Software Project Management in Practice

by Jalote, Pankaj

• ISBN13: 9780201737219
• ISBN10: 0201737213
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-31
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Summary

Software Project Management in Practice offers an invaluable guide to using lightweight software processes in real projects. Filled with sample documents, this book can benefit any organization seeking to improve the ways it manages software. The book covers risk assessment and the structure of project management teams. The author details strategies for running design and code reviews to catch defects and improper designs, as well as tips for overcoming resistance to such practices. The book makes it easy to learn to analyze the patterns of defects in software, including how to use statistical techniques to spot out-of-control projects. The book closes with the ways in which a project post-mortem can be used to spot what went wrong and to improve things the next time around.

Author Biography

Pankaj Jalote is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kampur

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Managing Software Projects	1	(18)
Processes and Project Management	2	(2)
Project Management and the CMM	4	(6)
Overview of the CMM	5	(2)
KPAs for Project Management	7	(3)
Project Management at Infosys	10	(5)
Background: Infosys	10	(1)
SEPG Support to Projects	11	(1)
Senior Management Involvement in Projects	12	(1)
Training for Project Managers	12	(1)
The Project Management Process	13	(2)
Overview of the ACIC Case Study	15	(2)
Summary	17	(1)
References	17	(2)
PART I PROJECT PLANNING	19	(156)
The Project Planning Infrastructure	21	(14)
The Process Database	22	(4)
Contents of the PDB	22	(1)
A Sample Entry	23	(3)
The Process Capability Baseline	26	(3)
Process Assets and the Body of Knowledge System	29	(3)
Summary	32	(1)
References	33	(2)
Process Planning	35	(16)
The Infosys Development Process	35	(7)
The Standard Process	36	(2)
Process Tailoring	38	(2)
Example: Tailoring for Short - Duration Projects	40	(2)
Requirement Change Management	42	(4)
The Change Management Process	43	(1)
Examples	44	(2)
Process Planning for the ACIC Project	46	(2)
Summary	48	(1)
References	49	(2)
Effort Estimation and Scheduling	51	(26)
Estimation and Scheduling Concepts	51	(3)
Effort Estimation Models	52	(1)
Estimating Schedule	53	(1)
Effort Estimation	54	(11)
The Bottom-up Estimation Approach	55	(2)
The Top-Down Estimation Approach	57	(1)
The Use Case Points Approach	58	(2)
Effectiveness of the Overall Approach	60	(1)
Effort Estimate of the ACIC Project	61	(4)
Scheduling	65	(7)
Overall Scheduling	65	(3)
The Effectiveness of the Approach	68	(1)
Detailed Scheduling	68	(2)
The Schedule of the ACIC Project	70	(2)
Summary	72	(2)
References	74	(3)
Quality Planning	77	(16)
Quality Concepts	78	(4)
Procedural Approach to Quality Management	79	(1)
Quantitative Approaches to Quality Management	80	(2)
Quantitative Quality Management Planning	82	(3)
Setting the Quality Goal	82	(1)
Estimating Defects for Other Stages	83	(1)
Quality Process Planning	84	(1)
Defect Prevention Planning	85	(2)
The Quality Plan of the ACIC Project	87	(3)
Summary	90	(2)
References	92	(1)
Risk Management	93	(16)
Concepts of Risk and Risk Management	94	(3)
Risk Assessment	97	(3)
Risk Identification	98	(1)
Risk Prioritization	98	(2)
Risk Control	100	(3)
Risk Management Planning	101	(1)
Risk Monitoring and Tracking	101	(2)
Examples	103	(2)
The ACIC Project	103	(2)
The XYZ Project	105	(1)
Summary	105	(3)
References	108	(1)
Measurement and Tracking Planning	109	(18)
Concepts in Measurement	109	(5)
Metrics and Measurements	110	(1)
Process Monitoring through Statistical Process Control	111	(3)
Measurements	114	(6)
Collecting Effort Data	114	(1)
Logging and Tracking Defects	115	(5)
Measuring Schedule	120	(1)
Measuring Size	120	(1)
Project Tracking	120	(3)
The ACIC Measurement and Tracking Plan	123	(1)
Summary	123	(1)
References	124	(3)
The Project Management Plan	127	(26)
Team Management	127	(3)
Team Structure	128	(1)
Communication	129	(1)
Team Development	129	(1)
Customer Communication and Issue Resolution	130	(1)
The Structure of the Project Management Plan	131	(1)
The ACIC Project Plan	131	(21)
Summary	152	(1)
Configuration Management	153	(22)
Concepts in Configuration Management	154	(3)
The Configuration Management Process	157	(7)
Planning and Setting Up Configuration Management	158	(2)
Perform Configuration Control	160	(2)
Status Monitoring and Audits	162	(2)
The ACIC Configuration Management Plan	164	(8)
Summary	172	(1)
References	172	(3)
Part II PROJECT EXECUTION AND CLOSURE	175	(78)
Reviews	177	(22)
The Reviews Process	178	(6)
Planning	179	(1)
Overview and Preparation	179	(1)
Group Review Meeting	180	(1)
Rework and Follow -- up	181	(1)
One -- Person Review	181	(1)
Guidelines for Reviews in Projects	182	(2)
Data Collection	184	(2)
Self -- Preparation Log	184	(1)
Group Review Meeting Log	184	(2)
Group Review Summary Report	186	(1)
Monitoring and Control	186	(6)
The Review Capability Baseline	186	(1)
Analysis and Control Guidelines	187	(4)
An Example	191	(1)
Introduction of Reviews and the NAH Syndrome	192	(4)
The Infosys Experiment	193	(1)
Data from the Experiment	194	(2)
Summary	196	(1)
References	197	(2)
Project Monitoring and Control	199	(36)
Project Tracking	201	(7)
Activities Tracking	201	(1)
Defect Tracking	201	(1)
Issues Tracking	202	(1)
Status Reports	202	(6)
Milestone Analysis	208	(7)
Actual Versus Estimated Analysis of Effort and Schedule	208	(2)
Monitoring Quality	210	(1)
Risk - Related Monitoring	211	(1)
Milestone Analysis and the ACIC Project	212	(3)
Activity - Level Analysis Using SPC	215	(2)
Defect Analysis and Prevention	217	(10)
Performing Pareto Analysis	217	(1)
Performing Causal Analysis	218	(3)
Developing and Implementing Solutions	221	(1)
DP in the ACIC Project	222	(5)
Process Monitoring and Audit	227	(5)
Conducting the Audit	228	(1)
Follow - up Actions	229	(3)
Summary	232	(1)
References	233	(2)
Project Closure	235	(18)
Project Closure Analysis	235	(5)
The Role of Closure Analysis	236	(1)
Performing Closure Analysis	237	(1)
Closure Analysis Report	238	(2)
The ACIC Closure Analysis Report	240	(10)
Summary	250	(1)
References	250	(3)
Index	253

