Transcript Document
ITEC 3010 “Systems Analysis and Design, I”
LECTURE 3:
The Analyst as a Project Manager
[
Prof. Peter Khaiter
] 1
Lecture Outline
IS Projects: Success and Failure Role of the Project Manager Project Management Tasks in SDLC Project Initiation and Project Planning Project Planning Activities Project Schedule Risks Management and Project Feasibility Financial Calculations Tangible and Intangible Benefits Staffing the Project Launching the Project
2
Project Success Factors
Project management important for success of system development project 2000 Standish Group Study Only 28% of system development projects successful 72% of projects cancelled, completed late, completed over budget, and/or limited in functionality Thus, project requires careful planning, control, and execution 3
Reasons for Project Failure
Incomplete or changing requirements Limited user involvement Lack of executive support Lack of technical support Poor project planning Unclear objectives Lack of required resources 4
Reasons for Project Success
Clear system requirement definitions Substantial user involvement Support from upper management Thorough and detailed project plans Realistic work schedules and milestones 5
Role of the Project Manager
Project management
people to achieve a planned result within budget and on schedule – organizing and directing
Project manager
– a person has primary responsibility for the functioning of the team. Success or failure of project depends on skills of the project manager Beginning of project – plan and organize During project – monitor and control Responsibilities are both
internal
and
external
6
Internal Responsibilities
Identify project tasks and build a work breakdown structure Define the
milestones
(i.e., key events in a project which can be identified by a specific pieces of documentation or a specific status review meeting) and deliverables to monitor progress.
Develop the project schedule Recruit and train team members Assign team members to tasks Coordinate activities of team members and subteams Assess project risks Monitor and control project deliverables and milestones Verify the quality of project deliverables 7
External Responsibilities
Report the project’s status and progress Establish good working relationships with those who identify the needed system requirements The people who will use the system Work directly with the client (the project’s sponsor) and other stakeholders Identify resource needs and obtain resources 8
Participants in a System Development Project
A project manager reports to and woks with several
groups of people
: • The
client
project is a person or group of people who will be paying for the development of the new system – the customer. The client releases funds and ultimately approves the project. For in-house development, the client can be an executive committee or a particular vice president who is funding the • For large project, an of the project
oversight committee
may be formed. This committee consists of clients and other key executives who have a vision of the strategic direction of the organization and have a strong interest in the success •
Users
are the people who will actually be using the new system. The user typically provides information about the detailed functions and operations of the new system 9
Participants in a System Development Project
10
Various Titles/Roles of Project Managers
11
Project Management Tasks throughout the SDLC
Overlap with SDLC phases Beginning of project Overall project planning During project Project execution management Project control management Project closeout Project management approach differs for
Predictive SDLC
activities) (linear, concurrently with SDLC
Adaptive SDLC
the entire SDLC) (in cycle, planning is distributed across 12
Project Management Tasks in SDLC
13
Project Execution Management
Following the project schedule Assigning and coordinating the work of project team Communicating with all project stakeholders
14
Project Control
Determining progress and taking corrective actions when necessary Assessing whether requests for scope changes are necessary Maintaining an outstanding issues list Resolving problems
15
Project Closeout
To smooth project shutdown Releasing team members for other assignments Finalizing the budget Reviewing or auditing the results of the projects
16
Project Management and SDLC Tasks for a Predictive Project
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Project Management and SDLC Tasks for an Adaptive Project
18
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
Developed by The Project Management Institute (PMI) 9 knowledge areas: foundation information for every project manager Scope management control functions included in system control scope of work done by team Time management Build detailed schedule of all project tasks Monitor progress of project against milestones Cost management Calculate initial cost/benefit analysis Monitor expenses 19
Project Management Body of Knowledge (cont’d)
Quality management Establish quality plan and control activities for each project phase Human resource management Recruit and hire project team members Train, motivate, team build Communications management Identify stakeholders and their communications Establish team communications 20
Project Management Body of Knowledge (cont’d)
Risk management Identify and review risks for failure Develop plans to reduce these risks Procurement management Develop requests for proposals (RFPs) Evaluate bids, write contracts, monitor performance Integration management 21
Project Initiation and Project Planning
Driving forces/Reasons to start project Respond to opportunity Resolve problem Conform to directive 22
Project initiation
Top-down projects Bottom-up projects
. The optimal method is through the long-term IS strategic plan, that identifies the overall efforts of the organization to maintain a competitive positions and results in specific projects.
. Individual department managers or process managers are close to the daily work. They often identify IS problems within their respective areas. Brought to the attention of the strategic planning committee, these needs are integrated into the overall business strategy. In case of immediate needs that cannot wait for the strategic plan (such as a new sales commission schedule or a new productivity report), the process manager may request initiation of individual development projects.
