Download Software Project Management (MB3G2IT) Question Paper: October 2008 and more Exams Software Project Management in PDF only on Docsity!
Question Paper
Software Project Management (MB3G2IT) : October 2008
Section A : Basic Concepts (30 Marks)
This section consists of questions with serial number 1 - 30. Answer all questions. Each question carries one mark. Maximum time for answering Section A is 30 Minutes.
1. (^) Which of the following capability level is a Quantitatively managed level?
(a) Level 0 (b) Level 1 (c) Level 2 (d) Level 3 (e) Level 4.
<Answer
2. (^) Which of the following software consists of standalone programs that solve a specific business need and is
used to control business functions in real-time? (a) Engineering/scientific software (b) Application software (c) Embedded software (d) Product-line software (e) Artificial intelligence software.
<Answer
3. (^) Which of the following statements is/are true about Rapid Application Development (RAD) model?
I. If developers and customers are not committed to the rapid-fire activities necessary to complete the system in a much abbreviated time frame, RAD projects will fail. II. If a system cannot be properly modularized, building the components necessary for RAD will be problematic. III. RAD may not be appropriate when technical risks are high. (a) Only (I) above (b) Only (II) above (c) Both (I) and (II) above (d) Both (II) and (III) above (e) All (I), (II) and (III) above.
<Answer
4. (^) In concurrent development model, if the customer indicates that changes in requirements must be made, the
modeling activity moves from under development state into (a) Awaiting changes state (b) Baselined state (c) Under revision state (d) None state (e) Under review state.
<Answer
5. (^) ISO 9001:2000 has adopted a “Plan-Do-Check-Act” (PDCA) cycle which is applied to the quality
management elements of a software project. Within a software context, the term “Do” (a) Establishes the process objectives, activities and tasks necessary to achieve high quality software and resultant customer satisfaction (b) Monitors and measures the process to ensure that all requirements established for quality management have been achieved (c) Implements the software process (d) Initiates software process improvement activities that continually work to improve the process (e) Eliminates the process objectives, activities and tasks which are not necessary to achieve high quality software.
<Answer
i. e x e
6. (^) Which of the following are the evolutionary models?
I. Concurrent Development model. II. Rapid Application Development (RAD) model. III. Prototype model. IV. Spiral model. (a) Both (I) and (II) above (b) Both (II) and (III) above (c) (I), (II) and (III) above (d) (I), (III) and (IV) above (e) (II), (III) and (IV) above.
<Answer
7. (^) Which of the following statements is/are true about integration testing?
I. Integration testing focuses on design and construction of software architecture. II. In integration testing, software and other system elements are tested as a whole. III. Integration testing concentrates on each component of the software as implemented in source code. (a) Only (I) above (b) Only (II) above (c) Both (I) and (II) above (d) Both (II) and (III) above (e) All (I), (II) and (III) above.
<Answer
8. (^) Which of the following statements is/are true about smoke testing?
I. It is the activity that helps to ensure that changes do not introduce unintended behavior or additional errors. II. It is an integration testing approach that is commonly used when software products are being developed. III. It should be designed to include only those tests that address one or more classes of errors in each of the major program functions. (a) Only (I) above (b) Only (II) above (c) Both (I) and (II) above (d) Both (II) and (III) above (e) All (I), (II) and (III) above.
<Answer
9. (^) Function Point (FP) metrics can be used effectively as a means for measuring the functionality delivered by a
system. If F^ i (i is a positive value) is the Value Adjustment Factor (VAF), then which of the following
relationship is used to compute FP?
(a) FP = count total × [0.65^ ^ 0.01 ×^ (F )]i
(b) FP = count total × [0.56 0.01 × (F )]
i
(c) FP = count total × [0.65 0.01 + (F )]
i
(d) FP = count total × [0.56 + 0.1 + (F )]i
(e) FP = count total × [0.65 + 0.1 ×^ (F )]^ i.
<Answer
Which of the following is not a Software Configuration Management (SCM) task? (a) Identification (b) Version control (c) Change control (d) Configuration auditing (e) Scalability.
<Answer
There are many LOC-oriented estimation models proposed in the literature. According to Bailey-Basili model, the Effort (E) is
(a)
× (KLOC)0.
(b) 5.5 + 0.73 × (KLOC)1.
(c)
× (KLOC)1.
(d) 5.288 × (KLOC)1.
(e) 4.2 × (KLOC)1. .
