPORTANT DATES:
Midterm exam: 30 April
Final exam: 27 May
Final presentation: 29 May
Practice

Tutoring (room T-427):

 Monday (13.30 – 15.00) Individual assignment
Group assignment
 Thursday (13.30 – 15.00 )

Deadlines for deliverables see in blackboard (Syllabus)

Time limit for all assignments is at 12.00 (Noon)
Overview Final exam

Midterm exam

Project scope Lifecycle Measurement Risk

Foundations Scheduling
management planning and Estimation management

Development Project network

Course Project scope Cone of
lifecycle models diagram Definitions
introduction management uncertainty
overview fundamentals

Project Mapping lifecycle

Defining scope: Basis for software
management models to your PERT techniques Categories of risks
the charter estimating
fundamentals project

Techniques for
Software Developing work Risk identification,
size, effort and
Development break down Gantt charts assessment and
schedule
fundamentals structures planning
estimation

Scope validation Critical chain

Evaluating risks
and control scheduling

Change control

7 Lectures
1 Guest lecturer
Grading
 Individual assignments (3): 10%

 Group assignment (6): 40% threshold =6

 Practical Team Project
Completeness
 Report 80%
Clarity
Consistency
 Presentation (Group presentation and final presentation) 20% Correctness

 Exams (Midterm and Final) 50% threshold = 6

Practice part : Group assignment

Collaborative work to :

Create a software project plan

of a green/sustainable software application:

Software code
 PROJECT INITIATION PROJECT PLANNING

 Outline of the project  Project Scope definition

 Project mandate
 Development planning
 Project charter

Using template
 3-level WBS
 Measurement and effort
Get a better understanding
about Green and estimation
sustainable definition.  Project Schedule
(Reading articles, other
similar software projects)
 Risks assessment

Report of your Project plan

 • Project manager,
• quality assurance manager,

Practice part
• requirements engineer,
• software developer

PROJECT
MANDATE

PROJECT WORK BREAK

SCOPE
CHARTER DOWN
DEFINITION
STRUCTURE

SIZE EFFORT
MEASUREMENT ESTIMATION

SCHEDULING RISK
MANAGEMENT
Module enrollment and Team setup
 Teams of four members {Project manager, quality assurance
manager, requirements engineer, software developer}
 Enroll yourself on Blackboard -> Group enroll

 Teams start working next Thursday

 If you had any problems, contact to teaching assistants

Teaching Assistants
Thomas Dekker: Dwayne Gefferie:
 Contact:  Contact:
[email protected] [email protected]
Background: Background:
previously IMM previously IMM
 Materials

1. Software Project Management, Bob Hughes and Mike Cotterell.

Mc Graw-Hill, 2008.
Available in the VU Library
2. Rapid Development, McConnell, Steve, Microsoft Press, 1996,
Available in the Blackboard

3. Information Technology Project Management, Schwalbe, Kathy, 6th

ed., Course Technology, 2011, (this text includes a 120 day
evaluation copy of MS-Project 2010).

Note that during the term I will also assign readings from online
resources (e.g. scientific papers, blogs).
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?
BREAK: 10 MINUTES
Software Project Management (SPM)
fundamentals
Why is SPM important?
A lot of money is at take with ICT projects.
 European commission, Horizon 2020 (2014-2015)
 ICT projects
EUR 686.5 million -> 2014 budget

 In the UK, financial year 2002-2003

 Central government : ICT projects > roads project
 ₤2.3 billion -- ₤1.4 billion

• 1 in 3 project comes
in over budget
Why isisSPM
What important?
a project?
 In US, the Standish group analized

13, 522 projects

In 2003

Recommended website:
http://blog.standishgroup.com/
Examples of projects

1. Building a house

2.- Amending a financial computer system to deal with a common European currency

3.- Titanic construction

4.- Building up a “green” furniture

5.- Developing a game for increasing the sociability of elderly people

Project definition

Characteristics
 Project definition
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service

 “Temporary”
Can be years
Result can be lasting
Team can be temporary

 “Unique purpose”
 Ex: thousands of buildings, but each is unique
 different sizes and forms (need different choices from PM)
Project
characteristics
 Requires resources, often from various areas
 A project involves uncertainty
 A project should have a primary customer or sponsor
Project characteristics
1. Planning is required
2. Non-routine task are involved
3. Specific objectives are to be met or a specified product is to be created
4. Work is carried out for someone other yourself
5. Work involves several specialisms
6. People are formed into a temporary work group to carry out tasks
7. Work is carried out in several phases

Uncertainty of
Routine
outcome

Jobs Projects Exploration

Are software projects really different from
other projects?

Not really …but

 Invisibility
 Complexity
 Conformity
 Flexibility

make software more problematic to build than other

engineered artefacts.
24
Is SPM more challenging?
Every project starts
with a concept And then more people get involved

The project leader The engineers The designers

(Safe ) (Atractive)

Getting a different understanding!!

 Is SPM more challenging?
Then it actually gets … and the timeliness of
built the project

This is how it was built according This is when the But this is what
to the original plans and project was
specifications completed really needed!
NOT ACCEPTED!
Exercise 1
Put them into an order most closely matching
your idea of what constitues a complex project.

1. Producing an edition of a newspaper

2. Putting a robot vehicle on Mars to search for signs of life
3. Getting married
4. Amending a financial computer system to deal with a common European
currency
5. A research project into what makes a good human-computer interface
6. A second year programming for a computing student
7. Writing an operating systems for a new computer
8. Installing a new version of a word processing package in an organization.
5 minutes!
Exercise 1: Solution
There is not a unique solution, it always would depend on criteria, and other factors that are being
considered.

