Software Engineering Concept

Software Project Management (SPM)

 Software, Project, Management
Software
• A computer program.

Project
• Dictionary definitions of project includes:
- A specific plan or design.
- A plan is undertaken.
• The process of planning, designing and implementing computer systems is
called a project.
• A Project is a series of steps designed to coordinate the achievement of a
specific goal.
• A definite start and end point

Management
Management in all business and human organization activity is simply the act
of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. 2
 Software Projects
Factors that influence the end result ...

• size

• delivery deadline

• budgets and costs

• application domain

• technology to be implemented

• system constraints

• user requirements

• available resources

3
 Why Projects Fail?
• an unrealistic deadline is established

• changing customer requirements

• an honest underestimate of effort

• Delays in Implementation

• technical difficulties

• miscommunication among project staff

• failure in project management

4
 Project Risks
 Each project faces risks.

 The main project risk factors are

- Experience factors.
- Planning factors.
- Technology factors.
- External factors.
- Requirements factors

5
Management

Management Elements
6
 Management

Management is consist of seven Functions:.

• Planning

• Organizing

• Leading

• Coordination

• Controlling

• Staffing

• Motivation
7
 Project Management
• Project management is the process of planning, organizing, staffing,
monitoring, controlling, and leading a software project.
• The project management is technique used by the manager to ensure
successful completion of a project.
• Every project has a project manager who leads the team and is the
interface of the project to the outside world.
• Good planning is essential to succeed.

• The major planning activities are:

• Define Products to be delivered.
• Define Activities (work packages).
• Estimate Resources and Duration.
• Define Activity Network.
• Define Schedule and Total Cost.
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Project Management Phases

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 The 4 P’s
۞ People — the most important element of a successful project

۞ Product — the software to be built

۞ Process — the set of framework activities and software engineering tasks

to get the job done

۞ Project — all work required to make the product a reality

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Project Management Concerns

product quality?
risk assessment?
measurement?
cost estimation?
project scheduling?
customer communication?
staffing?
other resources?
project monitoring?

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 The Project Manager
The project manager ...

... produces the Software Project Management Plan (SPMP).

... defines the roles in the project and allocates staff to them.
Examples of roles are: project manager, software librarian,
programmer, team leader, test engineer, quality assurance engineer.

... controls the project by informing staff of their part in the plan.

... leads the project by taking the major decisions and by motivating
staff to perform well.

... monitors the project by measuring progress.

... reports progress to the initiator and senior management.

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 The Project Manager
• The project manager is also responsible for the major technical
decisions, for example concerning methods and tools, design and
coding standards, software requirements, etc.

• The project manager identifies the people the project deals with
and ensures that a single named contact exists both within the project
team and each external group.

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 Software Project Management

• Software project management is a sub-discipline of project

management in which software projects are planned, monitored and
controlled.

• Software project management drives all software development in the

world today.

• It is the unifying structure that brings programmers and customers

together to create new products.

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 Project Planning

• DETERMINE THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES

• DETERMINE PRIMARY ACTIVITIES

• DETERMINE PRECEDENCE HIERARCHY

• CREATE A PROJECT SCHEDULE NETWORK

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 Project Planning………
• Probably the most time-consuming project management activity

• Continuous activity from initial concept through to system delivery. Plans

must be regularly revised as new information becomes available

• Various different types of plan may be developed to support the main

software project plan that is concerned with schedule and budget

• The major planning activities are:

Define Products to be delivered.

Define Activities (work packages).
Estimate Resources and Duration.
Define Activity Network.
Define Schedule and Total Cost.

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 Project Planning………

Define Products
The first planning activity is to define the products to be delivered.

Define Activities
• First a process model is defined:
• Choose a life cycle (waterfall, incremental).
• Define a process model for each phase: define the inputs and
outputs of each activity.

• There are examples of the process models for the

- The Software Requirements Definition Phase.
- The Architectural Design Phase.
- The Detailed Design and Production Phase.

Select methods and tools. 17

 Project Planning………

Estimate Resources and Duration

• Define the roles in the project.

