Basic overview of various aspects of an IT project

PRANAL HANUMANT PATANKAR

HPGD/JL18/0781

SPECIALIZATION: IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PRIN L.N. WELINGKAR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

Year of submission: June 2020

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 UNDERTAKING BY CANDIDATE

I declare that project work entitled “Basic overview of various aspect of an IT project” is my

own work conducted as part of my syllabus. I further declare that project work presented has

been prepared personally by me and it is not sourced from any outside agency. I understand

that, any such malpractice will have very serious consequence and my admission to the

program will be cancelled without any refund of fees. I am also aware that, I may face legal

action, if I follow such malpractice.

__________________________

Signature of Candidate

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 Acknowledgement

“It is not possible to prepare a project report without the assistance &encouragement of other

people. This one is certainly no exception.”

I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me

throughout the course of this project. I am thankful for their aspiring guidance, invaluably

constructive criticism and friendly advice during the project work. I am sincerely grateful to

them for sharing their truthful and illuminating views on a number of issues related to the

project.

I extend my gratitude to WELINGKAR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT &

RESEARCH for giving me this opportunity.

I also like to thank my NSDL project manager Mr.Sudnyesh Girap and all the people who

provided me with the facilities being required and conductive conditions for my project.

Thanking You,

Pranal Hanumant Patankar

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 Table of Content
Sr. Topic Page No.
No.
1. Introduction 6
2. Background 11
3. Methodology 14
Essential Stages of Project Management 14
Software Development Life Cycle and Models 32
4. Literature Review: 39
SMART Technique 39
Project Reporting 43
Project Management Tool 50
Control factors of an IT Project Management 54
5. Conclusion 59
6. Bibliography 62

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Introduction:

IT project management is the process of planning, organizing and delineating responsibility

for the completion of organizations specific information technology (IT) goals. IT project deal

with the challenges of interdependent integrations, rapid technology upgrades, and version

changes that can occur throughout the project timeline.

Below are the important aspects of IT project management:

Determining project objectives

Managing budgets and resources

Reporting progress

Evaluating efficiency and effectiveness

Determining project objectives

What are the goals of the project?

Goals are high level statements that provide overall context for what the project is trying to

achieve, and should align to business goals. To achieve the business requirement and

project objectives we should know the actual requirement and goals of project. To determine

project objectives in early stage is very useful for the project.

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Why project objectives are important?

Objectives are in business terms. Once they are approved, they represent an agreement

between the project manager and the project sponsor (and other major stakeholders) on the

main purpose of the project. The specific deliverables of an IT project, for instance, may or

may not make sense to the project sponsor. However, the objectives should be written in a

way that they are understandable by all of the project stakeholders.

They help frame the project. If you know the project objectives, you can determine the

deliverables needed to achieve the objectives. This in turn helps nail down the overall project

scope, helps you identify risks and allows you to provide estimates on effort, duration and

cost. Once the project starts, you can validate that all of the work that you are performing will

ultimately help you achieve one or more project objectives.

They help you declare success. At the end of the project, you should be able to talk to your

sponsor to determine whether everything expected in the project objectives has, in fact, been

achieved. If all of the objectives were not fully met, you may still be able to declare partial

success.

The project objectives should be defined and agreed upon before the project starts. The

deliverables of the project are created based on the objectives defined and wrote in early

stage of project life cycle.

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To define proper objective of the project we need to follow ‘SMART’ technique, that is

describe below

Specific

Measurable

SMART Achievable

Realistic

Time-bound

An example of an objective statement might be to "upgrade the helpdesk telephone system

by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes".

1) The objective seems fairly specific in its statement about upgrading the phone

system.

2) The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone

system is trying to achieve.

3) You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic by this project team.

4) The objective is time-bound and should be completed by December 31.

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Managing budgets and resources

Projects do not get done without resources to do them. To ensure successful completion of a

project, it is important to estimate correctly the number of personnel and the amount of

equipment needed. With this, it is important to realize the cost of the project. Some projects

can be completed in a shorter time by increasing the manpower on the project. However,

doing this also increases the cost. One of the project manager’s jobs is to maintain a balance

between reducing costs and reducing the time to complete the project.

Project budget and resource planning are the important aspect to complete project

successfully.

Managing budgets
and resources:

Resource planning
Cost Estimating
Cost Budgeting
Cost Control

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Reporting Progress
Reporting progress is a key to project management. It is essential that key players in a

project know what is happening, and whether they are on track, behind, or ahead of

schedule. After viewing progress on a regular basis, you can try to avoid possible problems

in advance. For example, if you notice that a certain task was scheduled to take 10 days to

accomplish, but on day 5 only 25% of the work was finished, you could possibly re-allocate

resources to that task in order to complete it on time.

