Software Development Life Cycle Decisions Project Management Disciplines

Software Development Life Cycle Decisions Project Management Disciplines Stacey Shearn September 8, 2005

Introduction Incorporating Project Management Disciplines Introduction • • A Repeatable IS Process Having and Communicating a Project Plan Risk Analysis & Mitigation Change Control

TREND Process • Goals/Scope • • • Requirements Technical Level of Effort (LOE) Requirements Approval Screen Mockups Development and QA Testing Change Request

TREND Process Goals /Scope • What problem are we trying to solve? • What is OUT of scope? • Keep it General Requirements • Need Requirements before you can have a good schedule • Consistency – Need General Documents for Errors, etc. • Requirements tell us when we have achieved success • Wording

TREND Process Level of Effort • Developers Evaluate Requirements on a technical level. • Avoiding technical mistakes by asking the right questions. – “Why is the requirement stated this way? ” • Communicate a meaningful Technical Level of Effort (LOE) – Give enough information for the business to make informed decisions about the final requirements. – Revise Requirements based on LOE (Listing database efforts)

TREND Process Screen Mockups • What should the screens look like? • What design accomplishes the goals of usability? • Shorten the Development cycle with an approved interface design prior to the start of development. • Moved Screen Design to later in process so there wasn’t as much rework.

TREND Process Development • Open line of communication between the business and the development staff. Someone that can answer questions. • Small detailed achievable goals • Small adjustments throughout – stay on course • Approaching higher risk components first • Small, collaborative subteams working to provide maximum results

TREND Process Quality Assurance • Scheduling QA into our development plan • QA and Developers work together to define testable sections • QA kept up to date on Developer progress • Bug Tracking Process – Prioritizing Bugs • Automated tools - Certify

Change Control Managing Change • The answer isn’t “No” • Get Level of Effort • Understanding Impact: Time; Cost; Scope; Quality • Negotiation – what phase does a change go in? What’s the priority?

Progress Tracking Status • Daily time reporting (minimal effort) • Weekly developer progress/planning meeting • Monthly Stakeholder meeting Communication • Delivered via a website or other just-intime method • Something that everyone understands • COMMUNICATE!

Risk • Risk must be addressed whether real or perceived • Continually manage Risk. Thinking about conversion now and identifying Risk will allow us to better plan our strategy. • Staffing – Long time to hire someone and get them trained • Working to lower risk increases your chances of accurate and on-time execution – understandable project plan

Conclusion Embracing Project Management Techniques • Need a published visible plan that everyone works against • Need a repeatable process for each section • Evaluate and Reevaluate Risk throughout the project • Levels of Effort evaluated throughout • Constantly manage Change Control • Factor in Non Development Time (Levels of Effort, Interviewing, Training, Vacation, Time spent on other projects, etc. )

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