• Examples of roles are:

- project manager,
- programmer,

Some common estimation methods are:

1. COCOMO (Constructive Cost Model): uses the estimated

lines of code
as input to calculate the effort.

2. Function Point Analysis: performs a cost calculation by

counting things
like the number of inputs, outputs and stores.
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 Project Planning………
Define Activity Network
• An activity network consists of nodes representing the work
packages with arrows linking them.

The critical path is the longest path through the network in terms of
duration.

The float time of a work package is the difference between the

earliest and latest start times for this package. It is the amount of time
the activity can be moved without affecting the total duration of the
project.

Define Schedule and Total Cost

• The activity network constraints the schedule but does not yet define it.
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• The project manager decides upon the actual start and end times of
each work packages.

• Things to consider:
o Comply with time and resource constraints.
o Minimize the total cost.
o Minimize the fragmentation of resource allocations.
o Allow for any risks that may affect the project.
o A Gantt chart is the usual way to present a project schedule. Work
packages are along the vertical axis, time along the horizontal axis.
oThe chart displays work packages (grey horizontal bars) and
milestones (squares).

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 Project Plan

• The project plan defines the work that will be done on the project and
who will do it. It consists of:

• A statement of work (SOW) that describes all work products that will
be produced and a list of people who will perform that work

• A resource list that contains a list of all resources that will be needed
for the product and their availability

• A work breakdown structure This is a list of tasks which, if performed,

will generate all of the work products needed to build the software.

• An estimate of the effort required for each task in the WBS is

generated.
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 Project Plan

• A project schedule is created by assigning resources and determining

the calendar time required for each task.

• A risk plan that identifies any risks that might be encountered and
indicates how those risks would be handled should they occur

Estimates and project schedules will be discussed in detail

in later slides.

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 Types of project plan

Plan Description
Quality plan Describes the quality procedures and
standards that will be used in a project.
Validation plan Describes the approach, resources and
schedule used for system validation.
Configuration Describes the configuration management
management plan procedures and structures to be used.
Maintenance plan Predicts the maintenance requirements of
the system, maintenance costs and effort
required.
Staff development plan. Describes how the skills and experience of
the project team members will be
developed.

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 Project plan structure
• Introduction

• Project organisation

• Risk analysis

• Hardware and software resource requirements

• Work breakdown

• Project schedule

• Monitoring and reporting mechanisms

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 Project Scheduling

• Split project into tasks and estimate time and resources required to
complete each task

• Organize tasks concurrently to make optimal use of workforce

• Minimize task dependencies to avoid delays caused by one task waiting for
another to complete

• Dependent on project managers intuition and experience

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Objectives of Project Scheduling

 Effective time Management.

 Determine sequence of elements

 Determine necessary resources

 Monitor project progress

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 PRIMARY COMPONENTS IN A SCHEDULE

ACTIVITIES

o SPECIFIC FUNCTION
o FINITE DURATION

MILESTONES

o TARGET DELIVERABLE
o 0 DURATION
ACT IVITIES

Feasibility Requir ements Prototype Design Requir ements

study analysis development study specification

Feasibility Requir ements Evaluation Architectural Requir ements

report definition report design specification

MILESTONES

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 Scheduling Problems
• Estimating the difficulty of problems and hence the cost of developing a
solution is hard

• Productivity is not proportional to the number of people working on a task

• Adding people to a late project makes it later because of communication

overheads

• The unexpected always happens.

• Always allow contingency in planning

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 Project Scheduling Tools

Program
Evaluation
and Review Gantt Chart
Critical
Technique
Path
(PERT) Method
(CPM)
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 Project Scheduling Tools
• CPM (CRITICAL PATH METHOD)

• Used Nodes for Events (Activities and Milestones)

• Activities are connected with Arrows

• PERT (PROJECT EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE)

• PERT is a CPM Method that shows Longest and Shortest Times
• Uses Arrows Precedence And determine Float

• Timelines or Gantt chat

• A Gantt chart is the usual way to present a project schedule.

• Work packages are along the vertical axis, time along the horizontal
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axis.
 CPM (Critical Path Method)
The critical path is the path between the start event and end event which
takes the longest time.

