1. Chapter 3 Managing the Information Systems Project
Modern Systems Analysis and Design Sixth Edition
Chapter 3
Managing the Information Systems Project

2. A Brief Case Study: Denver International Airport
In 1988, Denver, Colorado embarked on a project to construct a state-of-the-art airport to replace the existing Stapleton Airport. Stapleton was viewed as incapable of expansion because of its location. The newly proposed airport would reduce costs of operation, allow for sufficient growth, and eliminate pollution and air traffic delays. The new airport, named Denver International Airport (DIA) was scheduled to open on October 31, 1993.

3. In the September 1994 issue of Scientific American, W
In the September 1994 issue of Scientific American, W. Wayt Gibbs chronicled the DIA as an example of a modern software crisis:  "Denver's new international airport was to be the pride of the Rockies, a wonder of modern engineering. Twice the size of Manhattan, 10 times the breadth of Heathrow, the airport is big enough to land three jets simultaneously in bad weather. Even more impressive than its girth is the airport's subterranean baggage-handling system. Tearing like intelligent coal-mine cars along 21 miles of steel track, 4,000 independent "telecars" route and deliver luggage between the counters, gates and claim areas of 20 different airlines. A central nervous system of some 100 computers networked to one another and to 5,000 electric eyes, 400 radio receivers and 56 bar-code scanners orchestrates the safe and timely arrival of every valise and ski bag.

4. At least that is the plan
At least that is the plan. For nine months, this Gulliver has been held captive by Lilliputians-errors in the software that controls its automated baggage system. Scheduled for takeoff by last Halloween, the airport's grand opening was postponed until December to allow BAE Automated Systems time to flush the gremlins out of its $193-million system. December yielded to March. March slipped to May. In June the airport's planners, their bond rating demoted to junk and their budget hemorrhaging red ink at the rate of $1.1 million a day in interest and operating costs, conceded that they could not predict when the baggage system would stabilize enough for the airport to open “

5. Eventually the Denver International Airport (DIA) did open, but the advanced baggage system was only partially functioning. The four delayed openings of the airport caused many residents to speculate that DIA really stood for "Do It Again," "Doesn't Include Airlines," or "Done In April". In order to finally open the terminal, the city invested $51 million to install a conventional baggage system as a work around to the high-tech system. Ironically, the conventional system was completed four weeks ahead of schedule and $3.4 million under budget.
The obvious question is: why was the high-tech system so difficult to implement?
Video from MSNBC

6. Success Rate for IT Projects
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7. Importance of Project Management
Project management may be the most important aspect of systems development.
Effective PM helps to ensure
The meeting of customer expectations.
The satisfying of budget and time constraints.
PM skills are difficult and important to learn.
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8. Deciding on Systems Projects
System Service Request (SSR)
A standard form for requesting or proposing systems development work within an organization
Feasibility study
A study that determines whether a requested system makes economic and operational sense for an organization
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9. Managing the Information Systems Project
A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a beginning and an end
Project management
A controlled process of initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project
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10. Managing the Information Systems Project (cont.)
Project manager
Systems analyst with management and leadership skills responsible for leading project initiation, planning, execution, and closedown
Deliverable
The end product of an SDLC phase
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11. Project Management Activities
FIGURE 3-4
A project manager juggles numerous
activities
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12. Phases of Project Management Process
Phase 1: Initiation
Phase 2: Planning/Controlling
Phase 3: Execution/Controlling
Phase 4: Closedown
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13. Planning and Control
With no plan it is almost impossible to control the project
Controlling involves tracking progress against a plan and modifying the plan when variances are observed
James Lewis refers to planning and control as the Siamese twins of project management – codependent upon one another and inseparable

14. Controlling the Project
Control is exercised by comparing where you are to where you are supposed to be so that corrective action can be taken when there is a deviation.
From J. P. Lewis, Fundamentals of Project Planning

15. Planning Asks … What must be done? How will it be done?
Who will do it?
How long will it take?
How much will it cost?