1. Putting a robot vehicle on Mars to search for signs of life (2)

2. Writing an operating system for a new computer (8)
3. Amending a financial computer system to deal with a common European currency (4)
4. A research project into what makes a good human-computer interface (5)
5. Getting married (3)
6. Installing a new version of a word processing package in an organization (7)
7. Producing an edition of a newspaper (1)
8. A second year programming for a computing student (6)
 Activities covered by project management

 Feasibility study

Is project technically feasible and worthwhile from a business point of view?

• Planning
Only done if project is feasible

• Execution
Implement plan, but plan may be
changed as we go along

30
The software development life cycle

ISO 12207
Plans, methods and methodologies

Methodology = a set of methods When, who, what

Context

Plan
Methods
+ start and end dates for each activity,
A way of working staffing, tools and materials etc
32 Software project management (5e) - introduction ©
The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009
Essence of Project Management

Important actions:
To ensure a project successfully
meets the project goals  Establish project goals
(objectives)!  Determine what is truly
important
 Track progress towards the
project goals
 Provides means to correct along
the way
 Document the project along the
way
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

Different people will have

different interests

34
 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

36
Measures of effectiveness
How do we know that the goals has been
Goals: achieved?

• Overall goal– user satisfaction with By a practical test, that can be objectively measured
software product and assessed.
• Analyst goal – accurate requirements e.g. for user satisfaction with software product:
• Developer goal – reliable software  Number of complaints – if low etc etc

To ensure a project successfully

meets the project goals
(objectives)!

37 Software project management (5e) - introduction © The

McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009
Interactions / Stakeholders
As a Project Manager, who do you interact with?

1) INTERNAL to the project team

 Project leader
 Functional managers
 Developers
 …
2) EXTERNAL to the project team but within the same organization
 Users to carry out systems testing
 ..
3) EXTERNAL to the both project team and organization
 Customers
 Contractors
 Project sponsor Managing all stakeholders’ expectations is
challenging: conflict mediation.
 …
What is management?
This involves the following activities:

 Planning – deciding what is to be done

 Organizing – making arrangements
 Staffing – selecting the right people for the job
 Directing – giving instructions
 Monitoring – checking on progress
 Controlling – taking action to remedy hold-ups
 Innovating – coming up with solutions when problems emerge
 Representing – liaising with clients, users, developers and other
stakeholders
39
PMI’s 9 Knowledge Areas
CORE knowledge areas:

1.Scope

2.Time

3.Cost

4.Quality

Facilitating knowledge areas:

1.Human resources

2.Communications

3.Risk
http://www.pmi.org/
4.Procurement
Rapid Development Strategy: 4 “Pillars”
(1) Development Fundamentals
(2) Classic Mistake Avoidance

(3) Schedule-Oriented Practices

 Project scope Management

 Project planning

 Measurement & Estimation

 Scheduling
Classic mistake Development Risk Schedule
avoidance fundamental Management oriented
practices
(4) Risk Management
Development fundamentals

Objective

To understand the importance of the four dimensions of software

development for getting successful projects
Four Dimensions of Development
• Product size
• Product characteristics

• Management and
technical methods

These are dimensions: so not a trade-off but

combination..or better: synergy

Rapid Development. Steve McConnell

 People Dimension

Productivity Variations Among Software Developers and Teams: The Origin of 10x
http://blogs.construx.com/blogs/stevemcc/archive/2008/03/27/productivity-variations-
among-software-developers-and-teams-the-origin-of-quot-10x-quot.aspx

 Improvements:
 Team selection
 Team organization: roles and responsibilities (Matching people to tasks)
 Motivation

• Career development
• Balance: individual and team
• Clear communication
 People Dimension (2): Conway's Law
 "organizations which design
systems ... are constrained to
produce designs which are copies of
the communication structures of
these organizations".
 Conway, Melvin E. (April,
1968), "How do Committees
Invent?", Datamation 14 (5):
28–31, retrieved 2009-04-05

communication structures
Process Dimension
 2 Types: Management & Technical ISO 12207

 Why ?

 Cut time-to-market and cost

 Improve Quality

 How it can help?

 Rework avoidance
 Quality assurance
 Risk management
 Lifecycle planning
 Customer orientation
Product dimension
 The “tangible” dimension: “touchable”,
measurable, transferable
 Product size management
 Product characteristics and requirements
 Feature creep management
Technology dimension
 Often the least important dimension
 Language and tool selection
 Value and cost of reuse

Choosing tools effectively and

managing the risks involved are key
aspects of a rapid-development initiative
Do you have any
question?
 Group presentation: Classic mistakes
http://www.stevemcconnell.com/rdenum.htm

Distribution:
G1: 4,5,16,19,29
G2: 8,12,20,31,34
G3: 10,13,22,24,28

When: next Thursday

Individual assignment

 Read de case study on “Classic Mistakes” (located in Blackboard)

 Identify classic mistakes

 Deadline 3th April (12.00)

 …Next lecture
1. What work will be done as part of the project?
2. What unique product , service, does the customer or
sponsor expect from the project?
3. How will the scope be verified?

1. How long should it take to complete the project?

2. What is the project’s schedule? 1. What should it cost to complete the project?
3. How will the team track actual schedule 2. What is the project’s budget?
performance? 3. How will costs be tracked?
4. Who can approve changes to the schedule? 4. Who can authorize changes to the budget?