Note that:
o No task on the critical path can take longer without extending the end date
of the project.

o Tasks on the critical path are called critical tasks.

o No critical task can have any slack.

o Tasks on the critical path must be carefully monitored.

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 CPM (Critical Path Method)
– Terminology
• Earliest Start time (ES)
• Latest Start time (LS)
• Earliest Finish time (EF),
• Duration (D)
» EF = ES + D
• Latest Finish (LF) LF = LS + D
• Total Float (TF) TF = LS - ES
– (Slack between the earliest and latest start times)
– On CP, the total float is zero.
CPM Example
 CPM (Critical Path Method)
Earliest Start Times Established

Event Activity ES
1 A, B 0 Project Start
2 C, D, F 0+3=3 Need A complete
3 E, G 3+4=7 Need A & D complete
4 I 7 + 5 = 12 Use longest path @ merge
5 H 7 + 6 = 13 Use longest path
6 J 13 + 3 = 16
7 K 16 + 2 = 18
8 End 18 + 2 = 20

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 CPM (Critical Path Method)
Calculation of the latest start times (Starting at Project completion)

Event Activity LS Event Activity LS

8 end 20 5-2 F 13 – 3 = 10

8-7 K 20 – 2 = 18 4-3 E 16 – 3 - 5 = 8

7-6 J 18 – 2 = 16 4-2 C 16 – 3 - 5 = 8

6-5 H 16 - 3 = 13 4-1 B 16 – 3 - 4 = 9

6-4 I 16 – 3 = 13 3-2 D 16 – 3 – 6 - 4 = 3

5-3 G 13 – 6 = 7 2-1 A 3-3=0

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 CPM (Critical Path Method)
Activity
Summary of Description
Boundary timetable Duration ES LS EF LF TF
A 3 0 0 3 3 0
B 4 0 9 4 13 9
C 3 3 10 6 13 7
D 4 3 3 7 7 0
E 5 7 8 12 13 1
F 3 3 10 6 13 7
G 6 7 7 13 13 0
H 3 13 13 16 16 0
I 3 12 13 15 16 1
J 2 16 16 18 18 0
K Test 2 18 18 20 20 0

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 Example 1

Activity Description Required Predecessor Duration

A Product design (None) 5 months
B Market research (None) 1
C Production analysis A 2
D Product model A 3
E Sales brochure A 2
F Cost analysis C 3
G Product testing D 4
H Sales training B, E 2
I Pricing H 1
J Project report F, G, I 1
The four paths are A D G J, A C F J, A E H I J, and B H I J.
 Re-cap
(17 March 2010, Wednesday 2pm to 3.35pm)
pm)
• We have discussed what are the software, Projects,
Management, Project Management, Software project
management, SPM stages, Project plan, Project plan
activities, Project risks, Project manager.

(24 March 2010, Wednesday 2pm to 3.35pm)

• We have discussed what are Project Scheduling and

Project scheduling tools: PERT, CPM, Timelines or Gantt
chart.

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 The Major Differences and Similarities between PERT and
CPM

Differences:

• PERT is considered a probabilistic tool while CPM is a deterministic

tool.
• PERT is basically a tool for planning and control of time while CPM
allows an explicit estimate of costs in addition to time.

Similarities:

CPM can be used to control both the time and the cost of the project.
Extensions of both PERT and CPM allow the user to manage other
resources in addition to time and money, to trade off resources, to
analyze different types of schedules, and to balance the use of
resources.

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The Major Differences and Similarities between PERT and CPM

PERT and CPM are very similar in their approach; however, two
distinctions are usually made. The first relates to the way in which
activity duration are estimated. In PERT, three estimates are used to
form a weighted average of the expected completion time, based on a
probability distribution of completion times. Therefore, PERT is
considered a probabilistic tool. In CPM, there is only one estimate of
duration; that is, CPM is a deterministic tool. The second difference is
that CPM allows an explicit estimate of costs in addition to time. Thus,
while PERT is basically a tool for planning and control of time, CPM can
be used to control both the time and the cost of the project. Extensions
of both PERT and CPM allow the user to manage other resources in
addition to time and money, to trade off resources, to analyze different
types of schedules, and to balance the use of resources.

