Software Project Management Lecture 8 Software Project Performance

Software Project Management Lecture 8 Software Project Performance Tracking and Monitoring Software Project Management

Overview n n n Importance of tracking and monitoring Creating a management framework Tracking the performance Monitoring the progress and resource Getting project on the right track Software Project Management 2

Importance of tracking and monitoring n Make sure the project n n n Can be delivered on time and within budget Is of good quality Meets client’s needs Software Project Management 3

What can go wrong in product? n Inadequate functionality of a product n n Poor quality of a product n n n Related to software requirements specification Related to quality management Late delivery of the product Overly exceeding the budget Software Project Management 4

Planning, Tracking and Monitoring n Planning n n Tracking n n Know where we want to go Know where we are Monitoring n How to go from where we are to where we want to go Software Project Management 5

Tracking n n n Finding out what is happening Need a plan and schedule To collect data Software Project Management 6

Monitoring n n n Comparing the current status with the targets Need a plan, a schedule, collected data To exercise control over the project To ensure the targets are met To devise contingency plans Software Project Management 7

A suggested framework No Publish initial plan Monitor the progress Software Project Management project Yes completed? Review the project 8

A suggestion framework (cont’d) Monitor the progress Publish revised plan gather project info. Software Project Management Take remedial action compare progress vs targets No satisfied? Yes 9

Tracking the performance n n Setting check points Collecting data Software Project Management 10

Check Point n Based on regular time intervals n n n Can be weekly or monthly or quarterly Depend on what to check and how to Based on a particular event n n At the end of each activity In the middle of a critical activity Software Project Management 11

Check Point (cont’d) n Should be set before the plan was published n Make sure everyone knows when and what the check points are Software Project Management 12

Collecting data n n Partial completion report Risk report Software Project Management 13

Partial completion report n n Indicate the work done by the personnel and the time spent on the work Optional items n n likelihood of failing to complete the task by the scheduled date Estimated time of completion Software Project Management 14

Partial completion report – Example Time Sheet Staff: Paul Week ending: 14/05/99 Rechargeable hours Project Act. code Desc. Hours % done Sch. date Est. date P 20 A 267 Code mod A 7 24 90 01/06/99 20/05/99 P 35 B 397 Testing mod B 8 12 30 24/06/99 Total 36 Non-rechargeable hours Code Desc. L 90 hours in Lieu Hours Comments and Authorization 4 Total Software Project Management Authorized by Peter 4 15

Risk reporting n Indicate the likelihood of meeting the scheduled target date n n Instead of asking the estimated completion date Use the traffic-light method Software Project Management 16

The traffic-light method For assessing a product n Identify the key (first-level) elements n Break them into smaller components n Assess each component by n n n Green as ‘on target’ Amber as ‘not on target but recoverable’ Red as ‘not on target and recoverable only with difficulty’ Software Project Management 17

The traffic-light method (Cont’d) n n Assess the key-level element based on the assessments of their components Assess the overall product based on all the assessments (key elements and their components) Software Project Management 18

The traffic-light method – Example Activity Assessment Sheet Staff : Zobel Ref: Io. E/P/100 Activity: Code and test module A Week number 13 14 15 Activity summary G A R Component Comments Screen handling procedures G G A File updating G A R Compilation G G A Run test data G A A Software Project Management 16 19

Monitoring the progress n n Need to monitor time Need to monitor cost Software Project Management 20

Monitoring the time n Tools for visualizing the progress n n Presenting the collected data in a way that is easy to understand Help to easily identify the problem activities or areas that need to be taken care of Software Project Management 21

Visualizing Techniques n The Gantt chart n n A static picture showing the current progress of the project The Timeline n A dynamic picture showing the progress of the project and how the project has changed through time Software Project Management 22

The Gantt Chart n An activity bar chart showing n n n the activities, their scheduled dates and duration the reported progress of the activities; ‘today cursor’ Software Project Management 23

Today The Gantt Chart (cont’d) Software Project Management 24

Today The Slip Chart (cont’d) Software Project Management 26

The Timeline n A plot of the elapsed time against the planned time of the activities indicating n n n the actual progress of the activities; and the rescheduled activities by the end of each week show where and when the targets have changed through the life of a project Software Project Management 27

The Timeline (cont’d) Software Project Management 28

The Timeline (cont’d) n Can show the slippage of the activities through the life of the project n n The Gantt chart cannot Help to analyze and understand the trends and reason for changes n to avoid slippage in future projects Software Project Management 29

Monitoring the Cost n Earned Value Analysis n A cost monitoring technique recommended by Do. D of US and Australia Software Project Management 30

Earned Value Analysis n Produce a baseline budget from the project plan n n Calculate the earned value of each activity Earned value = time for an activity / total time for the project n E. g. earned value = number of days for an activity / number of days for the project Software Project Management 31

Earned Value Analysis (cont’d) n Monitor the earned value n Once an activity is completed, its elapsed time is recorded and its earned value (EV) is accumulated to the cumulative EV Software Project Management 32

Earned Value Analysis (cont’d) Task Budgeted Scheduled Cumulative % cumulative week completion weeks earned value Specify overall system 6 6 6 20. 0% Specify module A 3 9 9 30. 0% Specify module B 2 11 11 36. 7% Check specification 1 12 12 40. 0% Design module A 3 15 15 50. 0% Design module B 2 17 17 56. 7% Code and test module A 6 23 23 76. 7% Code and test module B 4 27 27 90. 0% System Integration 1 28 28 93. 3% System Testing 2 30 30 100. 0% Software Project Management 33

Earned Value Analysis (cont’d) Software Project Management 34

Earned Value Analysis (cont’d) Software Project Management 35

Earned Value Analysis (cont’d) n Budget variance n n = Actual cost to date - Baseline budget Indicates how actual cost differs from the planned cost Software Project Management 36

Earned Value Analysis (cont’d) n Schedule variance n n n = Earned Value – Baseline budget Indicates how the actual schedule differs from the planned schedule Schedule performance index n n n = Earned Value / Baseline budget SPI > 1 means “better than planned” SPI < 1 means “slower than planned” Software Project Management 37

Earned Value Analysis (cont’d) n Cost variance n n n = Earned Value – Actual cost to date Indicates how the planned cost differs from actual cost Cost Performance index, CPI n n n = Earned Value / Actual cost to date CPI > 1 means “better than planned” CPI < 1 means “slower than planned” Software Project Management 38

Prioritizing Monitoring n Priority list of activity to monitor n n n Critical activities Non-critical activities with no free float Non-critical activities with less than a specified float High risk activities Activities with critical resources Software Project Management 39

Bringing the Project Back to Target n n You are now behind the schedule Possible actions: n n n Reschedule the target date Reschedule other activities with shorter duration Reorder the activities Software Project Management 40

Shorten the Critical Activities n n Putting pressure on the personnel Increasing the resources n n n Personnel work longer hours Additional analysts to interview users Competent programmer to code modules in the critical activity Software Project Management 41

Reorder the activities n n Relax the constraints on the start of an activity before the completion of the previous one Subdivide the components of an activity so that they can be done in parallel Software Project Management 42

References n n Hughes, B. , and Cotterell, M. (1999) Software Project Management, 2 nd ed. , Mc. Graw Hill. Down, A. , Coleman, M. , and Absolon, P. (1994) Risk Management for Software projects, Mc. Graw Hill. Software Project Management 43