The Systems Analysis Toolkit

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The Systems Analysis Toolkit

• Project Management Tools

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Systems Analysts Toolkit

• Part 3 Project Management Tools

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Objectives

• Describe project management tools and how they
  are used
• Describe the steps used in project planning
• Explain the project estimating process
• Describe the different scheduling tools,
  including Gantt charts and PERT/CPM charts

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Objectives

• Calculate completion times, start dates, and end
  dates for a project
• Explain the tasks of project monitoring, control,
  and reporting
• Explain the steps involved in software change
  control
• Understand the reasons why projects sometimes fail

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Introduction

• The Systems Analysts Toolkit explains
• Project management tools and techniques including
  planning, estimating, scheduling, monitoring,
  control, reporting, and the use of project
  management software
• Gantt charts and PERT/CPM that can be used to
  schedule and monitor projects and changes

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Project Management

• Project management is the process of defining,
  planning, organizing, leading, and controlling
  the development of an information system
• Project management is important throughout the
  SDLC, and especially during the systems
  implementation phase

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Project Management

• Project management overview
• Goal is to deliver a system that is acceptable to
  users, on time, and within budget
• Every project must have a project manager, or
  project leader
• Most large projects also have a project
  coordinator who handles administrative matters
  and relationships with users

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Project Management

• Management functions
• Planning identifying and planning project tasks
  and estimating completion times and costs
• Organizing staffing, including selecting the
  project team and assigning responsibilities to
  team members
• Leading or directing guiding, supervising, and
  coordinating the teams workload
• Controlling monitoring progress, evaluating
  results, and taking necessary corrective action

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Project Management

• Project planning
• A project plan is an overall framework for
  managing costs and schedules
• The planning process involves
• Activities (tasks)
• Events (milestones)

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Project Estimating

• Factors that project managers must consider
• Size of the project
• A project that is twice as large as another will
  require considerably more than twice the
  resources
• As the size of the project grows, the number of
  interfaces grows even faster
• Capabilities of team members

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Project Estimating

• Developing time and cost estimates
• Project size and scope
• IT resources
• Prior experience
• Constraints

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Project Scheduling

• The project manager must know
• The duration of each task
• The order in which the tasks will be performed
• The start and end times for each activity
• Who will be assigned to each task
• Assignments should not overload or under-utilize
  team members
• A level workload is desirable

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Scheduling Tools

• A project manager can use several graphical
  planning tools
• Gantt charts
• PERT/CPM charts

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Scheduling Tools

• Gantt charts
• A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that
  illustrates a schedule
• Time is shown on the horizontal axis and
  activities are arranged vertically
• The position of a bar shows the start and end of
  a task, and the length of the bar shows the
  tasks duration

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Scheduling Tools

• Gantt charts
• Tasks can be combined into activity groups to
  simplify the chart
• Various methods exist for tracking progress
• Shade the completed portion of a bar
• Use a triangle or arrowhead as an indicator
• Use a second bar to show the completed work

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• The Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)
  and the Critical Path Method (CPM) were developed
  separately but now are referred to as PERT/CPM
• A PERT/CPM chart displays a project as a network
  diagram, with activities shown as vectors, and
  events represented by nodes

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• The vectors representing tasks connect the nodes,
  which indicate milestones
• The activitys estimated duration is shown below
  the vector

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• The vectors representing tasks connect the nodes,
  which indicate milestones
• The activitys estimated duration is shown below
  the vector
• Tasks that must be completed in a specific
  sequence are called dependent, or serial, tasks

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• The vectors representing tasks connect the nodes,
  which indicate milestones
• The activitys estimated duration is shown below
  the vector
• Tasks that must be completed in a specific
  sequence are called dependent, or serial, tasks
• Dummy activities can be used to show task
  dependencies

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• A project can be represented with a Gantt chart
  and a PERT/CPM chart
• Significant differences exist between the two
  methods, and each method has strengths and
  weaknesses

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• Activity duration
• A weighted formula can be used to estimate
  activity duration
• The formula calculates a weighted result based on
  three separate estimates (optimistic (O),
  pessimistic (P), and most likely (M))