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 What are they?
Gantt and PERT charts are both “CPM”
(Critical Path Method) tools to:
• manage the tasks involved in big and
complex projects
• let project managers organise time,
people, equipment and money
• ensure the right people and equipment are
in the right place and the right time
• allow managers to monitor the progress of
a project 41
 Contents

• Project Scheduling tools: PERT

• Metrics – Lines of Code (LOC) and Function Points (FP)

• Measurement

• Models

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 PERT
Charts
Stands for Program Evaluation and Review Technique

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 PERT (Project Evaluation & Review Technique)
• simple PERT chart comprises circles (nodes) to represent events within
the development lifecycle

For example completion of tasks, and lines (edges) which represent the the tasks.
The lines are additionally labeled by the estimated duration of the task.

• A real PERT chart shows earliest time to completion, latest time to

completion, and slack in the circles also.

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 How to construct a PERT chart

The basic steps to constructing a PERT chart are:

• Identify tasks and estimate duration of times

• Identify a single start and end event
• Arrange events in sequence (give events a unique number)
• Establish start and finish times of each task. Keep in mind the
estimates made for duration and effort.
• Determine float
• Revise

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As an example of using a PERT chart, consider the following simple
chart showing a project with tasks A,B,C,D and E
This diagram states that tasks A,B,C and E will take 2 days (assume d is
abbreviation for days) and task D has a planned duration of 5 days.
Task D is dependent on completion of task B, etc.

2 C 4
2d

A
2d E
2d

1
5

B
2d D
5d

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• Both techniques (PERT and CPM) are driven by information already
developed in earlier project planning activities:
– Estimates of efforts
– Decomposition of product function
– selection of appropriate process model and task set
– Decomposition of tasks

• Both PERT and CPM provides quantitative tools to

– determine the critical path
– Decomposition of product function
– calculate boundary time (window) for a particular task
– Decomposition of tasks

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 PERT charts

This PERT chart follows the “Activity on Arrow” style.

•The tasks are shown by arrows. Task name are shown by letters,
in this case.
•The circles are called nodes. The nodes indicate the start or end of
tasks.
•Task durations are the shown by the numbers.

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‘Activity on Node’ style PERT

Activity on Node is a different flavour of PERT: this time

the nodes are tasks, and the arrows are merely
connectors.
The examiners prefer very simple PERT charts –
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sometimes hybrid beasts that defy categorisation.
A PERT PROBLEM

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• 1: Which tasks are on the critical path?
• 2: What is the slack time for tasks C, D and G?
• 3: Task C is delayed by one day. What impact would
this have on the completion date of the project? Why?
• 4: Task A will be delayed by 2 days because some
equipment has arrived late. If the project manager
wants to finish the project on time he will need to
shorten the duration of one or more of the tasks. How
can he achieve this?
• 5: The project manager reduces the durations of tasks
D and F by one day each. How will this affect the
finishing date of the project?
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1: Which tasks are on the critical path?

Possible paths:
A,B,C,E,I = 2+3+1+4+3 = 13 days
A,B,D,F,I = 2+3+3+3+3 = 14 days
A,G,H,I = 2+2+5+3 = 12 days

ANSWER: A,B,D,F,I
52
 2: What is the slack time for tasks C, D and G?

TASKS C and D…
Path C,E = 5 days, Path D,F = 6 days
Difference (slack) = 1 day for tasks C or E
compared to D,F

TASK G…
Path B,C,E = 8 days. Path B, D, F = 9
days
Path G, H = 7 days.
So G & H have 2 days’ slack between them.

B,C or E have 1 day’s slack. 53

B,D,F have no slack.
3: Task C starts one day late. What impact
would this have on the completion date of
the project? Why?

No impact, because task C has

one day’s slack (as discovered
in previous question!)

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4: Task A will be delayed by 2 days because some
equipment has arrived late. If the project manager still
wants to finish the project within the original time frame,
he will need to shorten the time for one or more of the
tasks. What steps can he take to reduce the number of
days allocated to a task?

