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Types of infosys projects

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- software development - package implementation projects - system enhancement projects - consultancy and business analysis - systems migration projects - infrastructure projects - outsourcing projects - business continuity projects

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Why PM

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- need to harness increasingly diverse knowledge - growing demands for a broad range of complex goods and services - increased worldwide competition - increases likelihood of accomplishing goals of a project - gives us someone to spearhead project and to hold accountable for completion " The need to build complex products under intense time and budget pressure whilst harnessing a diverse range of expertise towards a single goal under the threat of intense competition demands a methodology by which all of these threads are brought together to meet project objectives"

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Project Objectives

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1) Time 2) Cost 3) Quality 4) Scope Can trade each of them off Implications: meet the budget, finish on schedule, meet specifications that satisfy the client

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Project definition

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A time and cost restrained operation to realise a set of defined deliverables (the scope to fulfil the project objectives) up to quality standards and requirements

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Project Manager + 3 skills

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- key individual on a project - usually assigned at early stages 1) Technical - comprehensive understanding, and can confidently challenge others 2) Transactional - planning project activities/organising resources - overseeing execution of plan, conducting reviews, tracking progress, reporting 3) Transformational - soft skills (ability to connect with people) - good listener, can deal with egos/conflicting personal and political agendas

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Project characteristics

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- importance - scope - life cycle with final due date - interdependencies - uniqueness - resources - conflict

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Cons of PM

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- greater organisational complexity - higher probability organisational policy will be violated - managers that cannot accomplish the desired outcome may blame uniqueness

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5 Challenges in requirements engineering

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1) Customers don't really know what they need 2) Requirements always change 3) Customers have unreasonable timelines 4) Communication gap exists between stakeholders

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1) Customers don't know what they want

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-> spend enough time at beginning to understand objectives, deliverables and scope -> make visible any assumptions -> get customer to sign off

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2) Requirements always change

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-> because someone ignored or didn't recognise a requirement, or some people don't know what they want until they see it -> have clearly defined process for receiving, analysing and incorporating change requests -> set milestones for each development phase --> change requests clearly communicated to all stakeholders and documented

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3) Customers have unreasonable timelines

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-> common mistake is to agree to a timeline without having: conducted a detailed analysis of scope, determined available resources -> convert requirements spec into a project plan -> detail tasks and resources needed at each stage and model best-case, middle-case and worst-case scenarios -> enter into a conversation about deadlines with a customer -> be reasonable

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4) Communication gaps exist between stakeholders

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-> customers, engineers and project managers may interpret language in different ways leading to confusion -> take notes at every meeting, distribute to project team and stakeholders -> be consistent with terms

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5) Development team doesn't understand the politics in customer's org

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- large orgs have internal conflicts -> good PM builds a shared vision, unites parties and removes obstacles -> review existing network and identify info you need and who has it -> cultivate allies, build relationships, think systematically about social capital

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Why Requirements Engineering

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- requirements play a key role and frequently are not described properly

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What is requirements engineering

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- the process of establishing what the customer requires from a system and the constraints under which it operates - RE deals with principles, methods and tools to identify, describe, validate and manage requirements

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What is a requirement

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= described a property to be met or a service to be provided by the system - requirements are descriptions of system services and constraints - may range from a high-level abstract statement of a service or of a system constraint to a detailed mathematical functional specification - need to be complete (should include description of all requirements) and consistent (should be no conflicts or contradictions in the description of the requirements) - may be basis for a bid of contract - may be the basis for the contract itself

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Levels of requirements

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- business requirements = define the business problems to be solved - user requirements = looks at functionality of software from the suer's perspective

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Types of requirements

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1) Functional requirements - describe services the system should provide, reactions to particular inputs, and behaviour in particular scenarios (what the system must do) 2) Non functional requirements - constraints on services/functions (time constraints) - can include user requirements, system requirements, business requirements 3) Content requirements (come from application domain)

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Requirements Engineering Process

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- elicitation (identifying) - analysis (stakeholder's needs, assumptions identified and melded) - specification (formal documentation) - validation (complete/correct)

