The Systems Analysis Toolkit Project Management Tools

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Systems Analyst’s Toolkit Part 3 Project Management Tools

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Introduction  The Systems Analyst’s 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 team’s workload  Controlling: monitoring progress, evaluating results, and taking necessary corrective action

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Project Management  Project planning  A project plan is an overall framework for managing costs and schedules  The planning process involves  Activities (tasks)  Events (milestones) Click to see Figure 3-1

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 Click to see Figure 3-3 Click to see Figure 3-2

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Project Estimating  Developing time and cost estimates  Project size and scope  IT resources  Prior experience  Constraints

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Scheduling Tools  A project manager can use several graphical planning tools  Gantt charts  PERT/CPM charts

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 task’s duration Click to see Figure 3-5

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 Click to see Figure 3-6

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Scheduling Tools  PERT/CPM  The vectors representing tasks connect the nodes, which indicate milestones  The activity’s estimated duration is shown below the vector Click to see Figure 3-7b Click to see Figure 3-7a

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Scheduling Tools  PERT/CPM  The vectors representing tasks connect the nodes, which indicate milestones  The activity’s estimated duration is shown below the vector  Tasks that must be completed in a specific sequence are called dependent, or serial, tasks Click to see Figure 3-8

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Scheduling Tools  PERT/CPM  The vectors representing tasks connect the nodes, which indicate milestones  The activity’s 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 Click to see Figure 3-9

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 Click to see Figure 3-10

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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))

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 Click to see Figure 3-10

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 Click to see Figure 3-12

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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 Click to see Figure 3-13

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition 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

End Tookit Part 3