Outside-forces project
urgent need for new IS.
. Projects can be initiated to respond to outside forces. One common outside pressure is legislative changes such as changes in tax or labor law. These changes affect the strategic plan, resulting in an 23
CASE STUDY: CSS Project initiation for Rocky Mountain Outfitters
Strategic IS plan directs
project development priorities
RMO’s strategic plan is to build more direct customer contact, improve service, and expand the marketing presence
Customer support system development selected as a top priority
Customer support system (CSS) selected John MacMurty – creates project charter Barbara Halifax – project manager Steven Deerfield – senior systems analyst Goal is to support multiple types of customer services (ordering, returns, online catalogs)
Project charter
describes key participants 24
RMO Project Charter
25
Project Planning Activities
26
Project Planning Activities and their key questions
27
Defining the Problem
Review business needs Use strategic plan documents Consult key users Develop list of expected
business benefits
(i.e., results organization expects to achieve from the new IS) Identify expected
system capabilities
level) Define scope in terms of requirements (at a general Create
system scope document
problem description, business benefits, system capabilities) (3 components: Build
proof of concept prototype
(if new technology or new solutions) to show they are feasible and possible Create
context diagram
(scope of the IS): an IS, external entities and input/output information flows 28
System Scope Document
29
Context Diagram for Customer Support System
30
CASE STUDY: Defining the Problem at RMO
Barbara and Steven, the CSS project team, developed the
list of business benefits
and
system capabilities
and the
context diagram
after talking to William McDougal, vice president of marketing and sales Steven did some preliminary investigation on possible
alternative solutions
(researched the trade magazines, the Internet, and other sources to determine whether there were sales and customer support systems that could be bought and installed rapidly. None seemed to have the exact match of capabilities that RMO needs) They decided to proceed with the
analysis phase
making any final decisions about solutions before They began developing a schedule, budget, and feasibility statement for the new system.
31
Producing the Project Schedule
Each project consists of tasks, activities and phases.
A
phase
An A
task
is made up of a group of related activities
activity
is made up of a group of related tasks is a smallest piece of work that is identified, named and scheduled The development of a project schedule involves three main steps: Develop
work breakdown schedule
Build a
PERT/Gantt chart
Develop
resource requirements
and staffing plan 32
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A
work breakdown structure (WBS)
hierarchy of tasks, activities and phases for the project. It is used as a foundation for developing the project schedule, identifying milestones in the schedule and for managing the costs Each
task
has an associated duration (sometimes three different values: expected, pessimistic and optimistic) and number of resources required) How to identify tasks: is a
Top-down
: identify major activities first, then internal tasks
Bottom-up
: list all the tasks and organize them
Analogy
: from similar projects 33
RMO Work Breakdown Structure
34
Project Scheduling
Developing a project schedule is a
four-step
process: (1) Project members identify all
tasks
for each activity (2) Estimation the
size
(3) Determining the of the task: number of human resources, person-day required, calendar time required and any other specific resources
sequence
of the tasks (4) Scheduling the tasks themselves 35
PERT/CPM Chart PERT/CPM
(
P
roject
E
valuation and
R
eview
T
echnique/ shows the
C
ritical
P
ath
critical path M
ethod) chart: shows the relationships among tasks defines tasks that can be done concurrently (= the
longest path
dependent tasks from the first task to the last task, i.e. the
shortest completion period
If any task on that path slips, then the entire project schedule will slip Other tasks (not on the critical path) usually have some
slack time
(the amount of time that the task can slip without affecting the schedule) of for the project) Good to show dependencies and critical path but it is not easy to see the project’s progress on a PERT chart 36
Partial PERT/CPM chart for the CSS project
37
Gantt chart
Gantt Chart
: shows information for each task as horizontal bar chart where the vertical tick marks are calendar days and weeks: Doesn’t show the dependencies of tasks A good tool for monitoring the progress of the project Tasks represented by horizontal bars Vertical tick marks are calendar days and weeks Shows calendar information in a way that is easy to track Bars may be colored or darkened to show completed tasks Vertical line indicates today’s date 38
Partial Gantt chart for the CSS project
39
Importance of the Proper Project Scheduling
In 1984, Microsoft planned to develop MS Word for one year At that time, this was two months less than the most optimistic estimated deadline for a project of its size In reality, it took Microsoft five years to complete Word Ultimately, the overly aggressive schedule for Word
slowed
its development for a number of reasons: The project experienced high turnover due to unreasonable pressure and work hours Code was ”finalized” prematurely, and the software spent much longer in “stabilization” (i.e., fixing bugs) than was originally expected (i.e., 12 months versus 3 months). Aggressive scheduling resulted in poor planning – the delivery date consistently was off by more than 60% for the first four years of the project 40
Just For Fun
http://www.getfunnypictures.com/crt052.html
MS software release
41
Risks Management and Project Feasibility
Risk management Organizational and cultural feasibility Technological feasibility Schedule feasibility Resource feasibility Economic feasibility Cost/benefit analysis Sources of funds (cash flow, long-term capital) 42
Risk Analysis
43
Organizational and Cultural Feasibility
Each company has own culture New system must fit into culture Evaluate related issues for potential risks Low level of computer competency Computer phobia Perceived loss of control Shift in power Fear of job change or employment loss Reversal of established work procedures Positive steps should be undertaken to reduce the risks E.g.: additional training can be held to teach new procedures and provide increased computer skills 44
Technological Feasibility
Does system stretch state-of-the-art technology?