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What is risk

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an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on the project objectives - the exposure to adverse conditions Types include: - project risks affect the planning of the project - product/technical risks affect the quality/performance of outcome - business risks affect the economic success of the project

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Role of risk management

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= the coordination of activitiesthat direct and control the project with regard to risks - preventing bad things from happening across lifetime of project - risks frequently misdiagnosed because their underlying causes are missed

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Risk management steps

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1) identify sources of risk 2) assess the likelihood/probability of risk occurring 3) assess magnitude/impact of risk on the project 4) attribute a measure of severity to the problem 5) develop responses and contingencies 6) document the process

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Risk management process

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1) Context/planning - establish context -> develpp structure for risk identification/assessment - identify set of success criteria 2) Identify risks 3) Analyse risks - likelihood and impact, prioritise risks 4) Evaluate risks - strategies/responses (acceptance, avoidance, mitigation, transfer) 5) Treat risks - actively monitoring - feedback 6) Monitor and review - once RRP in place, triggers must be monitored - tools: risk audits, risk reviews, updating risk plan 7) communicate and consult

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Risk categories

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- technical - cost - schedule - client - contractual - quality - financial - political - environmental - people

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Risk control

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- implementation of risk management plan - risk management plan should be widely circulated -> develop a culture of risk management -> training and practice runs to help implement the plan - plan should be updated regularly to reflect changes in the project

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Benefit of risk management process

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- make informed decisions - improved planning and performance - ability to direct resources to risks of greater significance

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Why projects often go over shcedule

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- optimism - difficult to estimate resources required to complete a task - confuse progress with effort

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Work breakdown structure - why

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- difficult to analyse, plan and execute large tasks - complex tasks take long time to complete - deadlines that are long away don't trigger immediate action - difficult to know when to start - difficult to know how much you have got to do

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WBS

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- show as indented list - major activity, sub activity, sub-sub activity - or show as graphical - split projects into tasks and estimate time and resources required to complete each task - organise tasks concurrently to make optimal use of workforce - minimise task dependencies to avoid delays caused because one waiting on another

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Schedule definition and reason

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- a schedule is the conversion of a project action plan into an operating timetable - not all activities need to be scheduled at same level of detail

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Issues with gant charts

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- dont know explicit relationships between tasks - difficult to represent a complex project with large number of tasks

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Definition: activity, network, path, critical path

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Activity = a specific task or set of tasks that are required by the project, use up resources and take time to complete Network = the arrangement of all activities in a project arrayed in their logical sequence and represented by arcs and nodes Path = the series of connected activities between any two events in a network Critical path = activities, events or paths which, if delayed, will delay the completion of the project

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Project Network diagrams

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- preferred technique for showing activity sequencing 1) ADM (arrow diagramming) - tasks represented by arrows, dependency shown as node (only FS relationships) 2) Activity on node (most popular) - tasks represented by nodes - dependency shown as arrows or links between nodes - can show all types of relationships

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Task dependencies

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1) Finish-to-start (FS) - must finish one before starting the other 2) Start-to-start (SS) - one cannot start unless the other has started 3) Finish-to-finish (FF) - one cannot finish until the other has finished 4) Start-to-Finish (SF) -

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Calculating activity times

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- each task has an optimal time, pessimistic time and most likely time expected time ( op + 4likely + pess)/6

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False deadlines

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- if you impose a deadline on your workers, treat it seriously - must be a consequence for not meeting it - everything can't be urgent or top priority

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Benefits of Network Activity Charts

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- consistent framework for planning, scheduling and monitorng - illustrated the interdependence of all tasks, work packages and elements - denoted time when resources available for work - ensures proper communication between departments and functions - determines expected project completion date - identified critical activities, that, if delayed, delay the project completion time - identifies slack - illustrated conflicts/when things can run in parallel

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Critical Path Method (CPM)

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- used to predict total project duration - the series of activities which determines the earliest time by which the project can be completed (longest path through the network, least amount of slack) TO DETERMINE: - develop network diagram with duration estimates for all activities - longest path = critical path

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Slack/float definition

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the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or finish date

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Budget definition

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- plan for allocating resources - rarely happy with resources they are given - often is the allocation of scarce resources to various endeavours of an organisation