Excerpts

The genesis of this book dates back to 1996. For my sabbatical, I joined Infosys as the head of quality, with the charter of improving the processes for project execution. Seeing the problems faced by project managers, I felt that software project management must be the toughest job on the planet. And I thought that delivering high-quality software within budget and on schedule must be an oxymoron. The situation, I now realize, is not quite that hopeless. By using sound project management processes, project managers in some organizations are successfully executing projects. Infosys, one such global organization, has successfully executed more than 500 projects last year alone. It has about 10,000 employees spread across 25 cities in more than a dozen countries around the globe, and it has been assessed at the highest maturity level (level 5) of the CMM. Its revenues and profits have grown at about 75% per year for the past five years. The level of customer satisfaction can be judged by the fact that despite the company's huge growth about 85% of its revenue comes from repeat orders from existing customers. I have used my experience and knowledge of Infosys processes to cull out and describe in this book the key project management practices that have been used to successfully execute project after project. The beauty of these practices is that despite being highly effective, they are not complex; rather, they are grounded in common sense and are supported by simple measurements and analyses. In describing project management processes at Infosys, the book offers a unique combination of two value propositions. First, it provides the complete set of processes employed for project management in a highly successful organization. The use of these processes is illustrated with real examples and a running case study. Second, because the processes satisfy the requirements of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), this book demystifies the way projects are managed in a high-maturity organization, and it provides the benefits that the CMM offers to project management without the need of a detailed understanding of the CMM. The book is written primarily for project managers and for professionals who plan to become project managers. By using the methods described in this book they can systematically improve the planning and execution of their projects. It can also be very useful for an organization that wants to reach a high maturity level. If project managers start using the methods described here, they will lay the foundations for high maturity in the organization. Because most chapters begin with an overview before describing the details of the Infosys method, this book can also be used as a text in a software project management course. In a general software engineering course, it can serve as a supplementary text, providing a view of how a software project is managed in a business environment. Chapter 1 contains a brief introduction to Infosys and the relationship of the CMM and project management. The remainder of the book is divided into two parts. Part I, consisting of Chapters 2 through 9, focuses on project planning and covers topics such as planning infrastructure, process planning, effort and schedule estimation, quality planning, risk management, measurement planning, and configuration management. Part II, consisting of Chapters 10 through 12, focuses on project execution and completion and covers reviews, project monitoring and control, and project closure. To the extent possible, each chapter has been kept independent and stand-alone and has been organized as follows. The relevant concepts and background material are given in the first section, followed by a discussion of methods used by Infosys. Next come examples of the use of these methods in real projects and in the case study. Each chapter ends with a summary that lists the key takeaways from the chapter and describes which aspects of CMM are satisfied by the methods discussed in the chapter. Although this book draws on my earlier book CMM in Practice(Addison-Wesley, 2000), it has a different focus and substantially different contents. Whereas CMM in Practiceconsiders the entire software process and focuses on implementation of the CMM in an organization, this book focuses exclusively on project management. Many people helped to make this book a reality. Because the book has its origins in CMM in Practice, my thanks to all the people who helped in that project. In addition, I would like to again express my gratitude to Infosys and its directors, whose cooperation and help made this book possible. My sincere thanks to members of the quality department at Infosys for providing information whenever needed, and to the many people who shared with me their experiences, which find their way into mini-cases throughout the book (although with the names changed). My special thanks to Naresh Agarwal for his help with the main case study, and to Sanjay Joshi for his help in bringing a sharper focus to the chapters. And finally, my thanks to my wife, Shikha, and my daughters, Sumedha and Sunanda, for bearing with me and my odd hours once again. Any comments about the book, or any inaccuracies that might be present (which are entirely my responsibility), can be sent to me at [e-mail]. For information regarding Infosys, visitwww.infy.comor send mail to [e-mail]. 0201737213P01222002