Does in-house expertise presently exist for development?
Does an outside vendor need to be involved?
Solutions include Training or hiring more experienced employees Hiring consultants Changing scope and project approach 45
Schedule Feasibility
Estimates needed without complete information Management deadlines may not be realistic Project managers Drive realistic assumptions and estimates Recommend completion date flexibility Assign interim milestones to periodically reassess completion dates Involve experienced personnel Manage proper allocation of resources 46
Resource Feasibility
Team member availability
Team skill levels
Computers, equipment, and supplies
Support staff time and availability
Physical facilities
47
Economic Feasibility
Cost/benefit analysis Estimate project development costs Estimate operational costs after project Estimate financial benefits based on annual savings and increased revenues Calculate using table of costs and benefits Uses net present value (NPV), payback period, return on investment (ROI) techniques 48
Development Costs for RMO
The project manager has responsibility for estimating the cost of development: Salaries and wages Equipment and installation Software and licenses Consulting fees and payments to third parties Training Facilities Utilities and tools Support staff Travel and miscellaneous 49
Supporting details of salary and wages for the CSS project
50
Summary of Development Costs for RMO
51
Operating Costs
The following list identifies the major categories of costs that may be allocated to the operation of the new system: • connectivity • • • • • • equipment maintenance computer operations programming support amortization of equipment training and ongoing assistance (e.g., help desk) supplies 52
Summary of Annual Operating Costs for RMO
53
Just For Fun
Technical support 54
Sources of Benefits
Benefits usually come from two major sources: decreased costs increased revenues Unlike development costs, there are no “standard” benefits Sample of reduced costs: • Reducing staff due to automating manual functions or increasing efficiency • • Maintaining constant staff with increasing volumes of work Decreasing operating expenses, such as shipping charges for emergency shipments • Ensuring quicker processing and turnaround of documents or transactions • • • • Capturing lost discounts on money management Reducing bad accounts or bad credit losses Reducing inventory or merchandise losses due to tighter controls Collecting accounts receivables more quickly • Capturing income lost due to “stock outs” with better inventory management • • Reducing the cost of goods with volume discounts and purchases Reducing paperwork costs with electronic data interchange and other automation 55
Sample Benefits for RMO
56
Financial Calculations
Companies use a combination of methods:
Fist approach
, called the
net present value
(
NPV
), has two concepts: (1) all benefits and costs are calculated in terms of today’s dollars (present value) (2) the future streams of benefits and costs are netted together and then discounted by a certain factor for each year in the future
Second method
to determine whether investments will be beneficial is to determine the
payback period
, sometimes called the
breakeven point
. This is the point in time at which benefits becomes equal to the cost of development and operation
Third economic measure
is the
return on investment
(
ROI
). ROI shows a percentage return needed so that the costs and benefits are exactly equal over the specified time period. 57
RMO Cost Benefit Analysis
58
Tangible vs. Intangible Benefits Tangible benefits
– can be measured or estimated in terms of dollars
Intangible benefit
– can’t be directly measured or estimated in dollars In some instance, the intangible benefits far exceed the tangible costs Examples of
intangible benefits
: • • • • Increased levels of service (in ways that cannot be measured) Increased customer satisfaction (not measurable) Survival (a standard capability common in the industry, or common to many competitors) The need to develop in-house expertise (such as with a pilot program with new technology) Examples of
intangible costs
: • • • Reduced employee moral Lost productivity (inestimable) Lost customers or sales (during some period of time) 59
Staffing the Project
There are five tasks within this activity: Develop a resource plan Identify and request technical staff Identify and request specific user staff Organize the project team into work groups Conduct preliminary training and team-building 60
Launching the Project
Scope defined, risks identified, project is feasible, schedule developed, team members identified and ready Oversight committee finalized, meet to give go-ahead, and release funds Formal announcement made to all involved parties within organization 61
Readings
Today’s lecture: Chapter 3 – “The Analyst as A Project Manager” For next week: Chapter 4 – “Investigating System Requirements” 62