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Budget as a control mechanism

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= a baseline from which to measure actual vs planned uses or resources - initial budget reflects the planned use of resources - deployment of resources must be monitored - deviation must be captured and checked against progress of project

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Role of budget in PM

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- budget must be closely tied to achievement - budget data must be collected and reported in a timely manner - expenditure must be strictly controlled to prevent bad projects from affecting healthy projects

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Forecasting

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- what resources will a project require - how much of a resource will be needed - when will the resources be needed - how much will these resources cost

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Budget Estimation

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- reasonable estimations can be deduced from budget and audit reports of previous projects - value analysis uses a comparison of the actual costs early in the project with their estimated to adjust remaining costs - life cycles of past projects can be studied as models for the way costs accrue over life cycles of similar projects - the longer the project life, less PM can trust traditional estimation methods

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Top down budgeting

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- strategy based on collecting judgements and experiences of top and middle managers - estimate overall costs or projects and sub projects - give costs to lower level managers to breakdown into budget estimated for specific tasks and work packages - break down costs further to lowest level iteratively Assumption: lower level managers will argue for more funds if particular allocations are insufficient Advantages: - aggregate budgets can often be developed quite accurately - allocations for budget categories tend to be stable as a percentage of the total budget - experience/judgement of executive is presumed accurate overall estimates - makes up for little mistakes Disadvantages - high-level managers tend to dig-in over their estimates leaving lower-level managers frustrated and forced to commit to objectives despite lack of funds - lower level managers feel budgeting process is one manager's gain is another's loss and therefore increases competition - subordinates believe senior management tend to underestimate costs

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Bottom-up budgeting

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- individual task budgets are constructed from WBS - people doing work consulted regarding times and budgets - differences of opinion resolved through discussion between managers - resultant budget aggregated to give total direct costs of project - budget determined by adding indirect costs Advantages: - can be more accurate than top down - involves participative management so lower levels less likely to complain - gives junior managers valuable experience in budget preparation - knowledge of operations required to generate budget Disadvantages: - more difficult to develop a complete list of tasks - individuals may overstate resources they need because they expect budget cuts - persuasive managers win - rare because senior management see this strategy as risky (don't trust ambitious subordinates, and budget is most important tool of control in company)

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Iterative budget by negotation

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- superior is constructing action plan for a task and estimating resource requirements for each step - subordinate responsible for the task estimates resource requirements on their own If superior and subordinate are honest -- initial negotiation - superior is educated about realities of task - superior's estimate rises - subordinate realises superior is reasonable so gives up inbuilt protection budget If they don't agree - if project completion is S shape, go with superior - if project completion is J curve, go with subordinate

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Budget Request Process

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- typically starts with an invitation from senior along with expectations, passed down and data is collected and passed up - seniors need to feel in control, belief that a tight budget will motivate efficiency at lower levels

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Costing a task

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- must include personal time - overhead = costs not assigned to an item - to determine overhead one must separate project-related costs from non - direct costs: salary and wages - indirect costs: sick leave, taxes

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Additional factors in budgets

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- change in price of resources - prices of various inputs change at different rates - PM's can use inflators/deflators for each - can bid too low if prices fall and then can't afford - wastage

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Reasons for taking projects that aren't feasible

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- project might give organisation useful experience - might be trying to break into new markets

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Costing factors

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- knowing what client's budget is and knowing competition - lump sum - one figure for entire service - itemised costing - must be within reasonable range - if client changes scope you can claim variation which is charged at high rates - maybe want to take an infeasible project - need to factor cost changes

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Traditional budget vs program budget

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- traditional is category oriented, becomes too diffused to control and major expenditures become hard to track - program budgeting = cost per task - allows for more strict monitoring

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Definition Project Quality Management

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- to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken - must develop good relationships with stakeholders and customers to understand what quality means to them

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Processes of project quality management

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1) Quality planning - includes identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to satisfy them 2) Quality assurance - involves periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards 3) Quality control - involves monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply with the relevant quality standards while identifying ways to improve overall quality