16. Strategies for Effective Planning
Plan for planning
Good plans aren’t developed on an ad hoc basis
Planning sessions should be carefully planned
The persons who will work the plan should participate in its development
Expect to change the plan
Conditions change
New information is discovered
Risk management should be included
Understanding the purpose of the planning
Accurate and clear problem statement
SMART objectives
How are the objectives to be achieved?

17. Components of a Project Plan
Problem statement
Mission statement
Project objectives
Project deliverables
Acceptance criteria
Communication plan
Work breakdown structure
Schedule
Budget
Resource requirements
Change and control system
Risk assessment plan
From the Project Charter

18. SMART objectives

19. The Plan versus a Schedule
Defines the activities
Documents the interaction between activities
Estimates the duration for completing each activity
Analyzes the sequences, duration and resource requirements to crate a project schedule
The schedule
Determine start and finish dates for project activities
Often must be iterated(along with processes that are the input) especially the duration estimating

20. Project Planning Techniques
Provide regular status updates to stakeholders
Include team members in planning sessions and plan preparation
Provide various alternatives to management
Scope constrained alternatives
Time constrained alternatives
Resources alternatives
Plan to plan
Obtain plan approval before beginning execution

21. PM Phase 1: Project Initiation
Assess size, scope and complexity, and establish procedures.
Establish:
Initiation team
Relationship with customer
Project initiation plan
Management procedures
Project management environment
Project workbook
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22. PM Phase 2: Project Planning
Define clear, discrete activities and the work needed to complete each activity
Tasks
Define project scope, alternatives, feasibility
Divide project into tasks
Estimate resource requirements
Develop preliminary schedule
Develop communication plan
Determine standards and procedures
Identify and assess risk
Create preliminary budget
Develop a statement of work
Set baseline project plan
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23. Some Components of Project Planning
Statement of Work (SOW)
“Contract” between the IS staff and the customer regarding deliverables and time estimates for a system development project
The Baseline Project Plan (BPP)
Contains estimates of scope, benefits, schedules, costs, risks, and resource requirements
Preliminary Budget
Cost-benefit analysis outlining planned expenses and revenues
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24. Some Components of Project Planning (cont.)
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Division of project into manageable and logically ordered tasks and subtasks
Scheduling Diagrams
Gantt chart: horizontal bars represent task durations
Network diagram: boxes and links represent task dependencies
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25. Task List Initial attempt to define the work to be done
List can enhance brainstorming about project work
Need not be in any particular order at first
Task lists are driven by project objectives

26. High-Level Work Breakdown Structure
A deliverables-oriented grouping of the full scope of work for a project.
Helps confirm a common understanding of the full scope of the project.
Any work not included in the WBS is not included in the scope of the project.

27. Work Breakdown Structure
Developed by identifying the high-level deliverables and then successively subdividing that deliverable into increasingly detailed and manageable subsidiary deliverables or components.
A WBS is not the work, but the actual deliverables required for the project

28. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Uses the task list as its basic input
Organizes task list into a hierarchical structure
May group tasks from task list as it organizes
Validate against task list and project objectives
Task List
Work Breakdown
Structure

29. From Task List to WBS Task List WBS Task A Task B Task C Task D Task E
Task F
WBS
Overall Task
SubTask 1
SubTask 2
Task B
Task C
Task A
SubTask 2.1
Task F
Task E
Task D

30. Generic Tree Structure

31. By Stage
Project Management Deliverables

32. Outline 1. Initiation 2. Kickoff 3. Scope 1.1 Project Documentation
1.1.1 Common Folder on Shared Drive
1.1.2 Project Journal
1.1.3 Issue Log
2. Kickoff
2.1 Project Charter Draft
2.1.1 Project Purpose
2.1.2 Project Constraints
2.1.3 Project Organization
2.2 Kickoff Meeting
2.2.1 Validate Leadership Roles
2.2.2 Areas Involved
3. Scope
3.1 Project Scope Document
3.1.1 High-level Project Schedule
3.1.2 Objectives and Approaches
3.2 Risk Management Plan
3.2.1 Risk Matrix
3.2.2 Residual & Secondary Risks
3.3 Context Diagram