<Answer
Constantine suggests four “organizational paradigms” for software engineering teams. Which of the following statements are true? I. A closed paradigm structures a team along a traditional hierarchy of authority. II. A random paradigm structures a team loosely and depends on individual initiative of the team members. III. A synchronous paradigm attempts to structure a team in a manner that achieves some of the controls associated with the closed paradigm but also much of the innovation that occurs when using the random paradigm. IV. An open paradigm relies on the natural compartmentalization of a problem and organizes team members to work on pieces of the problem with little active communication among themselves. (a) Both (I) and (II) above (b) Both (III) and (IV) above (c) (I), (II) and (III) above (d) (I), (III) and (IV) above (e) (II), (III) and (IV) above.
<Answer
A quality metric that provides benefits at both the project and process level is Defect Removal Efficiency (DRE). What is the ideal value of Defect Removable Efficiency (DRE)? (a) 0 (b) 1
(c)
(d) 0. (e) 0.75.
<Answer
In which of the following debugging strategies the concept of Binary partitioning was introduced? I. Brute force. II. Back tracking. III. Cause elimination. (a) Only (I) above (b) Only (II) above (c) Only (III) above (d) Both (II) and (III) above (e) All (I), (II) and (III) above.
<Answer
In a project, mean-time-to-failure and mean-time-to-repair are 70, 30 units respectively, then what is the percentage of software availability? (a) 25. (b) 30. (c) 57. (d) 70. (e) 86.66.
<Answer
CMMI stands for (a) Capability Managed Model Integration (b) Capability Maturity Model Integration (c) Capability Maturity Model Information (d) Capability Maturity Measurement Integration (e) Common Maturity Model Integration.
<Answer
The risk projection steps performed by the project planner along with other managers and technical staff are I. Establish a scale that reflects the perceived likelihood of a risk. II. Delineate the consequences of the risk. III. Estimate the impact of the risk on the project and the product. IV. Note the overall accuracy of the risk projection so that there will be no misunderstandings. (a) Both (I) and (II) above (b) Both (III) and (IV) above (c) (I), (II) and (IV) above (d) (II), (III) and (IV) above (e) All (I), (II), (III) and (IV) above.
<Answer
Personal Software Process (PSP) model defines various framework activities. In which of the following activities, external specification for each component to be constructed are developed and a component design is created? (a) Postmortem (b) High-level design review (c) High-level design (d) Planning (e) Development.
<Answer
A legacy system has 600 modules. The latest release required that 60 of these modules be changed. In addition, 40 new modules were added and 20 old modules were removed. Compute the software maturity index for the system. (a) 0. (b) 0. (c) 0. (d) 0. (e) 0.9.
<Answer
If the probability of occurrence for a risk is 60 percent, cost to the project if that risk occurs is $25,300, then Risk Exposure (RE) is (a) $3, (b) $8, (c) $25, (d) $15, (e) $10,12,000.
<Answer
If there are 7 errors found before delivery of the software to the end-user and 3 defects are found after delivery, then Defect Removal Efficiency (DRE) is (a) 0. (b) 0. (c) 0. (d) 0. (e) 0.9.
<Answer
Testing effort can be estimated using metrics derived from Halstead measures. If the program volume is 8 and program level is 0.4, then find the Halstead effort. (a) 0. (b) 3. (c) 7. (d) 8. (e) 20.
<Answer
In the basis path testing, if a flow graph contains 10 edges and 4 nodes, then the number of predicate nodes are (a) 3 (b) 5 (c) 6 (d) 7 (e) 14.
<Answer
Compute the Schedule Performance Index (SPI), schedule variance, percent scheduled for completion, percent complete, Cost Performance Index (CPI) and cost variance for the project.
Caselet
Read the caselet carefully and answer the following questions:
4. What are the risks faced by Protonic Solutions while developing their projects? Critically analyze the reasons for those risks and suggest the mitigation steps to overcome such types of risks. ( 8 marks)
5. “Most of Protonic Solutions software development facilities were located in India and in US. They are facing some difficulties in regulating its software business globally.” In this context, what according to you, are the possible challenges faced by the software companies while implementing their software projects globally? ( 12 marks)
Protonic Solutions is one of India’s professionally managed business groups. Starting off in the vegetable oils business, the company has successfully moved into other businesses like computer software. Protonic Solutions believed the following factors could affect its software business: The size, timing and profitability of significant projects or product orders;
The proportion of services performed at clients sites as opposed to offshore facilities;
Seasonal changes that affected the mix of services provided to clients or in the relative proportion of services and products;
Seasonal changes that affected purchasing patterns among consumers of computer peripherals, personal computers, consumer care and other products;
The effect of seasonal hiring patterns and the time required to train and productively utilize new employees;
Exchange rate fluctuations.