The answer has NOTHING to do with the

chart! Just say how jobs can be finished
more quickly, e.g. bringing in extra
workers from slack tasks, working longer
hours, working weekend, streamlining
work practices, automating tasks etc.

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• 5: The project manager decides to reduce the time needed for tasks
D and F by one day each. How effective will this reduction be in
achieving his aim of maintaining the original finish time for the
project?

It is only partially effective. Reducing tasks D and F by

one day each means the path A,B,D,F,I is now 12 days
long. However, path A,B,C,E,I is still 13 days so it
becomes the longest path, and therefore becomes the
new critical path.
The project is now 13 days long instead of 14, a saving
of only one day.
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Gantt Chart
 Gantt Chart

• GANTT charts are a project planning tool that can be used to represent
the timing of tasks required to complete a project.

- It describes similar information to a PERT chart.

Here is one that was produced automatically with a project management tool
from the PERT chart info above:

• Gantt chart is the usual way to present a project schedule. Work packages
are along the vertical axis, time along the horizontal axis.
 Gantt Chart

– The bar or Gantt Chart is a widely used simple project scheduling

technique.
– Advantages include:
• Direct correlation with time.
• Straight forward relationship with projects involving a limited number
of tasks.
• Straight forward integration of subtasks having separate scheduling
charts.
• Time schedule is flexible and is expanded to show tasks of shorter
nature.
• Progress against the plan is easily reflected.
– Disadvantage includes:
• That it does not convey the complex interrelationships that may occur
between tasks.
 Milestone Chart

– A Milestone chart is similar to a Gantt Chart with the emphasis placed

on task completion.

– It embodies the same simplified techniques as does the Gantt chart.

It does not portray the interrelationships between tasks and hence
does not identify the critical path.
Some Gantt / PERT Terms
•Lead time
Occurs when a task should theoretically wait for its
predecessor to finish, but can actually start a little
early. The time that the tasks overlap is lead time.
E.g. when replacing computers in a computer lab,
you could actually start bringing in the new
computers while the old ones were being packed up
and moved out.

62
 Some Gantt / PERT Terms
Lag time
The minimum amount of time that must pass
between the finish of one activity and the start of its
successor's.

For example, if task A is laying a house’s concrete

slab, and dependent task B is putting up the house
walls, there would need to be some lag time between
the end of task A and the start of task B to let the
concrete set.

Lag time is shown in a PERT chart as an arrow with

a duration but no task assigned to it. 63
Some Gantt / PERT Terms
Dummy Task

Shown by a dotted arrow on a PERT chart, it shows

a dependency but no task. The next example shows
this…

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A Family Routine

65
 Questions

Q1. What tasks are on the critical path?

Q2. What is the minimum time it would take for the family to
reach the football game after getting the alarm goes off?
Q3. How much more time could dad walk the dog before
eating breakfast got delayed? (Note: Mum insists the entire
family eats together)
Q4. What is this amount of time called?
Q5. If mum skipped her 40 minutes shower, how much
earlier would they get to the game? 66
 Q2

What is the minimum time it would take for

the family to reach the footy game after
the alarm starts ringing?
The duration of the critical tasks… 110 minutes

67
 Q3 & 4

How much more time could dad walk the dog before eating
breakfast got delayed?
30 minutes…
Shower + Prep Brekky = 55 min vs
Walk Dog + Dad Shower = 25 min … 30 min diff
What is this amount of time called?
Slack time (or float)
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 Q5

If mum skipped her 40 minute shower, how much

earlier would they get to the game?
• When the critical path is reduced by 40
minutes, it stops being the critical path.
• Path 2, at 85 min, becomes the critical path.
• Since it is 25 min shorter than the original
110 minute critical path, there is a 25 minute
saving. 69
 Project Tracking

• It is a road map for the Software Project

• It defines the tasks and milestones

70
 Project Tracking
• Tracking can be done by:
– Conducting periodic project status meetings
– Evaluating the results of all reviews
– Determining whether milestones were reached by the scheduled
date
– Compare actual start date to planned start date
– Meeting informally with professionals to get their subjective
opinion
– Using earned value analysis

