SDPM - Lecture 1 - Introduction

Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science

Introduction

System‘s Development
and
Project Management

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bäck

1


Introduction

!   System‘s Development and Project
Management
!   Prof. dr. Thomas Bäck, Natural Computing
!   Room 169, Tel. 7108, baeck@ liacs.nl
!   Also – Company Experience

2

Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science Dates

Feb. 1 14:45 – 17:30 Introduction, Project Description
Feb. 2 13:45 – 16:30 STEP WISE Approach to Project Planning
Feb. 9 13:45 – 16:30 Selecting an Appropriate Software Dev.
Approach
Feb. 15 14:45 – 17:30 Activity Planning and Resource Allocation
Feb. 16 13:45 – 16:30 Software Effort Estimation
Feb. 22 14:45 – 17:30 Risk management, project escalation
Feb. 23 13:45 – 16:30 Project monitoring and control
Mar. 1 14:45 – 17:00 Exam
Mar. 2 13:45 – 16:30 Software Quality Assurance
Mar. 8 14:45 – 17:30 Managing People; Contract Management
Mar. 9 13:45 – 16:30 Various
Mar. 15 14:45 – 17:30 Trade Fair

3


ICT Project Management „runaways“ …

!   Standish „Chaos“ Report
!  1994:
•  16% successful
•  31% cancelled
•  53% challenged
!  2000:
•  34% successful
•  15% cancelled
•  51% challenged

4


Project Management and Success
!   Technical Issues
!  Hardware / software / telecommunications systems don‘t work
!  Frequent failure / errors in operation

!   Economic Issues
!  Time or budget overrun
!  Low / no ROI („productivity paradox“)

!   Organizational (implementation) Issues
!  Resulting system fails to achieve desired benefit
!  Users reject system

5


Course Content
! What is project management ?
 
! Student project: Save Energy
 
! Planning and revising projects
 
! Project lifecycles
 
! Estimating effort: size and productivity models
 
! Risk management and project escalation
 
! Controlling projects, including earned value analysis
 
! Managing project and process quality
 
! Managing people and organizing teams: motivation and
 
capability
!   Contract management

6


Course Structure
!   10 interactive lectures:
!  45 min teaching – 15 min break
!  45 min teaching – 15 min break
!  In-class assignments (20 – 40 min) + student presentations
!  Case studies

!   Written exam (closed book, Mar. 1)
!   Hands-on development project
!  Save Energy application ideas
!  Project plans, reports
!  Final trade fair (Mar 15, 14:45 – 17:30)

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Grade Composition

!   15% project proposal (‚bid‘) [group]
!   25% detailed project plan [group]
!   5% Deutsche Bank case [group]
!   5% reflection paper on group project
[individual] management issues
!   5% in-class participation [individual]
!   25% written exam [individual]
!   20% trade-fair – project presentation [group]

8


Required Literature
!   Bob Hughes, Mike Cotterell: Software
Project Management, 3e or 4e, McGraw-
Hill ISBN 007709834
!   Blackboard: readings and assignments

9


What is a Project ? 1.  Temporary
2.  Unique Products, Services, or Results
3.  Progressive Elaboration
!   A definition
!  „A specific design or plan“

!   Key elements
!  Non-routine
!  Specific objectives
!  Planned
!  Predetermined time span
!  Constrained resources
!  Work carried out for a third party
!  Work involves several specializations or phases
!  Size and complexity

10


Typical Project Cost and Staffing

11


Stakeholder‘s Influence over Time

Influence of stakeholders

Cost of changes
Time

12


ICT Project Management
!   Part art, part science
!   Activities have duration, required resources
and sequence (path)
!   Critical path: Link of activities where delay
causes delay in entire project !

13


ICT Project Management: Two Exercises
!   Design a project plan for
!  Organizing a party next weekend

Small birthday party … Vienna opera ball

14


Software Engineering is more Difficult !
!   Due to …
!  Complexity
!  Conformity (with human requirements)
!  Changeability
!  Invisibility

It therefore needs specialized management
techniques to deal with it !