Protonic Solutions believed its business environment was becoming increasingly competitive. Protonic Solutions competitors included software companies, large international accounting firms and their consulting affiliates, systems consulting and integration firms, other technology companies and in-house information services departments of clients. Protonic Solutions competitors were much bigger and had significantly larger financial, technical and marketing resources compared to Protonic Solutions. Protonic Solutions ability to compete depended on the price at which competitors offered comparable services, and how effectively competitors responded to their clients needs. Approximately 59% of Protonic Solutions total operating expenses in the Global IT Services and Products business, particularly personnel and facilities, were fixed in advance in a given quarter. As a result, unanticipated variations in the
number and timing of projects or employee utilization rates would have an impact on operating results. Protonic Solutions believed that period-to-period comparisons of results of operations were not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as indications of future performance. Approximately 57% of Protonic Solutions Global IT Services and Products revenues were from the US. During an economic slowdown, Protonic Solutions clients delayed or reduced their IT spending significantly. This in turn lowered the demand for Protonic Solutions services. Protonic Solutions used specified software engineering processes and its past project experience to reduce the risks associated with estimating, planning and performing fixed-price, fixed-time frame projects. But Protonic Solutions still took the risk of cost overruns, completion delays and wage hikes. Protonic Solutions had plans to make investments in complementary businesses, technologies, services or products, or enter into strategic partnerships with parties who could provide access to those assets. There was always the possibility of choosing wrong acquisition candidates. Most of Protonic Solutions software development facilities were located in India and in the US. Protonic Solutions intended to establish new development facilities in South-East Asia and Europe. Because of Protonic Solutions limited experience outside India, Protonic Solutions was subjected to additional risks. These included difficulties in regulating its business globally, export requirements and restrictions, and multiple tax structures. Many of Protonic Solutions contracts involved projects that were mission critical to its clients. Any failure in a client's system could result in a claim for substantial damages, regardless of Protonic Solutions responsibility for such failures. Protonic Solutions attempted to limit its contractual liability for damages resulting from negligent acts, errors, mistakes or omissions in rendering its services. Protonic Solutions ability to execute projects and to attract new clients depended critically on its ability to attract, train, motivate and retain highly skilled professionals, especially project managers, software engineers and other senior technical personnel.
END OF CASELET
END OF SECTION B
Section C : Applied Theory (20 Marks)
This section consists of questions with serial number 6 – 7. Answer all questions. Marks are indicated against each question. Do not spend more than 25 -30 minutes on Section C.
6. Explain in detail about W HH^5 principle. ( 10 marks)
7. What is meant by software reliability and software safety? Discuss the measures of reliability and availability. ( 10 marks)
END OF SECTION C
END OF QUESTION PAPER
16. B
According to Bailey-Basili model, the Effort (E) is 5.5 + 0.
× (KLOC)1.
< TOP >
17. A Constantine suggests four “organizational paradigms” for software engineering teams.
I. A closed paradigm structures a team along a traditional hierarchy of authority. II. A random paradigm structures a team loosely and depends on individual initiative of the team members. III. An open paradigm attempts to structure a team in a manner that achieves some of the controls associated with the closed paradigm but also much of the innovation that occurs when using the random paradigm. IV. A synchronous paradigm relies on the natural compartmentalization of a problem and organizes team members to work on pieces of the problem with little active communication among themselves.
< TOP >
18. B
Defect removable efficiency=
E
E D
Where, E= number of errors found before delivery of the software to the end-user. D = number of defects found after delivery. The ideal value is 1.
< TOP >
19. C Cause elimination is the Debugging strategy that introduces the concept of Binary partitioning.
< TOP >
20. D
Percentage of software availability =
MTTF
MTTF MTTR
70 100 70 30
(^) = 70
< TOP >
21. B CMMI is an acronym for Capability Maturity Model Integration. < TOP > 22. E The risk projection steps performed by the project planner along with other managers and technical staff are establish a scale that reflects the perceived likelihood of a risk, delineate the consequences of the risk, estimate the impact of the risk on the project and the product, note the overall accuracy of the risk projection so that there will be no misunderstandings.
< TOP >
23. C The personal software process model defines different framework activities. In High- level design activity, external specification for each component to be constructed are developed and a component design is created.
