Kuvempu University M.Sc.

(IT)-4th Semester MSIT-4F Software Project Management (SPM) Max Marks: 50

Assignment TA
Note: All Questions are Compulsory 1. Select any software product from day today situations and develop SRS for the same. - 10M 2. Select any software product from day today situations and develop Project Plan for the same 10M

3. Discuss in detail how customer interaction meetings are conducted and requirements are collected. - 10M 4. Select any software product from day today situations and discuss in detail how a PERT can be applied during its development. - 10M

5. Select any software product which is already in use. Visualize and write different future requirement of that product in detail. - 10M

Kuvempu University M.Sc. (IT)-4th Semester MSIT-4F Software Project Management (SPM)

Assignment TB
PART - A
1. What is the need for software project management? Ans: project management discipline defines the various management techniques, strategies, tools etc., to manage the software development at the various life cycle stages in a co-ordinated and controlled manner 2. Why do software projects fail to deliver? A software project can fail for several reasons. The following is a list of reasons why a software project can fail: Improper OR wrong requirements Wrong User Interfaces Dynamically changing requirements Not able to meet the performance criteria Unrealistic schedules and budgets Non availability of external components Not able to integrate De-motivated team 3. What is a request for proposal? a. The request for a proposal will normally come from the customer organization or any agency nominated by the customer organization inviting interested parties to submit a bid / proposal to undertake an activity such as to develop/design/test/reengineer a software application 4. What is a service contract? 5. What is an escalation policy? Ans: Escalation policy is the framework that is defined to manage activities that might or in risk of going out of control, this policy clearly defines whom to contact, how to contact and when to contact in order to exercise necessary influence to control the situation 6. What is the role of a technical expert in a project proposal? a. This resource provides technical expertise to the proposal team such as technology solution, environment, architecture, approach etc for the kind the problem 7. What is the need of software project estimate? a. Software project estimate helps in forecasting the completion of the project considering skill levels of the resources, complexity of the project, technological challenges 8. What is requirement elicitation?
a. It is the name given to activities involved in discovering requirements of the system It involves learning about the problem to be solved through brainstorming and questioning. It involves identifying who the actual users are, what are their needs and what constraints

9. What is a SMART project plan? . a. A Project Plan that is specific, Measureable, achievable, Realistic, Time bound

i. Specific: Explicit, clear, understandable, e.g., Written from a business perspective ii. Measurable: Quantifiable (typically making reference to business metrics, quantity, quality, cost, or time) iii. Attainable: Reachable, within capabilities iv. Realistic: Relevant, right approach v. Time bound: Specific time period 10. What is a project kick off activity? a. it is nothing but a first meeting to get all the extended project team to arrive at a common understanding on the project requirement, criticality and roles clarity, (their involvement), Computing Infrastructure (Hardware and software requirement), Communication Infrastructure (Telephone lines, Data links etc.,), Human resources (special recruitment drives, visa processing etc.,) 11. What is the need project plan review? a. Project plan review achieves 2 objectives, a) Validates the progress made against the plan, b) if all the stakeholders part of the meeting then this review acts as a update to them as well on the progress, risk etc 12. What is work break down structure? a. The Work Break-Down Structure (laid out in scope management) is broken down into a finite & measurable set of activities with defined milestones and clear timelines and responsibilities 13. What is a project network diagram? a. Depicts how the activities flow along with the interdependencies 14. What is a critical path method? a. Critical Path Method (CPM) is a network analysis technique used to predict project duration by analyzing which sequence of activities (which path) has the least amount of scheduling flexibility (the least amount of float). Early dates are calculated by means of a forward pass using a specified start date. Late dates are calculated by means of a backward pass starting from a specified completion date (usually the forward passs calculated project early finish date). 15. What is a project slack? a. Project Slack is amount of time which project tasks can be delayed before affecting next tasks 16. What is resource leveling? a. It is a project management technique used to examine unbalanced use of resources over time, and for resolving over-allocations or conflicts 17. What is the need of change in management? a. Change management is a conscious effort to create a sustainable process / mechanism which would shift the current reality into a desired state which is long-lasting and deeprooted and is reflective of and/ or an adaptation to internal and external environments. 18. What is the ideal focus of the quality management? a. Ideal focus of Quality Management is to deliver minimal defects within agreed schedule and within budgeted cost 19. What is statistical process control? a. Statistical process control (SPC) is a powerful collection of problem solving tools useful in achieving process stability and improving capability through the reduction of