33. Ten Step Planning Process
Identify your business requirements, objectives, and approaches.
Build your WBS
Brainstorm the tasks required to create deliverables.
Sequence your task.
Look at the relationships & dependencies.
Identify resources for each task.
Estimate time required for each task.
Remember control is primary consideration.
Convert the data into a project schedule.
Review the project schedule with the project team.

34. Scheduling Diagrams Gantt Chart
FIGURE 3-10
Gantt chart showing project tasks, duration times for those tasks, and predecessors
Special-purpose project management software is available for this.
Chapter 3
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35. Scheduling Diagrams Network Diagram
FIGURE 3-13
A network diagram illustrating tasks with rectangles (or ovals) and the relationships and sequences of those activities with arrows
Special-purpose project management software is available for this.
Chapter 3
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Preliminary Budget
FIGURE 3-15
A financial cost and benefit analysis for a systems development project
More on this later
Spreadsheet software is good for this.
Chapter 3
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37. PM Phase 3: Project Execution
Plans created in prior phases are put into action.
Actions
Execute baseline project plan
Monitor progress against baseline plan
Manage changes in baseline plan
Maintain project workbook
Communicate project status
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38. Monitoring Progress with a Gantt Chart
FIGURE 3-17
Gantt chart with tasks 3 and 7 completed
Red bars indicate critical path; lines through bars indicate percent complete.
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39. PM Phase 4: Project Closedown
Bring the project to an end
Actions
Close down the project.
Conduct post-project reviews.
“Lessons Learned”
Close the customer contract.
Chapter 3
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40. Representing and Scheduling Project Plans
Gantt Charts
Network Diagrams
PERT Calculations
Critical Path Scheduling
Project Management Software
Chapter 3
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41. Gantt Charts vs. Network Diagrams
Show task durations.
Show time overlap.
Show slack time in duration.
Network diagrams
Show task dependencies.
Do not show time overlap, but show parallelism.
Show slack time in boxes.
Chapter 3
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42. Project Scheduling with PERT/CPM Charts
Complex Task Patterns
When various task patterns combine, you must study the facts carefully in order to understand the logical sequence of tasks
A systems analyst must understand that project calculations will not be accurate unless the underlying task pattern is logically correct

43. Project Scheduling with PERT/CPM Charts
The Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)
Critical Path Method (CPM)
The important distinctions between the two methods have disappeared over time, and today the technique is called either PERT, or CPM, or PERT/CPM

45. Estimating Task Duration
PERT: Program Evaluation Review Technique
Technique that uses optimistic (o), pessimistic (p), and realistic (r) time estimates to determine expected task duration
Formula for Estimated Time:
ET = (o + 4r + p)/6
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46. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Effort and Duration
Effort defines the total required number of time units (often measured in hours) to complete a task
Duration refers to the calendar time (often in days or weeks) required to complete task
Effort is distributed over a duration
This is done by assigning some particular number of persons to the task at various times
Or, we can assign percentages of one or more persons’ time to the task at various times
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47. Effort, Duration, and Resource Allocation
For example, a 750 hour effort would have a 10-week duration if 2 persons were allocated to it fulltime (assuming a fulltime week = 37.5 hours) for that period
However, this same effort could result in drastically different durations, with different resource allocations:
40 weeks – if 50% of a person’s time is allocated to it
20 weeks -- if 1 person is allocated to it fulltime
15 weeks -- with1 person fulltime for 10 weeks, then 2 persons fulltime for the next 5 weeks
5 weeks – with 4 persons allocated to it fulltime

