Chapter Extension 15 Systems Development Project Management Study

Chapter Extension 15 Systems Development Project Management

Study Questions Q 1: Why is formalized project management necessary? Q 2: What are the trade-offs in requirements, cost, and time? Q 3: What are the dimensions of project management? Q 4: How does a work breakdown structure drive project management? Q 5: What is the biggest challenge for planning a systems development project? Q 6: What are the biggest challenges for managing a systems development project? Q 7: What is the single most important task for users on a systems development project? Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -2

Q 1: Why Is Formalized Project Management Necessary? Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -3

Q 2: What Are the Trade-offs in Requirements, Cost, and Time? Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -4

Baseline Plan Stipulates: • Tasks to be accomplished • Resources (human and materials) assigned to tasks • Schedule for completion of each task Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -5

Baseline Plan (cont'd) Things never go according to plan • Requires trade-offs between requirements, costs, and time • Critical people leave • Hiring freezes • Natural disasters • Competitor actions • Technology changes • New management Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -6

Q 3: What Are the Dimensions of Project Management? Formalized project management for large projects • Project Management Institute (PMI) best practices, processes, techniques – International organization – Endorsed by ANSI and ISO – Project Management Professional (PMP) certification ® • PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) Guide for Project Management Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -7

Dimensions of Project Management Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -8

Q 4: How Does a Work-Breakdown Structure Drive Project Management? Work-Breakdown Structure (WBS) – Hierarchy of tasks – Tasks end with deliverables Ø Documents, designs, prototypes, data models, database designs, working data entry screens, etc. – Identifies task dependencies – Estimate task duration, cost and labor needed – Created with project management software, such as Microsoft Project Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -9

Sample WBS for Definition Phase of a Thin. Client Order-Entry System Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -10

Gantt Chart of WBS for Definition Phase of a Thin-Client System Critical path tasks in red Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -11

Gantt Chart with Resources Assigned Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -12

Q 5: What Is the Biggest Challenge for Planning a Large-Scale Systems Development Project? Biggest challenge is scheduling – How long does it take to: Ø Develop a large data model? Ø Adapt data model to user satisfaction? Ø Develop a computer program? – Scheduling errors accumulate (e. g. , snowball) – Difficult to do credible planning – Every task may be on critical path Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -13

Three Approaches to This Challenge 1. Avoid major schedule risks and license software from vendors. 2. Admit impossibility of systems development scheduling and plan accordingly. 3. Attempt to schedule development project despite difficulties. Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -14

Estimation Techniques • Estimate using past projects as a guide. • Estimate lines of code to be written. • Use industry or company averages to estimate time required. • Estimate function points in a program, determine number of lines of code, and estimate schedules. Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -15

Q 6: What Are Biggest Challenges for Managing a Systems Development Project? • • • Coordination Diseconomies of scale Configuration control Unexpected events Maintaining team morale over time Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -16

Q 7: What Is the Single Most Important Task for Users on a Systems Development Project? Taking responsibility for requirements • Systems built to support business functions, to help organization achieve goals and objectives • Managing requirements is critical • Ensure requirements are complete and accurate Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -17

Role of Users • Users cannot be passive • Responsible for ensuring complete and accurate requirements • Responsible for managing requirements changes, avoiding requirements creep • Define testable conditions for functions and features • Evaluate data models, provide test data and sample scenarios • Conduct user testing (beta testing) • Final approval of system Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -18

Active Review Q 1: Why is formalized project management necessary? Q 2: What are the trade-offs in requirements, cost, and time? Q 3: What are the dimensions of project management? Q 4: How does a work breakdown structure drive project management? Q 5: What is the biggest challenge for planning a systems development project? Q 6: What are the biggest challenges for managing a systems development project? Q 7: What is the single most important task for users on a systems development project? Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall ce 15 -19

ce 15 -20