< TOP >
24. D
Software Maturity Index (SMI)= [M^ T^ ^ (Fa^ ^ Fc^ F )] / Md^ T
Where MT^ =The number of modules in the current release
Fc = The number of modules in the current release that have been changed
Fa = The number of modules in the current release that have been added
Fd = The number of modules from the preceding release that were deleted in the
current release. SMI = 600-(60+40+20)/600= 600-120/600 = 0.8.
< TOP >
25. D^ Risk Exposure (RE) is defined as:
RE = P C = 0.60 25,300 = $15,180.
< TOP >
26. B DRE = E/(E + D)
Given E = 7, D = 3 then DRE = 7/(7 + 3) = 0.7.
< TOP >
27. E^ Given PL=0.4 and V = 8
Halstead effort (e) = V/PL = 8/0.4 = 20
Halstead effort is 20.
< TOP >
28. C V(G) = E – N + 2
V(G) = 10 – 4 + 2
V(G) = 8.
V(G) = P + 1 where P = number of predicate nodes. 8 = P + 1 P = 7.
< TOP >
29. C Integrity = (1 – (threat (1 – security)))
Substitute the values, given threat = 0.45 and security = 0.
Integrity = 1 – (0.45 ^ (1 – 0.3)) = 0.685.
< TOP >
30. D The objectives of an Formal Technical Reviews (FTR) are:
To uncover errors in function, logic for any representation of the software. To verify that the software under review meets its requirements. To ensure that the software has been represented according to predefined standards. To achieve software that is developed in a uniform manner. To make projects more manageable.
< TOP >
3. From the given data,
Budget At Completion (BAC) = 500 person-days Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled = 154.50 = BCWS (Sum of all 15 tasks) (13+15+13+8+9.5+18+10+4+12+5+6+12+14+7+8) Budgeted Cost of Work Performed = 107.5 = BCWP (budget cost of 10 tasks or planned effort) (13+15+13+8+9.5+18+10+4+12+5) Actual Cost of Work Performed= 113.5 = ACWP (13.5+ 11+17+9+9+20+15+4+10+5)
- SPI = Schedule Performance Index =
BCWP 107.
BCWS 154.
- SV = Schedule Variance = BCWP – BCWS = 107.5 – 154. = –47 (Adverse)
- Percent Scheduled for Completion =
BCWS 154.
BAC 500
- Percent Complete =
BCWP 107.
BAC 500
- CPI = Cost Performance Index =
BCWP 107.
ACWP 113.
- CV = Cost Variance = BCWP – ACWP = 107.5 – 113.5 = –6 (Adverse).
< TOP
4. Approximately 59% of Protonic Solutions total operating expenses in the Global IT Services and Products business, particularly personnel and facilities, were fixed in advance in a given quarter. As a result, unanticipated variations in the number and timing of projects or employee utilization rates would have an impact on operating results. Protonic Solutions used specified software engineering processes and its past project experience to reduce the risks associated with estimating, planning and performing fixed-price, fixed-time frame projects. But Protonic Solutions still took the risk of cost overruns, completion delays and wage hikes. So, we can say that the risks faced by Protonic Solutions are schedule risks and budget risks. Schedule risks: Project schedule get slip when project tasks and schedule release risks are not addressed properly. Schedule risks mainly affect on project and finally on company economy and may lead to project failure. Schedules often slip due to following reasons: Wrong time estimation
Resources are not tracked properly. All resources like staff, systems, skills of individuals etc.
Failure to identify complex functionalities and time required to develop those functionalities.
Unexpected project scope expansions.
The possible steps to be taken to mitigate the risks: Organize project teams so that information about each development activity is widely dispersed.
Define documentation standards and establish mechanisms to ensure that documents are developed in a timely manner.
Conduct peer reviews of all work (so that more than one person is “up to speed”).
Assign a backup staff member for every critical technologist.
Budget risks: This gets due to the following reasons: Wrong budget estimation.
< TOP
Cost overruns.
Project scope expansion.
To mitigate the risks, project management must develop a strategy for reducing turnover. Among the possible steps to be taken are: Meet with current staff to determine causes for turnover (e.g., poor working conditions, low pay, and competitive job market).
Mitigate those causes that are under our control before the project starts.
Once the project commences, assume turnover will occur and develop techniques to ensure continuity when people leave.
