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

17

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