15


Common Activities
Is it worth
doing? How do we do
Feasibility Study it ?

Planning Do it !

Execute Project

!   Feasibility study – decide if project is worth
doing
!   Plan how you are going to do it, then do it.
16


Execute Project (Hughes-Cotterrell Stages)
Requirements
Gathering

Specification

Design

Code

Testing

Implement
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Execute Project
!   Functional Requirements
!  What the system is to do
!  Systems analysis aims to provide these
!   Quality Requirements
!  Other attributes of the system, e.g., response time,
usability, reliability
!   Resource / time Requirements
!  Cost
!  Time
!   Trade-offs between the different factors
18


Managerial Issues
!   Management may involve:
!  Planning - deciding what is to be done
!  Organizing - making arrangements
!  Staffing - selecting the right people
!  Directing - giving instructions
!  Monitoring - checking on progress
!  Controlling - taking action to remedy hold-ups
!  Innovating - coming up with new solutions
!  Representing - liaising with users

19


Managerial Issues
!   Internal stakeholders may be:
!  In the project team
!  Outside the team but in the organization
!   External stakeholders may be:
!  Customers or users affected by the system
!  Contractors
!   There will be different types of users with
different interests
!   Need for good communication !

20


Objectives
!   Different stakeholders will have different
objectives
!  Need for agreed objectives
!   Need for an identifyable project authority
!  To set, monitor and modify objectives
!  Can contain user, development and management
representatives
!   Objectives
!  Can be informally expressed as: „In order for the
project to be a success, the project must …“
21


Objectives (cont‘d)
!   Objectives must be:
!  Concrete
!  Have measure of success
!   Objectives can be:
!  Broken down into sub-objectives or goals
!  Can be informally expressed as „in order to
achieve A, we must achieve B, C, D, etc.“
!  Identifying sub-objectives involves considering the
„how“ as well as the „what“

22


Problems - I
!   Project Manager‘s point of view:
!  Poor estimates and plans
!  Lack of quality standards and measures
!  Lack of guidance about making organizational
decisions
!  Lack of techniques to make progress visible
!  Poor role definition – who does what ?
!  Incorrect success criteria

23


Problems - II
!   Staff‘s point of view:
!   Inadequate specification of work
!   Management ignorance of IT
!   Lack of knowledge and application area
!   Lack of standards
!   Lack of up-to-date documentation
!   Preceding activities not completed on time
!   Lack of communication between users and technicians
!   Lack of communication leading to duplication of work
!   Lack of commitment (especially when tied to one person)
!   Narrow scope of technical expertise
!   Changing statutory requirements
!   Changing software environment
!   Deadline pressure
!   Lack of quality control
!   Remote management
!   Lack of training
!   ...
24


Examples
!   German toll collect system (2 years late, 2 billion €).
!   US IRS was to abandon tax system modernization
programme after having spend $4 billion.
!   State of CA spent $1 billion on non-functional welfare
database system.
!   500 million € UK air traffic control system 2 years
behind schedule.
! …
!   All government ? Many industry examples as well.

25


Other Aspects I
!   Setting Objectives
!  Project authority
!  Project board
!  Sub-objectives and goals
!  Measures of effectiveness
•  Predictive measures (while constructing the system)
•  Performance measures (operational system)
!   Stakeholders
!  Internal to project team
!  External, but within same organization
!  External to project team and organization
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Other Aspects II
!   Business Case
!  Justification for project
!  E.g., cost-benefit analysis
!   Requirement Specification
!  Functional: Systems Analysis and Design
!  Quality: Response time, reliability, …
!  Resources: Time and cost

27


Feasibility Study: Contents
!   Introduction: What this document is
!   Description of current situation
!   Problem description
!  Boundaries
!  Scope
!   Proposed development
!  Business and financial aspects
!  Technical aspects
!  Organizational aspects
!   Estimated costs
!  Development costs
!  Operational costs
!   Envisaged benefits
!   Recommendation
28