5. Following are the most general global IT management challenges faced by software companies worldwide. Cultural Differences Software companies face certain cultural challenges while operating in the global software business environment. These challenges are due to the differences in the religion, customs, social attitudes, language, working styles, working relationships, etc., in different countries. In order to solve these problems, the software managers should be properly trained before they are sent to work in other countries. They should be well-informed about the culture of the country in which they are going to work. Software companies also have to ensure that the global software solutions developed by them do not fail when they are implemented at the local level. Another major concern for the software companies is the readiness of the local employees to share their knowledge and expertise with the global software managers. In some countries, the employees are more possessive and protective about the knowledge and expertise that they have and prefer not to share it with others. In the initial stages, the software managers need to gain a lot of knowledge and understanding about the operational and other aspects of the company. As the local employees are not cooperative, it is a challenging task for the software managers to work in such an atmosphere. Geopolitical Challenges Software companies face challenges when it comes to deploying software solutions developed by them across the world. This is because of the political situation in some countries. Software companies need to evaluate both opportunities and threats before expanding into another country. Information Requirements As the operations of global software companies are diverse in nature, information that would aid them in controlling and coordinating the operations is needed. There is also the need for efficient warning and reporting systems. The managers require functional information such as purchases, sales, accounting, etc., which reflects the past performance of the software companies. It is a difficult task to coordinate the activities of a global software company. Software offers tools which would aid the global software managers in managing the operations of the organization. Coordination The problem of coordination arises when the foreign development centers or the headquarters do not properly coordinate with the local development centers or vice versa. The local staff may not have the required skill set for designing the software systems and as a result may design a poor software solution. On the contrary, the local center is well aware of the economic and political environment and therefore is in a better position to design the software solution when compared to the foreign counterpart. To achieve proper coordination and favorable results, it is vital for the local center to constantly communicate and coordinate with headquarters. Varied Set of Skills Manpower skills differ from country to country. As these variations are at the macro level, they will have an impact on managing software companies globally. Therefore, these variations need to be properly interpreted and taken into consideration while designing global software solutions. Standardized System While operating at the global level, software companies need a standardized software solutions which would make it easier for them to access data from anywhere in the world. However, it is not possible to develop such a software solution due to the economic and cultural diversity of different countries. Standardization of global technology also requires standardization of the core systems, and this takes a
< TOP
When will it be done? The answer to this question helps the team to establish a project schedule by identifying when project tasks are to be conducted and when milestones are to be reached. Who is responsible for a function? Earlier in this chapter, we noted that the role and responsibility of each member of the software team must be defined. The answer to this question helps accomplish this. Where are they organizationally located? Not all roles and responsibilities reside within the software team itself. The customer, users, and other stakeholders also have responsibilities. How will the job be done technically and managerially? Once product scope is established, a management and technical strategy for the project must be defined. How much of each resource is needed? The answer to this question is derived by developing estimates based on answers to earlier questions. Boehm's W 5 HH principle is applicable regardless of the size or complexity of a software project. The questions noted provide an excellent planning outline for the project manager and the software team.
7. Software reliability is defined in statistical terms as “the probability of failure-free operation of a computer p in a specified environment for a specified time”. Software safety is a software quality assurance activity that focuses on the identification and assessment of potential hazards that may effect software negatively and cause an entire system to fail. Measures of Reliability and Availability Early work in software reliability attempted to extrapolate the mathematics of hardware reliability theory to the prediction of software reliability. Most hardware related reliability models are predicated on failure due to wear rather than failure due to design defects. In hardware, failures due to physical wear (e.g., the effects of temperature, corrosion, shock) are more likely than a design-related failure. Unfortunately, the opposite is true for software. In fact, all software failures can be traced to design or implementation problems; wear does not enter into the picture. There has been debate over the relationship between key concepts in hardware reliability and their applicability to software. Although an irrefutable link has yet to be established, it is worthwhile to consider a few simple concepts that apply to both system elements. If we consider a computer-based system, a simple measure of reliability is Mean-Time- Between-Failure (MTBF), where MTBF = MTTF + MTTR The acronyms MTTF and MTTR are mean-time-to-failure and mean-time-to-repair respectively. Many researchers argue that MTBF is a far more useful measure than defects/KLOC or defects/FP. Stated simply, an end-user is concerned with failures, not with the total error count. Because each defect contained within a program does not have the same failure rate, the total defect count provides little indication of the reliability of a system. In addition to a reliability measure, we must develop a measure of availability. Software availability is the probability that a program is operating according to requirements at a given point in time and is defined as Availability = [MTTF/ (MTTF + MTTR)] x 100% The MTBF reliability measure is equally sensitive to MTTF and MTTR. The availability measure is somewhat more sensitive to MTTR, an indirect measure of the maintainability of software.
< TOP >
< TOP OF THE DOCUMENT >