71
 Project Tracking
• Tracking can be done by:
– Conducting periodic project status meetings
– Evaluating the results of all reviews
– Determining whether milestones were reached by the scheduled
date
– Compare actual start date to planned start date
– Meeting informally with professionals to get their subjective
opinion
– Using earned value analysis

earned value is useful as it provides a quantitative

technique of assessing progress on the project as
a whole
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Tracking the Project Schedule
Project is on
schedule and
within budget Additional
Additionalresources
resources
focussed
focussedon
onproblem
problem
area
area
Project Tracking
Staff
Staffmay
maybe
be
redeployed
redeployed
Problem
diagnosed Project
ProjectSchedule
Schedulecan
can
be
beredefined
redefined
73
Metrics, Measurement and
Models

74
 Metrics
Metric is a quantitative measure.

Product Process
Metrics Metrics

Process metrics measure the

Product metrics measure the product. performance of the development
process.

75
 Metrics
• Quantifiable measure
• Used to measure different characteristic of a software system or the
software development process
• the most common metrics are:
- LOC (Lines of code)
- Function Points
• Two types
- Product Metrics (Used quantify characteristic of the product being
developed i.e., software)
- Process Metrics (Used quantify characteristic of the environment)
An example of a metric would be that there were only two user-discovered errors
in the first 18 months of operation. This provides more meaningful information
than a statement that the delivered system is of top quality.
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 LOC (Lines of code)

• Quantifying properties of the software

• specify the size of the software
• Give more precise characterization to the common notions of small,
large or very large projects. Like,

Size: Small Medium Large Very Large

LOC: <2k 2k-8k 8k-32k >32k

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 Function Point (FP)
• Can be applied at the requirements stage
• Used to predict the size or the cost of the system
• Asses the project productivity.
• Using function points for cost, size and productivity is called FP Analysis

What is Function Point Analysis (FPA)?

• It is designed to estimate and measure the time, and thereby the cost, of
developing new software applications and maintaining existing software
applications.
• It is also useful in comparing and highlighting opportunities for
productivity improvements in software development.

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How is Function Point Analysis done?
Working from the project design specifications, the following system
functions are measured (counted):
• Inputs
• Outputs
• Files
• Inquires
• Interfaces

These function-point counts are then weighed (multiplied) by their

degree of complexity:
Simple Average Complex
Inputs 2 4 6
Outputs 3 5 7
Files 5 10 15
Inquires 2 4 6
Interfaces 4 7 10 79
A simple example:

inputs
3 simple X 2 = 6
4 average X 4 = 16
1 complex X 6 = 6
outputs
6 average X 5 = 30
2 complex X 7 = 14
files
5 complex X 15 = 75
inquiries
8 average X 4 = 32
interfaces
3 average X 7 = 21
4 complex X 10 = 40
80
Unadjusted function points 240
Continuing our example . . .
Complex internal processing = 3
Code to be reusable = 2
High performance = 4
Multiple sites = 3
Distributed processing = 5
Project adjustment factor = 17

Adjustment calculation:
Adjusted FP = Unadjusted FP X [0.65 + (adjustment factor X 0.01)]
= 240 X [0.65 + ( 17 X 0.01)]
= 240 X [0.82]
= 197 Adjusted function points

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 What is the difference between metrics and measurements?

Measure –
• To ascertain or appraise by comparing to a standard
• A standard or unit of measurement; the extent, dimensions, capacity, etc., of
anything, especially as determined by a standard; an act or process of
measuring; a result of measurement.

Measurement –
• The act or process of measuring.
• A figure, extent, or amount obtained by measuring.
• The act or process of measuring something.
An example measure might be five centimeters. The centimeter is the standard, and
five identifies how many multiples or fractions of the standard are being
appraised.
Metric –
• A quantitative measure of the degree to which a system, component, or process
possesses a given attribute.
• A calculated or composite indicator based upon two or more measures.
• A quantified measure of the degree to which a system, component, or process
82
possesses a given attribute.
Q&A