Project Plan: Contents
!   Introduction
!   Background, incl. Reference to the business case.
!   Project objectives
!   Constraints
!   Project products (deliverable and intermediate)
!   Methods
!   Activities to be carried out
!   Resources to be used
!   Risks
!   Management, including
!  Organizational responsibilities
!  Quality management
!  Configuration management
!   Success factors
29


Project Plan: Structure
!   Introduction
!   Management Summary
!   Goals and objectives
!  Business goals
!  Benefits
!  Objectives
!   Scope, Key deliverables, Prioritization
!   Organization, responsibilities, resources
!   Risks, Risk Containment
!   Other Issues

30


The System‘s Development Life Cycle
6a. Final assembly
5. Test and delivery
4. Implemen-
tation

7. Correct,
Maintain
3. System
Design Functional
Release

2. Systems 6b. Final assembly
Analysis and delivery
1. Pre-study
Correction
Release

31


Project Management and Success
!   Traditionally: trace production of „milestone“ documents (functional
specs = 14%, logical design = 30%, …)
!   But: cost will migrate out of any activity that is measured more
carefully than its neighboring activities
!   Escalating committment to failure

% Completion

120
Percentage Completion 100

Law of diminishing 80
60 % Completion

returns 40
20
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time

32


Law of diminishing (marginal) returns
!   When one of the factors of production is held fixed in supply,
successive additions of the other factors will lead to an increase in
returns up to a point.
!   Beyond this point, returns will diminish.
!   Example: Agricultural production (seed amount – growth
production, no. of workers – total labor and harvesting done).

Diminishing returns
140
No. Of Total physical Marginal physical Average Physical
workers product (TPP) product (MPP) Product (APP) 120
1 10 10 10 100 Total physical product
80 (TPP)
2 30 20 15
Marginal physical
Tons

3 90 60 30 60
product (MPP)
40
4 120 30 30 Average Physical
20 Product (APP)
5 130 10 26
0
6 120 -10 20
-20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

No. of Workers

33


Prioritizing and Managing Expectations
Processing in
Development Customer
Screening Prioritization Development
Request Entry Feedback
(product planning)

Selection of
most relevant
Reduction of: needs
•  unclear
•  doubles
100 dev. •  curr. release
requests •  next release - 60%
logged in •  out of scope X selected as planning input
the system
Y denied

- 30% Z input for next year planning
archived Transfer to
next year‘s
cycle

34


Your Project: Save Energy

Demonstrator of innovative application that
stimulates to save energy


Save Energy

!   EU project on user behaviour transformation
by empowerment of the users with ICT

5 Pilots:
-Lisbon
-Leiden
-Manchester
-Helsinki
-Lulea


Leiden Employee Behaviour

!  Electricity, switching on/off:
!  PC, monitor
!  Lighting
!  Miscellaneous equipment

!  Heating:
! Setpoint for room temperature
!  Turn heater on/off
!  Close/open windows


Leiden Pilot


Current Initiatives in Leiden Pilot
!   Weekly Energy Emails

•  Real time energy displays


Assignment

!   Develop a demonstrator that runs on a pc,
smart phone or presentation screen that
displays the current energy consumption of
individuals and stimulates users to save
energy.

!   Present in trade-fair setting


Remarks:

!   Keep in mind the audience (Municipality
employees)

!   Real data is available (SOAP webservice)
SOAP, originally defined as Simple Object Access Protocol, is a protocol specification for
exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services in computer
networks.

!   Think of what motivates to save energy!


Save Energy Project
!   Meet as Team
!  Actually, you will have many meetings …
!  Teamwork is of critical importance
!   Project proposal (bid) due by
!  February 18, midnight

February 18, midnight Assignment 1:
Project proposal ( bid )
February 25, midnight Assignment 2:
Project Plan including functional specification
March 1, midnight Assignment 3:
Deutsche Bank case, 5 ppt slides
March 1 (14:45 – 17:00) Exam
March 15 (14:45 – 17:30) Trade fair
March 16, midnight Assignment 4:
Personal reflection paper on project management

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SDPM - Lecture 1 - Introduction

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