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• Earliest completion times
• The earliest completion time for an activity is
  called the ECT
• The ECT is the minimum amount of time needed to
  complete all the activities that precede the event

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• Earliest completion times
• Working from left to right on the chart, the ECT
  is calculated by taking the ECT of the preceding
  event and adding the duration of the immediately
  preceding task
• If the event has more than one preceding task,
  use the largest ECT of the preceding tasks,
  including any dummy tasks
• The ECT is shown as a number in the upper-right
  section of the event node symbol

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• Latest completion times
• The latest completion time for an activity is
  called the LCT
• The LCT is the latest time at which the event can
  occur without delaying the overall project

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• Latest completion times
• To determine an LCT, you reverse the procedure
  for an ECT
• Work from right to left, and subtract the LCT of
  the following task
• If the event has more than one following task,
  use the smallest LCT of the following tasks,
  including any dummy tasks
• The LCT is shown as a number in the lower-right
  section of the event node symbol

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• Latest completion times
• The slack time for an event is the amount of time
  by which an event can be late without delaying
  the project
• The slack time is the difference between the LCT
  and the ECT, if any

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Scheduling Tools

• PERT/CPM
• Critical path
• A critical path is a series of events and
  activities with no slack time
• At least one complete path will exist where every
  node has equal ECTs and LCTs
• If any task on the critical path is delayed
  beyond its LCT, the entire project falls behind
  by that amount of time
• Project managers focus on the critical path in
  order to keep the project on track

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Project Monitoring, Controlling,and Reporting

• Project monitoring and control
• Project managers
• Set standards
• Ensure that they are followed
• Keep track of the progress of team members
• Compare actual progress to the plan
• Verify the completion of project milestones

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Project Monitoring, Controlling,and Reporting

• Project scheduling
• Spend adequate time planning up front
• Anticipate problems, identify potential
  solutions, and select best way to solve problem

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Project Reporting

• The project manager must
• Collect the information
• Verify the information
• Organize the information
• Evaluate the information
• Prepare a summary
• Submit a report to management

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Project Reporting

• Project status meetings
• Project managers schedule regular status meetings
  with the systems development team
• Share information
• Update the group
• Identify problems or delays
• Explain new techniques
• Offer comments to team members
• Conduct brainstorming sessions

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Project Reporting

• Project status reports
• A project manager must report regularly to a
  supervisor, upper managers, and users
• When to inform others of potential problems
• Too soon, and the manager might lose credibility
  by reporting on minor problems
• Too late, and there might not be time for a
  solution to a serious problem
• Best course of action is somewhere between the
  two extremes

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Project Management Software

• A software package, such as Microsoft Project,
  offers many features
• PERT/CPM and Gantt charts
• Resource scheduling
• Project calendars
• Cost tracking and cost-benefit analysis
• Printed reports and screen displays
• Computer-generated screens show activities as
  nodes, with vectors connecting the tasks and
  indicating task dependencies

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Software Change Control

• Software change control is the process of
  managing and controlling changes requested after
  the system requirements document has been
  approved
• Changes are inevitable
• A typical control procedure has four steps
• 1. Complete a change request form
• 2. Take initial action on the request
• 3. Analyze the impact of the requested change
• 4. Determine the disposition of the requested
  change

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Keys to Project Success

• Successful systems must satisfy business
  requirements, meet users needs, stay within
  budget, and be completed on time
• The essential objective is to provide a solution
  to a business problem

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Keys to Project Success

• Some reasons for failure
• Unclear requirements, targets, or scope
• Shortcuts or sloppy work
• Poor design choices
• Insufficient testing or test procedures
• Lack of software change control
• Changes in culture, funding, or objectives
• Unrealistic cost estimates
• Poor monitoring and control of progress
• Inadequate reaction to early signs of problems
• Failure to recognize activity dependencies
• Personality conflicts and employee turnover

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Keys to Project Success

• When the project manager recognizes a problem,
  what options are available?
• Trim the project requirements
• Add to the project resources
• Delay the project deadline
• Improve the quality of project management
• Whatever the reason, the project manager must try
  to get the project back under control and keep it
  under control

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EndTookit Part 3