variability. It helps building an environment for improvement in quality and productivity. Control charts are most commonly used SPC tool. 20. What is project risk? a. A risk is any factor that may potentially interfere with successful completion of the project; A risk is not a problem but recognition that a problem might occur. by recognizing potential problems the project Manager can attempt to avoid a problem through proper actions 21. What is Risk probability? a. It is nothing but the likelihood of an predicted potential problem / risk hitting the project adversely. 22. What are business risks? a. The probability of loss inherent in an organization's operations and environment (such as competition and adverse economic conditions) that may impair its ability to provide returns on investment. Business risk plus the financial risk arising from use of debt (borrowed capital and/or trade credit) equal total corporate risk 23. What is risk prioritizing? a. risk prioritizing is an approach to sequence the risks which needs to be addressed on desired priority depending on the impact on the project, for eg: high impact risk needs to be prioritized for immediate action (first item in the list to be addressed) 24. What is the need of knowledge management in a software project? Knowledge management plays an important role in maintaining the documents related to technology, code components, lessons learned which might help in reducing the defects or help borrow some code components, helps avoids making some of the mistakes by understanding how previously executed projects managed their projects 25. What is push communication? a. Push communication is one way and refers to sending information to the intended receivers. It includes methods such as letters, memos, reports, emails, voicemails, etc. this method assures the communication was sent but is not concerned with whether it was actually received or understood by the intended receivers PART B Answer any five: 1. a) Explain the management myths with respect to software project. 1. Project management training will immediately lead to on-time and on-budget projects. This would be nice if it were true, but in actuality, putting this kind of pressure to succeed on any type of training program rarely works 2. Knowing how to use project management software means you know most of what you need to know about project management. Would that it were so simple, yet unfortunately, knowing what software is available and how to utilize it to its fullest extent is only one small part of the puzzle 3. Project management is only about people management. While project management certainly does involve knowing how to manage often diverse groups of people, theres much more to it than that.

4. Only the actual project leaders need to learn the tenets of project management. While the leaders need to be those who are the most well-versed in the concepts of project management, there is much to be gained when all of the stakeholders are on board, from team members to subject matter experts to C-level executives 5. Because projects are unique, having common processes isnt necessary. This is often an excuse used by organizations that feel that standardizing methods and procedures for managing projects is simply too much effort, or who arent sure how to go about such a task. However, any company should have as its goal the usage of common methodologies, viewing this as a form of knowledge sharing across the organization. Companies that ignore this precept are missing out on lessons learned. b) Who are the internal stakeholders of a project in a large software development? Organization? Describe briefly. Ans: A stakeholder is any person or organization who is actively involved in a project, or whose interests may be affected positively or negatively by execution of a project. Stakeholders can be internal to the organization or external. In many projects the public at large will become a stakeholder to be considered during the project Potential stakeholders include but are not limited to:
Competitors National communities Employees Professional associations Government Prospective customers Government regulatory agencies Prospective employees Industry trade groups Public at large (Global community) Investors Shareholders Labor unions Suppliers Local communities

c) What are the top 5 critical success factors of software project? Explain. 2. a) Explain different types of proposals in detail. b) What are influence factors on a project estimate? Explain in detail. c) Explain cocomo model of project estimation. 3. a) What are issues faced during requirements analysis? Explain in detail. b) What are soft skills required for a good requirements elicitation? Explain. c) What is the cross cultural sensitivity issues involved in a requirements gathering assignment? Explain. 4. a) Explain the nine deadly singne of project planning. b) Explain the characteristics of a good project schedule. c) What are the characteristics of a growth ted change? Explain briefly.

5. a) Explain the guidelines of the change management process. b) What are the key benefits of a product quality management? Explain. c) Explain various risks in a software project. 6. a) Explain water fall model of project life cycle. b) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of V model. c) Explain the different model of communication. 7. a) Explain informal communication networks in detail. b) What are the various steps in communication planning? Explain. c) What are the activities in a project initiation? Explain. 8. a) Explain the benefits of knowledge management. b) What are the different modes of knowledge management? Explain. c) What are the activities during a project execution? Explain.
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