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Quality planning

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- implies ability to anticipate situations - prevention of defects through a program of selecting proper materials, training people in quality - identify relevant quality standards for each unique project and to design quality into the products of the project and the processes involved in managing the project - must describe factors directly contributing to meet customer's requirements -> organisational policies - main outputs are plans and checklists

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Quality assurance

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- ensuring quality products are actually delivered - includes activities related to satisfying relevant quality standards - benchmarking - generate ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to other products

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Quality control

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- acceptance decisions determine if the products produced as part of a project will be accepted or rejected - reword is action taken to bring rejected items into compliance - process adjustments correct/prevent further quality problems based on quality control measurements - tools include statistical sampling, quality control charts, pareto analysis

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Pareto Analysis

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- involves identifying the vital few contributors that account for most quality problems - histograms that help identify and prioritise problem areas

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Statistical sampling

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- involves choosing part of a population (size affects representativity)

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Standard deviation

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- measures how much variation exists in a distribution of data - small SD means data cluster closely - little variation -

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Quality control charts

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- graphical display of data that illustrated the results of a process over time -> main use of control charts is to prevent defect- determines whether a process is in control or out of control -> in control = variation occurs due to random events - out of control = variation caused by non random events Seven run rule = if seven data points in a row are all below/above mean, or all increasing/decreasing, process needs to be examined for nonrandom problems

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Testing

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- unit tests done for individual components to ensure defect free - integration testing occurs between unit and system - system testing is entire system as one entity - user acceptance testing independently done by end users prior to accepting the delivered system

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Improving IT Quality

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- strong leadership - understanding cost of quality - providing good workplace to enhance quality - working toward improving the organisation's overall maturity level

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Total quality management principles

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1) Continuous improvement 2) Focus on customer 3) Importance of teams 4) Management leadership, support and involvement

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1) Continuous improvement

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- few processes/products cannot be improved - better value, reduction of errors, improved responsiveness/effectiveness/efficiency

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2) Focus on customer

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- attracting, serving and retaining customers is the main purpose of everything - quality defined by customer behaviour/response - process improvements guided by customer needs/expectations QUALITY FIRST emphasises satisfying all customers

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3) Importance of teams

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- successful team is one that meets regularly to manage and improve parts of operation - essential that team has linkages to organisational goals and major improvement opportunities - ideal team includes: -> workers within process -> suppliers -> customers - not a committee ** can always form a team - quality improvement can be realised by work of such a team

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4) Management leadership, support and involvement

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- workers work in system, managers work on system - most of the time problem with the system, not the workers - managerial leadership means consistency directed toward achieving a vision

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Cost of quality

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- cost of conformance (delivering products meeting requirements) + cost of nonconformance 1) Prevention cost - cost of planning and executing a project that is error free 2) Appraisal cost - cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure that a project is error free 3) Internal failure costs - cost insured to correct an identified defect before customer received the product 4) External failure cost - cost that relates to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to the customer 5) Measurement and test equipment costs - capital cost of equipment used to perform prevention and appraisal activities

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Maturity Modelss

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- another approach to improving quality, framework for helping organisations improve their processes and systems -> allows organisations to have methods in place according to best practise, and clear external benchmarks - popular models: 1) Software Quality Function Deployment (SQFD) 2) Capability Maturity Model (CMM) 3) Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM)

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Software Quality Function Deployment Model

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- focuses on defining user/customer requirements - end result is set of measurable technical product specifications and their priorities - having clearer requirements can lead to fewer design challenges, increased productivity, and products more likely to satisfy stakeholders

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Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

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- laying out a generic path to process improvement for software development in orgs - gives a place to start, shared vision, benefit of prior experience, framework for prioritisation (levels of maturity) 1) initial 2) repeatable 3) Define 4) Managed 5) Optimising

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Project Management Maturity Model

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- formal tools to measure project management matutity - provides logical path for progressive development - application of maturity models is increasing quantity and breadth

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Earned value actual value planned value cost variance scheduled variance cost performance index scheduled performance index estimate at completion

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Amount earned (worth of work done) to date (EV) what has actually been spent on work (AV) planned spending on resources (PV) CV = EV - AV SV = EV - PV CPI =EV/AV SPI = EV/PV EAC = BAC/CPI

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