TK3333 Software Management Topic 5: Planning

Contents Project Objective Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Network Diagram Project Management Methodology Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) for Information Systems (IS) development projects 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Real World Example Vignette: The Olympics Athens, Greece received the award to host the 2004 Olympic Games in 1997 Project work did not begin until 2000, after a warning was issued by the International Olympic Committee. $1.19 billion was added to the project cost because of construction delays and the need for increased security Less than 100 days remained, and it appeared that most construction projects would not be complete until a few days before the games Olympic project team worked under a very tight time schedule, with little time for independent tasks. Network planning techniques are essential in these situations to define hierarchy of projects A project manager can help team members to stay on task with short-term goals to assure that the long-term goals are met on time 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Real World Example Vignette: German Airlines Lufthansa German Airlines is the first airline to offer high-speed Internet access while flying in response to customer need. This would allow customers to check email, log onto company websites, and search for information on the Web. Pilots would benefit from Internet access with more precise weather forecasts Installation alone costs $400,000. Development, maintenance, and installation total in the “double digit millions” Corporations like Seimens, BASF, Software AG, and Boehringer Ingleheim were invited for trial runs Installation was scheduled to begin in January 2004. FlyNet should be available on Lufthansa’s trans-Atlantic flights by spring 2004

Project Objective Planning is an essential part of project management. In essence, the plan is a roadmap. The first step is to define the project objective. The objective must be clear, attainable, specific, and measurable. The objective is usually defined in terms of scope, schedule and cost. 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 4 4

Project Objective From management view, all objectives should be SMART : Specific - Be precise about what we are going to achieve. Measurable - Quantify our objectives. Achievable - Are we attempting too much? Realistic - Do we have the resources to make the objective happen (manpower, money, materials, methods)? Timed – When will we achieve the objective (e.g. within a month? By February 2020?) 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 4 4

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The second step is to determine what activities need to be performed. A list of all the activities must be developed. The WBS is a hierarchical tree of end items to be accomplished. A work item is one small piece of the project. A work package is the lowest-level item. WBS usually indicate the individual responsible for each work item. 7 7 5 7 5 6 5 5 5

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Work item Work package (i.e. lowest level work item) Activities within a work package Individual responsible Source: pg. 129

Responsibility Matrix Displays in tabular format the individuals responsible for the work items. “X” can be used to indicate who is responsible. “P” indicates who has primary responsibility. “S” indicates who has secondary responsibility.

Responsibility Matrix Source: pg. 119

Activities E.g. To conduct a Hari Raya “open house” An activity is a piece of work that consumes time. It does not necessarily require the expenditure of effort by people e.g. waiting for suppliers to deliver goods. E.g. To conduct a Hari Raya “open house” Plan/set food arrangement with caterer Plan/set venue Invite guests Wait guests to come Entertain guests “Close house” and collapse (so tired)! 8 8 6 8 6 8 6 6 6

Developing the Network Plan After all activities have been defined, they are graphically portrayed in a network diagram. Two network planning techniques were developed in the 1950s: Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Critical Path Method (CPM) 10 10 7 10 7 9 7 7 7

Gantt Charts Gantt charts, or bar charts, are popular due to their simplicity. Activities are listed down the left-hand side. A time scale is shown along the bottom. Do not display the interrelationships of activities. If one activity is delayed, it is not obvious how that will affect other activities. But, most project management software can show interdependencies with arrows. 11 11 8 11 8 10 8 8 8

Gantt Charts Source: pg. 122 14 14 9 14 9 11 9 9 9

Gantt Charts An example of Gantt Chart using MS Project. Diamonds: Milestones Arrows: Dependencies Blue bars: The length of an activity Black bars: How much the task has been completed 14 14 9 14 9 11 9 9 9

Network Principles Different formats can be used to draw the diagram: Activity in the box (AIB) a.k.a. activity on the node (AON) Activity on the arrow (AOA) Arrange Food 1 Arrange Food 16 10 16 16 10 12 10 10 10

Activity in the Box (AIB) Each activity is represented by a box. The activity description is written in the box. Each box is assigned a unique activity number. Activities have a precedential relationship. Some activities may be done concurrently. Arrange Food 1 Set Venue 2 Invite Guests 3 .... 17 17 11 17 11 13 11 11 11

Activity on the Arrow (AOA) Each activity is represented by an arrow. The activity description is written above the arrow. The tail of the arrow designates the start of the activity. The head of the arrow designates the completion of the activity. Arrange Food End activity Start activity 18 18 12 18 12 14 12 12 12

Activity on the Arrow (AOA) Activities are linked by circles called events. An event represents the finish of activities entering it and the start of activities leaving it. Each event is assigned a unique activity number. Arrange Food Invite Guests 1 3 4 Set Venue 2 event 19 19 19 13 13 13 13 13 15

Activity on the Arrow (AOA) 2 basic rules: Each event must have a unique event number i.e. no two events can have the same event number. Each activity must have a unique combination of predecessor and successor event numbers. Arrange Food 2 1 Arrange Beverages Arrange Food 3 1 Arrange Beverages 2 Not Allowed! Must use Dummy activities 19 19 13 19 13 15 13 13 13

