• How do AWM’s systems change retail operations?
• How do they improve the customer experience?
• What ethical concerns do they raise?
• Information is an organization's most important asset.
• Creating, capturing, organising, storing, retrieving, analysing, and
acting on information are fundamental activities in every
organisation
O’Brien & Marakas
(2010)
Introduction to
Software Project Management
Unit I
Defining Software
• Software is instructions (computer programs) that when executed
provide desired features, function and performance
Categories of Software
• System software
• Application software
• Embedded software
• Web/mobile applications
• Artificial intelligence software
Legacy Software
Project
A project, technically, is a temporary endeavour to create a unique product or
service.
• Projects can have many attributes:
• They change or improve environments in organisations.
• They get things done.
• They are unique from other work.
• They have a defined start and end date.
• They require resources and time.
• They solve problems.
• They seize opportunities.
• They are sometimes challenging.
Project Management
• Project management involves coordinating people, vendors,
and resources. Project management requires excellent
communication skills, a strong will to protect the project
scope, and leadership skills to enforce quality throughout the
project work
• Software project management is a type of project
management that focuses specifically on creating or
updating software.
Project Management Knowledge Areas
• Project Scope Management
• Project Time Management
• Project Cost Management
• Project Quality Management
• Project Human Resources Management
• Project Communications Management
• Project Risk Management
• Project Procurement Management
• Project Integration Management
Constraints in Project Management
Constraints in Project Management
• Resource Constraints
• Tight Deadlines
• Scope limitation
• Budgetary Limitations
• Government Regulations
• Limitations of Software
• Hardware requirements
• Anything that restricts the options
Unplanned changes to the project scope is called ‘scope creep’.
Why do Projects fail?
Why do Projects fail?
• Lack of executive support
• Lack of stakeholder involvement
• Unclear requirements
• Technology problems
• Scope creep and excessive customization
• Unrealistic time frames
• Poor communication
• Poor change management
Software Project Management focuses on the
3 P’s
• People
• Product
• Process
People
The Stakeholders
The Software Team
• The structure of the team should be based on project characteristics
such as
• Difficulty of the problem to be solved
• “size” of the resultant program(s) in lines of codes / function points
• Time that the team will stay together
• Rigidity of the delivery date
• Degree of communication required for the project
• Quality and reliability of the system to be built
Product
2. Product
• The product and the problem must be examined at the beginning of
the project. The scope of the product must be established and
bounded
Problem Decomposition
Problem decomposition, sometimes called partitioning or problem
elaboration, is an activity that sits at the core of software
requirements analysis.
• Current system performance issues;
• The introduction of a new system, application, task or technology; or
• Any opportunities perceived to benefit the organisation.
Process of Problem Analysis
a) Planning
b) Observation
c) Exploration
d) Evaluation
e) Reporting
a. Problem Analysis Planning
• Organising the analysis team
• Determine Management's role
• Determine tools and techniques to be used
Eg. HRIS
b. Observation
• Analyse the current situation
• Define the needs
• Identify performance gaps
• Classify the data
• Determine the priorities
• Review with management
c. Exploration
• Collect the data
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Focus groups
d. Evaluation
• Data collected to be reviewed and assessed to create a clear picture of the current and
desired processes, data sources and issues.
• The project team should review the data to gain additional perspective and encourage
suggestions, noting duplications or omissions.
• ( visual representation of priorities using check sheets, Pareto charts, data flow diagrams to
support and summarise the analysis)
e. Reporting
• Involves preparing a document summarising the findings and
presenting recommendations.
• The report should include an overview of the current systems and
processes and describe how a new system could address the issues
and weaknesses.
• The report should contain a requirements definition so that when
the new system is tested, each requirement can be verified as
being met.
3. Process
Other Approaches
• SDLC / Waterfall approach
• Prototyping
• Agile Methodologies
Prototyping
Agile Methodologies
• An agile methodology utilizes an evolutionary systems
development approach that focuses on creating small,
client-approved parts of the system as the project
progresses rather than delivering one large application
at the end of the project.
• Agile methodologies can be thought of as following a
“spiral” development approach, where the system
quickly evolves and improves over a series of iterations,
or sprints, that spiral through each of SDLC phases.
• Each sprint has its own planning, analysis, design and
implementation activities that inform the subsequent
sprint
4. Project
4. Project
Boehm’s 5
W HH Principle
• Why is the system being developed?
• What will be done?
• When will it be done?
• Who is responsible for a function?
• Where are they located organizationally?
• How will the job be done technically and managerially?
• How much of each resource is needed?