48. Activity
Consider the following WBS (next slide) for a project (Note that tasks would have meaningful full names and not just letters in a real WBS – we use letters here to make this exercise more compact.)
The numbers given in each rectangle indicate the number of days of effort estimated to be required to do the task.
When a task has subtasks, the value given for the parent task is the additional number of days to coordinate/integrate the subtasks.
© The KTP Company, 2006

49. Activity
In using a WBS to estimate effort, we would typically estimate the lowest level tasks first, then work upward. This is called bottom-up estimating.
Project A B 10 30
Note: This means that E and F are subtasks of task B, etc. E F C 70
120 D 15 30
What is the total effort estimated for the entire project?
Can you say how long the project will take? Explain. G H 20 40 I J 90
100
What if 2 people work on the project full time (37.5 hours each per week)?
© The KTP Company, 2006

50. Critical Path Scheduling
A scheduling technique whose order and duration of a sequence of task activities directly affect the completion
Critical path: the shortest time in which a project can be completed
Slack time: the time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project
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Critical Path Example
Network diagram shows dependencies
FIGURE 3-25
A network diagram that illustrates the activities (circles) and the sequence (arrows) of those activities
Chapter 3
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52. Project Scheduling with PERT/CPM Charts
Overview of PERT/CPM
PERT/CPM is called a bottom-up technique
Project tasks
Once you know the tasks, their duration, and the order in which they must be performed, you can calculate the time that it will take to complete the project

53. Project Scheduling with PERT/CPM Charts
PERT/CPM Chart Format
Task box
T (task duration, or time)
ES (earliest start)
EF (earliest finish) – expected project duration
LF (latest finish)
LS (latest start)

54. Project Scheduling with PERT/CPM Charts
PERT/CPM Chart Format
Task box
D (task duration or time)
ES (earliest start)
EF (earliest finish)
LF (latest finish)
LS (latest start) ES
Task EF D
Slack or float LS LF

55. CPM Diagram Nodes -- Example
early start
(determined by
earliest finish
for all preceding
activities)
early finish (= 4 + 3)
Task
7 weeks
3 weeks
2 weeks
6 weeks
9 weeks 2
4 weeks 1
Duration (Must be known)
float (= 9 – 7 or = 6 – 4) (slack) 3
late finish (determined
by the latest start for
all succeeding activities)
late start
(= 9 – 3)
Add this type of information for each node

56. Project Scheduling with PERT/CPM Charts
Critical Path
Slack time
If any task along the critical path falls behind schedule, the entire project is delayed
A critical path includes all tasks that are vital to the project schedule

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58. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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59. Using Project Management Software
Many powerful software tools exist for assisting with project management.
Example: Microsoft Project can help with
Entering project start date.
Establishing tasks and task dependencies.
Viewing project information as Gantt or Network diagrams.
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60. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Project Start Date
FIGURE 3-28
Establishing a project starting date in Microsoft Project for Windows
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61. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Entering Tasks
FIGURE 3-29
Entering tasks and assigning task relationships in Microsoft project
for Windows
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62. Viewing Network Diagram
FIGURE 3-30
Viewing project information as a network diagram in Microsoft Project for Windows
Hexagon shape indicates a milestone.
Red boxes and arrows indicate critical path (no slack).
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63. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Viewing Gantt Chart
FIGURE 3-31
Gantt chart showing progress of activities (right frame) versus planned activities (left frame)
Black line at top indicates a summary activity (composed of subtasks).
Diamond shape indicates a milestone.
Chapter 3
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64. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Summary
In this chapter you learned how to:
Explain the process of managing an information systems project.
Describe the skills required to be an effective project manager.
List and describe the skills and activities of a project manager during project initiation, project planning, project execution, and project closedown.
Explain what is meant by critical path scheduling and describe the process of creating Gantt charts and network diagrams.
Explain how commercial project management software packages can be used to assist in representing and managing project schedules.
Chapter 3
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