Dummy Activities Used in the AOA format. Consumes zero time. Represented by a dashed arrow. Needed for: Helping in the unique identification of activities. Showing certain precedential relationships. 20 20 14 20 14 16 14 14 14

Dummy Activities 3 1 2 2 1 3 Arrange Food Arrange Beverages

Dummy Activities AOA vs AIB Example (pg. 125): Activities A & B can be done concurrently. When A is finished, C can start. When both A & B are finished, D can start. dummy AOA AIB

Loops Not allowed because it portrays a path of activities that perpetually repeats itself. Example (pg. 126) 21 21 15 21 15 17 15 15 15

Laddering Used for projects that have a set of activities that are repeated several times. Indicates concurrent activities. Example (pg.128) 22 22 16 22 16 18 16 16 16

Preparing the Network Diagram Ask the following questions regarding each activity: Which activities must be finished immediately before this activity can be started? Which activities can be done concurrently with this activity? Which activities cannot be started until this activity is finished?

Preparing the Network Diagram Should flow from left to right. Not drawn to a time scale. Focus on planning only. In contrast, Gantt chart caters both planning and scheduling. Can vary in how detailed the diagram should be. AIB vs. AOA is a matter of personal preference. AIB is the most common in project management software packages. See example pg. 130-131. 24 24 17 24 17 20 17 17 17

Preparing the Network Diagram May start by having a table: Task/Activity Dependencies Role T1 - Ali T2 Siva T3 T1,T2 Tan T4 Abu T5 T6 T3,T4 Sally T7 T8 T9 … T10 T5,T9 T11 T12 T13 T14 T8,T9 T15 T12,T14 T16 .... T1 1 Ali T3 2 Tan T2 Siva T4 4 Abu T6 6 Sally 24 17 24 24 17 20 17 17 17

Preparing the Network Diagram How detailed a network diagram should be? Identify activities for each work package. Apply “stepwise refinement” (i.e. start with “the mothers” before “the children”). Sometimes, identifying only “the mothers” can be sufficient (to avoid microplanning). Break obvious cutting points: Separate activities which are done by different people. Break activities based on tangible outputs. Activities should not be longer than monitoring cut-off time. If you plan to monitor progress every two weeks, an activity should not take more than 10 days. Else, break it into two or more activities so that they can be < 10 days each. 24 24 17 24 17 20 17 17 17

Planning for Information Systems Development An information system (IS) is a computer-based system that accepts data as input, processes the data, and produces useful information for users. The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is used to help plan, execute and control IS development projects. Similar to generic software development process models (i.e. waterfall model) Many people view the SDLC as a classic problem-solving approach. 25 25 18 25 18 22 18 18 18

Steps of the SDLC Read an IS example pg. 134-138 Problem definition Gather data; define problems; Feasibility study: technical, economic, operational etc. System analysis Define scope; interview users; study existing systems; defines user requirements. System design Conceptual designs for inputs, outputs, processing, hardware, software, database etc. System development Develop actual system using the purchased hardware. Software may be purchased, customised or developed. System testing Unit testing; Integration testing; user testing etc. System implementation New system is put on run to replace the old one – installation/deployment ; train users; conversion etc. Read an IS example pg. 134-138 28 28 19 28 19 23 19 19 19

Project Management Software Allow the project manager and the project team to plan and control projects interactively. Example: MS Project; Primavera … Contain many common features: Create list of tasks Track resources Track budgets Generate a variety of reports Many more…. Have a try with MS Project.

Some notes … Mistakes in planning: Not involve the people who must do the work. People who must do the work should participate in planning. People are convinced that they do not need a plan. The more important the project deadline, the more important the plan. Broad-brush planning. Must identify the major tasks to be performed. Microplanning. Never plan in more detail than you can control. Failing to plan for risks. There is a higher probability that things will accidentally go wrong than they will accidentally go right.

Some notes … Rules for planning: No task should have a duration greater than 4-6 weeks. If more, break the task into several increments. Engineering and programming task should have durations no greater than 1-3 weeks. Otherwise, it will 90% complete and stays there forever. All tasks must have “markers” that enable everyone knows that the work is actually complete. Milestones e.g. reports, system documentation etc. or any indicators.

Some notes … Guidelines for developing a WBS: Up to 20 levels can be used. If more, “we are purposely killing ourselves”. All paths do not have to go down the same level. Stop at the points that you can manage. Do not force the structure to be symmetrical. WBS is not meant to show sequencing of work. Sequencing is determined during scheduling. WBS should be developed before scheduling and resource allocation. Identify “what” first before we could decide “who”, “when”, “how long”.

Some notes … Guidelines for developing a WBS: WBS should be developed by individuals knowledgeable about the work. Different parts of WBS may be developed by various groups (who know best about the part/task). Later, we combine. Break down the tasks only to a level sufficient to produce an accurate estimate. One good thing about WBS is that we can accurately estimate the cost and time, as we have broken the project into meaningful chunks of work. WBS is a list of activities, not a grocery list. What we must do to complete the task, not what we must have/get.

Thank You Question? Group Project. Next (30/03) : Scheduling