Ch 3 & 4 Project Planning & Management

What We Must Do Define: determine scope and specifications. Plan: break the project into pieces that can be assigned and tracked. Schedule: determine effort, dates and assignments. Monitor: track progress and deadlines Correct: recognize problems and make corrections

Scope and Specification Business Objective Business Solution Contribution to the organization’s mission Technical Objective Technical Solution

Functions of Information Processing Capture Process Store Retrieve Analyze Publish Transaction System Reporting System (warehouse)

Define the Project Demand from lone zealot Too much demand In search of demand Make sure you understand whether there is demand and where that demand is coming from

Assess Your Readiness (Litmus Test: see text) Strong sponsors60% Compelling business motivation15% IS/Business partnership 15% Analytic culture 5% Data availability 5%

Readiness Improvement High level business analysis Identify key strategic initiatives Performance indicators & metrics Core business processes monitored (Critical Success Factors) Project impact on key metrics

Readiness Improvement Facilitated Session: JAD Prioritization potential impact feasibility/readiness Proof of concept Set scope

Cost/Benefit Cost Hardware & software acquisition costs Ongoing maintenance Internal development resources External resources as required Education: team and business community Ongoing support Growth and change

Cost/Benefit Benefit New business in current lines Decreased cost of doing current business Increased service New business opportunities Identify opportunities or avoid problems.

Planning Identify milestones, tasks and activities Identify dependencies Estimate Time Set start and finish dates Assign resources (people)

Planning Chart TaskAssignedEffortRequiresStartEnd x. Milestonedd x.x Task 1hrdd x.x.x Activityhrdd x.y Task 2hrxxdd x.y.y Activityhrdd x.y.y Activityhrdd

Tracking TaskStartOriginal End Current End StatusEffort to Finish Late Flag x. Milestone x.x Task 1dd %hrX x.x.x Activitydd %hrX x.y Task 2dd %hr x.y.y Activitydd %hr x.y.y Activitydd %hr

Notes It can take 8-10 hours per attribute to prepare the warehouse Inflate estimates to account for surprises (there will be surprises) Include formal user acceptance after each deliverable/milestone

Managing the Project Special Concerns Cross Functional participation Iterative development Data problems Elevated visibility 50%-80% failure rate

Managing the project Status meetings (weekly, regularly scheduled) Progress reports Work accomplished Work planned for the next period Concerns or issues (schedule or political problems) Updated planning matrix

Management Tasks Monitor progress Track issues Control and document changes Manage expectations

Scope Creep IT people would like to say “Yes.” While any single change may be OK the total often becomes a real problem. Just say “No” Zero-Sum (“What will we have to give up?”) Expand the scope (and the time and the budget).

Interviews Individual or group Roles Lead Interviewer Scribe Pre-interview research Questionnaire Agenda User Preparation Write-up