Introduction - Software and Systems Project Management - Lecture Slides, Slides of Software Project Management

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Introduction

Software Crisis

 Many software-related failures: auto-pilot systems, air traffic

control systems, banking systems, IRS.  On January 15, 1990, the AT&T long-distance telephone network broke down, interrupting long-distance telephone services in US for over 8 hours. [Missing break in a switch statement.]  On June 4, 1996, the maiden flight of the new and improved Ariane 5 rocket exploded 37 seconds after lift- off.  On June 8, 2001, a software problem caused the NYSE to shut down the entire trading floor for over an hour.  Many, many, many more.

Chaos Report – Standish Research Group

Project Success: Type 1. The project is completed on-time and on- budget, with all features and functions as initially specified. (2000: 28%) Project Challenged: Type 2. The project is completed and operational but over-budget, over the time estimate, and offers fewer features and functions than originally specified. (2000: 49%) Project Impaired: Type 3. The project is canceled at some point during the development cycle. (2000: 23%) (Are ALL impaired projects failures???)

What Went Right? – Improved Project Performance

 The Standish Group‘s CHAOS studies show improvements

in IT projects in the past decade

Measure 1994 Data 2002 Data Result

Successful projects

16% 34% Doubled

Failed projects

31% 15% Halved

Money wasted on challenged and failed projects

$140 B out of $250 B

$55 B out of $255 B

More than halved

What is the problem?

Ever-Present Difficulties

 Few guiding scientific principles

 Few universally applicable methods

 As much people problems as technological

 managerial / psychological / sociological

 Sponsors unwilling to spend money for supposedly

unrewarding activities  Quality

 Organizational rivalries

 Time pressure

 Cost pressure

Roadmap for Software Project

Management

Software Development Process

 What is the software development process?

 A process is a set of documented procedures, methods, practices, and tools used to produce a software product.

 The process will answer the following:

 What to do? Tasks/activities  How to do it? Procedure/practice  When to do it? Sequence of activities  What are the artifacts? (input/output)

Software Project

 If the programmer and designer follow the process, then

the artifacts they produce will be  Predictable  Based on the requirements  Easy to maintain and control  Consistent with the writing style  Of acceptable quality  Within acceptable milestones

 By following the process, we will be able to know precisely

what/how/when/where it happened!

What is Project Management?

 Project management is ―the application of knowledge,

skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements‖ (PMBOK® Guide, Third Edition, 2004, p. 8)

 Software Project Management is the art to define, plan,

execute, and monitor the activities that will bring software products to existence.

 Project managers strive to meet the triple constraint by

balancing project scope, time, and cost goals

What is a project?

What‘s a project?

 PMI definition

 A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service

 Progressively elaborated

 With repetitive elements

 A project manager

 Analogy: conductor, coach, captain

 Better: A sequence of connected and related activities

(requirement engineering, system engineering, coding, testing, documentation, controlling, …) that must be completed by a specific time, within budget, and according to specification.

How Are Software Projects Different?

 Consists of hardware and software.

 Software is [usually] custom written and one-of-a-kind.

 Hard to determine progress. [One can see how far the

Calatrava Tower (Chicago Spire) has progressed. One cannot see how far a piece of software has progressed]

 Difficult to estimate schedule.

 Difficult to determine cost.

Software Project

Quality Engineering Principle:

 The quality of the software system is controlled by the

quality of the process used to produce that software.

Quality Management Principle:

 Document the process

 Measure the process

 Improve the process based on the measurement

Software Project Trade-offs

What is the goal?

 Balance the main three (other 2 constraints scope and

resource) … in order to:  Stay within the budget (cost)  Deliver on time to gain market share (time)  Exceed customer satisfaction (quality)

The time/scheduling hypocrisy

 What can you tell me about the next project, you ask?

 It is due on February 1st^ tells your manager

 We hold deadlines too dearly. Of course, time to market is

critical

 But what generally happens on projects when you hit that

deadline?

What makes a project successful?

Successful project management means meeting all three goals (scope, time, cost) – and satisfying the project’s sponsor.

Trade-off Triangle

 Project constraints: Fast, cheap, good. Choose two.

Also stated as: ―On-time, on-budget, high-quality. Choose two.‖  Reality often ignored in project planning

 Know which of these are

fixed & variable for every project  Time  Scope (aka Cost)  Quality