© 2005 by Prentice Hall Chapter 3 Managing the Information Systems Project Modern Systems Analysis and Design Fourth Edition Jeffrey A. Hoffer Joey F. George Joseph S. Valacich

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-2 Learning Objectives Explain the process of managing an information systems project. Describe the skills required to be an effective project manager. List project management activities during project initiation, planning, execution, and closedown. Explain critical path scheduling, Gantt charts, and Network diagrams. Explain the utility of commercial project management software tools.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-3 Importance of Project Management Project management may be the most important aspect of systems development. Effective PM helps ensure Meeting customer expectations Satisfying budget and time constraints PM skills are difficult and important to learn.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-4 Pine Valley Application Project

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-5 Deciding on Systems Projects System Service Request (SSR) A standard form for requesting or proposing systems development work within an organization Feasibility study A study that determines whether a requested system makes economic and operational sense for an organization

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-6 System Service Request (SSR) is a form requesting development or maintenance of an information system. It includes the contact person, a problem statement, a service request statement, and liaison contact information

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-7 Managing the Information Systems Project Project A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a beginning and an end Project management A controlled process of initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-8 Managing the Information Systems Project (cont.) Project manager Systems analyst with management and leadership skills responsible for leading project initiation, planning, execution, and closedown Deliverable The end product of an SDLC phase

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-9 Project Management Activities

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-10 Phases of Project Management Process Phase 1: Initiation Phase 2: Planning Phase 3: Execution Phase 4: Closedown

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-11 PM Phase 1: Project Initiation Assess size, scope and complexity, and establish procedures. Establish: Initiation team Relationship with customer Project initiation plan Management procedures Project management environment Project workbook

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-12

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-13 PM Phase 2: Project Planning Define clear, discrete activities and the work needed to complete each activity Tasks Define project scope, alternatives, feasibility Divide project into tasks Estimate resource requirements Develop preliminary schedule Develop communication plan Determine standards and procedures Risk identification and assessment Create preliminary budget Develop a statement of work Set baseline project plan

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-14 Planning Detail

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-15 Some Components of Project Planning Statement of Work (SOW) “Contract” between the IS staff and the customer regarding deliverables and time estimates for a system development project The Baseline Project Plan (BPP) Contains estimates of scope, benefits, schedules, costs, risks, and resource requirements Preliminary Budget Cost-benefit analysis outlining planned expenses and revenues

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-16 Some Components of Project Planning (cont.) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Division of project into manageable and logically ordered tasks and subtasks Scheduling Diagrams Gantt chart: horizontal bars represent task durations Network diagram: boxes and links represent task dependencies

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-17 Scheduling Diagrams Gantt Chart Special-purpose project management software is available for this.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-18 Scheduling Diagrams Network Diagram Special-purpose project management software is available for this.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-19 Preliminary Budget Spreadsheet software is good for this.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-20 PM Phase 3: Project Execution Plans created in prior phases are put into action. Actions Execute baseline project plan Monitor progress against baseline plan Manage changes in baseline plan Maintain project workbook Communicate project status

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-21 Monitoring Progress with a Gantt Chart Red bars indicate critical path, lines through bars indicate percent complete.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-22 Communication Methods Project workbook Meetings Seminars and workshops Newsletters Status reports Specification documents Minutes of meetings Bulletin boards Memos Brown bag lunches Hallway discussions

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-23 PM Phase 4: Project Closedown Bring the project to an end. Actions Close down the project. Conduct post-project reviews. Close the customer contract.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-24 Representing and Scheduling Project Plans Gantt Charts Network Diagrams PERT Calculations Critical Path Scheduling Project Management Software

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-25 Gantt Charts vs. Network Diagrams Gantt charts Show task durations. Show time overlap. Network diagrams Show task dependencies. Do not show time overlap, but show parallelism.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-26 Gantt Charts vs. Network Diagrams (cont.)

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-27 Estimating Task Duration PERT: Program Evaluation Review Technique Technique that uses optimistic (o), pessimistic (p), and realistic (r) time estimates to determine expected task duration Formula for Estimated Time: ET = (o + 4r + p)/6

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-28 Example PERT Analysis

Critical Path Analysis Critical path method (CPM)—also called critical path analysis—is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration. A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed. It is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float. –Slack or float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date. The longest path or the path containing the critical tasks is what is driving the completion date for the project.

Figure 4-7. Critical Path Calculation for Project X

What Does the Critical Path Really Mean? The critical path shows the shortest time in which a project can be completed. If one or more of the activities on the critical path takes longer than planned, the whole project schedule will slip unless the project manager takes corrective action. For example: Apple Computer team members put a stuffed gorilla on top of the cubicle of whoever was in charge of a critical task, so they would not distract him or her.

Figure 4-8. Who’s Stuck With the Gorilla This Week?

Growing Grass Can Be on the Critical Path The fact that its name includes the word “critical” does not mean that the critical path includes all critical activities. Frank Addeman, executive project director at Walt Disney Imagineering, explained in a keynote address at the May 2000 PMI-ISSIG Professional Development Seminar that growing grass was on the critical path for building Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. This 500-acre park required special grass for its animal inhabitants, and some of the grass took years to grow. So, growing grass was driving the completion date of the theme park; not what most people would think of as a critical activity.

Using Critical Path Analysis to Make Schedule Trade-offs It is important to know what the critical path is throughout the life of a project so that the project manager can make trade-offs. If one of the tasks on the critical path is behind schedule, should the schedule be renegotiated with stakeholders, or should more resources be allocated to other items on the critical path to make up for that time? It is also common for project stakeholders to want to shorten project schedule estimates, so you need to know what tasks are on the critical path.

Questions on the Critical Path Can there be more than one critical path on a project? Can the critical path on a project change?

Schedule Compression Techniques Crashing is a technique for making cost and schedule trade-offs to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost. –If two critical tasks each take two weeks, and it will take $100 to shorten Task 1 by a week and $1,000 to shorten Task 2 by a week, shorten Task 1. Fast tracking involves doing activities in parallel that you would normally do in sequence. –Instead of waiting for Task 1 to be totally finished before starting Task 2, start Task 2 when Task 1 is halfway done. Schedule compression often backfires by causing cost, human resource, and quality problems, which lead to even longer schedules.

Project Buffers A project buffer is additional time added before the project’s due date to account for unexpected factors. Kristin learned from past projects that no matter how well you try to schedule everything, it can still be a challenge to finish on time without a mad rush at the end, so she included a buffer in their project schedule.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-38 Using Project Management Software Many powerful software tools exist for assisting with project management. Example: Microsoft Project can help with Entering project start date. Establishing tasks and task dependencies. Viewing project information as Gantt or Network diagrams.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-39 Project Start Date

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-40 Entering Tasks

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-41 Viewing Network Diagram Hexagon shape indicates a milestone. Red boxes and arrows indicate critical path (no slack).

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-42 Viewing Gantt Chart Black line at top indicates a summary activity (composed of subtasks). Diamond shape indicates a milestone.

© 2005 by Prentice Hall 3-43 Summary In this chapter you learned how to: Explain the process of managing an information systems project. Describe the skills required to be an effective project manager. List project management activities during project initiation, planning, execution, and closedown. Explain critical path scheduling, Gantt charts, and Network diagrams. Explain the utility of commercial project management software tools.