1 Chapter 5 Project management

2 Project management : Is Organizing, planning and scheduling software projects

3 Topics covered Management activities Project planning Project scheduling Risk management

4 Concerned with activities involved in ensuring that software is delivered on time and on schedule and in accordance with the requirements of the organizations developing and procuring the software Project management is needed because software development is always subject to budget and schedule constraints that are set by the organization developing the software. Software project management

5 The product is intangible (can’t be seen or touched), the managers can’t see the progress of product. The software development process is not standardized as building engineering, the process varies from organization to another Many software projects are 'one-off‘: each project is different from previous others, even the manager who have a long experience may find it difficult to solve the problem in new software project, Because of rapid technological change in computer. Lessons learned or experienced may not be transfer to new project. Software engineering distinctions (differences) (which can make the software management difficult)

6 Most managers have these responsibilities: Proposal writing, objectives of project and how it will be carried out. It include cost and schedule estimates. Project planning and scheduling, identifying activities, milestone and deliverable produced by project. Project costing, cost estimation for resources needed to a accomplish the project plan. Project monitoring and reviews, it is a continuing activities which can predict potential problems, and track the progress of the project. Such as daily discussion with project staff. Personnel selection and evaluation, select a skilled personal. Report writing and presentations, write a report with critical information to client and contractor, present this report during progress review. 5.1 Management activities

7 Project staffing May not be possible to appoint يوظف the ideal people to work on a project because of: Project budget may not allow for the use of highly-paid staff Staff with the appropriate experience may not be available An organization may wish to develop employee skills on a software project Managers have to work within these constraints.

8 5.2 Project planning Probably the most time-consuming project management activity It is the tasks required to define resources, timelines. The project plan sets out, the resources available to the project, the work breakdown تجزئة, and schedule for the work

9  Continuous activity (planning is iterative process) from initial concept through the system delivery. Plans must be regularly changed as new information becomes available, it evolves as the better information becomes available.. Various types of plans may be developed to support the main software project plan that is concerned with: schedule plan budget plan quality plan validation plan configuration plan maintenance plan staff plan 5.2 Project planning, cont…

10 Types of project plan

Project plan structure Most plans should include the following sections: Introduction, describe objectives and set constraints (budget, time). Project organization, the way the development team is organized. Risk analysis, describe possible risks, and the risk reduction strategies. Hardware and software resource requirements, describe the hardware and the support software required to carry out the development, estimate of the price.

12 Project plan structure, cont.. Work breakdown, describe the breakdown of the project into activities and identifies the milestones and deliverables associated with each activity. Project schedule, describe the dependencies between activities, estimate time required to reach each milestone and allocation of people to activities. Monitoring and reporting mechanisms, describe the management reports which should be produced.

Activity organization ( milestones and deliverables ) Milestones are the end-point of a process activity, the software process must be broken down into basic activities. At the end of each milestone there should be a formal output such as a report. Deliverables are project results delivered to customers deliverables are milestones but milestones need not be deliverables. Milestones are an internal project result used by manager to check project progress that are not delivered to customer

14 Milestones in the RE(Req. Eng.) process or activties

Project scheduling Split project into tasks and estimate time and resources required to complete each task Organize tasks concurrently (simultaneously or side by side) to make optimal use of workforce. Minimize task dependencies to avoid delays caused by one task waiting for another to complete Dependent on project managers intuition and experience schedules must be continually updated as better progress info becomes available.

16 The project scheduling process

17 Scheduling The maximum a mount of time of any activity is from 8-10 weeks. The minimum at least 1 week If it is larger than this, it must be divided.

Bar charts and activity networks Graphical notations used to illustrate the project schedule Show project breakdown into tasks. Tasks should not be too small. They should take about a week or two Network Activity show task dependencies and the the critical path Bar charts show schedule against calendar time The minimum time required to finish the project is called the critical path, which it is the longest path in the activity graph.

19 Task duration and dependencies Example: T3 start after T1 finish.

20 Activity network for example, if T8 is delayed 2 weeks, it will not affect the completion date because it does not lie on critical path. The critical path is: T1  T3  T9  T11  T12The minimum days required to complete project is : =55 day Activity network

21 Activity network

22 Activity timeline

23 Staff allocation

Risk management Risk management is concerned with identifying risks and drawing up plans to minimize their effect on a project. What are the top ten risks for this project? For each of the risk, what is the chance that risk will become a problem and what is the impact if it does?

25 Risk management continues.. A risk is a probability that some adverse (unfavorable) circumstance will occur, such categories are: Project risks affect schedule or resources. e.g. Loss of an experienced designer Product risks affect the quality or performance of the software being developed. e.g. the failure of a purchased component. Business risks affect the organization developing a software e.g. a competitor introducing a new product

26 Risk management continues.. All risk types are overlap : if an experienced programmer leave the project (project risk)  replacement with new one with less experience will result in programming errors (product risk)

27 Possible Software risks

28 The risk management process (iterative process) Risk identification Identify project, product and business risks Risk analysis Assess the likelihood and consequences of these risks Risk planning Draw up plans to avoid or minimize the effects of the risk Risk monitoring Monitor the risks throughout the project

29 The risk management process

Risk identification Six types of risks that can be found: Technology risks: Risks derived from Hw + SW People risks Tool risks : Risks derived from CASE tool Organizational risks : from Organization environment Requirements risks: from Req. Change Estimation risks: from estimate the resources used to build the system

31 Risks and risk types

Risk analysis Assess probability and affects of each risk Probability may be very low, low, moderate, high or very high Risk effects might be catastrophic, serious, tolerable or insignificant

33 Risk analysis

Risk planning Consider each risk and develop a strategy to manage that risk, these strategies fall into three categories: Avoidance strategies The probability that the risk will arise is reduced E.g. deal with defective component by bought a component. Minimization strategies The impact of the risk on the project or product will be reduced. E.g. staff illness [ overlap work] Contingency plans If the risk arises, contingency plans are plans to deal with that risk, if the worse happens, you are prepared for it. E.g financial problem

35 Risk management strategies

Risk monitoring Assess each identified risks regularly to decide whether or not it is becoming less or more probable Also assess whether the effects of the risk have changed Each key risk should be discussed at management progress meetings

37 Key points Good project management is essential for project success The intangible nature of software causes problems for management Managers have diverse roles but their most significant activities are planning, estimating and scheduling Planning and estimating are iterative processes which continue throughout the course of a project

38 A project milestone is a predictable state where some formal report of progress is presented to management. Risks may be project risks, product risks or business risks Risk management is concerned with identifying risks which may affect the project and planning to ensure that these risks do not develop into major threats Key points