Evaluating efficiency and effectiveness

During and after a project, it is important to review and analyse the performance on the

project. This information can provide valuable insight into possible changes to make for

future projects. For example, your project was to build a mobile app, and one of the steps

involved was OTP functionality. After the project is finished, you notice that it took less time

to develop OTP functionality than you originally planned. This information could be valuable if

you build another mobile app, because you could reduce the time allocated for that

functionality. By constantly reviewing the efficiency and effectiveness of your project, you can

more accurately plan future projects.

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Background:

Characteristics of an IT project management:

1. A clear and realistic goal

You know what the short and long-term goals are. You fundamentally believe that reaching

these goals matters. There is a sense of urgency, and people are unhappy when you don’t

deliver.

2. Powerful team leadership

Your team leader knows what business value to deliver. The surrounding organization, as

well as the team, respect, and honors his/her choices. This leader is a single person who

takes full responsibility for the results of the team. In scrum terms, this is what we would call

a “great product owner.”

3. Sense of ownership

Your team feels responsible for the outcome of the project. You spend the customer’s money

as is if it is your own, both in respect to functionality and the technical solution.

4. Commitment to quality

You can count on each member of your team to deliver high-quality work on time. It is ok to

give feedback when standards aren’t met. Issues are resolved in time. You have proper

automation in place for testing and delivery.

5. Getting things done

It is possible to get things done. “Done” means business requirement delivered to production.

Your team can independently deliver iterations to production. You go live from day one. If

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you depend on other parties, they deliver with quality and on time, or don’t impact your

results.

6. Psychological safety

You can take risks in your team without feeling insecure. Your teammates give and receive

honest feedback. You learn from each other. Everybody is open about the progress and

structure of their work and their own strengths and weaknesses.

7. The right skills in your team

You have all the skills in your team that are necessary to accomplish the work that needs to

be done. Each team member feels included and is able to contribute to the results of the

team.

8. Your tech-stack is a right fit

The technology fits the client, the project and the expected scale. It also is sustainable, which

means you can find people who can take over if either one of your teammates decides to

move on to other projects.

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Methodology:

Essential Stages of Project Management:

A project management life cycle is a five-step framework planned to assist project managers

in completing projects successfully. Each phase of the cycle is goal-oriented having its own

set of characteristics and contains product deliverables, which are reviewed at the end of the

project. Below are the project management phases which need to maintain by project

manager throughout the project lifecycle.

1) Project Initiation

2) Project Planning

3) Project Execution

4) Project monitoring and control

5) Project Closure

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Project Initiation

Project initiation is the phase where the project starts. It provides an overview of the project,

along with the strategies required to attain desired results. It is the phase where the feasibility

and business value of the project are determined. The project manager scheduled a meeting

to understand the client and stakeholders requirements, goals, and objectives. It is essential

to go into minor details to have a better understanding of the project requirement. In this

phase, the current or prospective project leader writes a proposal, which contains a

description of the above-mentioned matters. Examples of this type of project proposal

include business plans and grant applications. The prospective sponsors of the project

evaluate the proposal and, upon approval, provide the necessary financing. The project

officially begins at the time of approval.

Project Charter is an essential outcome of the initiation phase. The solutions to project-

related issues, doubts, and concerns are covered in this. The Project Charter is considered

to be the most important document of any project as it contains:

 Business vision and mission

 Project goals and benefits

 List of stakeholders

 Project scope

 Project deliverables

 Project risks

 Project budget and resources

In the initiation phase, the project partners enter a (Business analyst/Clients) relationship

with each other. To prevent the development of false expectations concerning the results of

the project, it makes sense to explicitly agree on the type of project that is being started:

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  A research and development project

 A project that will deliver a prototype or 'proof of concept'

 A project that will deliver a working product.

The choice for a particular type of project largely determines its results. For example, a

research and development project delivers a report that examines the technological

feasibility of an application. A project in which a prototype is developed delivers all of the

functionalities of an application, but they need not be suitable for use in a particular context

(e.g. by hundreds of users). A project that delivers a working product must also consider

matters of maintenance, instructions and the operational management of the application.

Many misunderstandings and conflicts arise because the parties that are involved in a project

are not clear on these matters. Customers may expect a working product, while the members

of the project team think they are developing a prototype. A sponsor may think that the

project will produce a working piece of software, while the members of the project team must

first examine whether the idea itself is technically feasible.

The project initiation phase consists of following phase itself.

 Undertake a Feasibility Study

In the initial stage, it is essential to understand the feasibility of the project. See if the project

is practical from the economic, legal, operational, and technical aspects. Identifying problems

will help you analyse whether you can solve issues with appropriate solutions.

 Identify the Project Scope

Identifying the project scope involves defining the length, breadth, and depth of the project.

On the other hand, it’s equally essential to outline functions, deadlines, tasks, features, and

services.

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  Identify the Project Deliverables

Upon identifying the project scope, the very next step is to outline the project deliverables.

Project deliverables include defining the product or services needed.

 Identification of Project Stakeholders

A thorough identification of project stakeholders is essential. It is better to have meetings with

team members and experts to identify project stakeholders. Documentation of relevant

information on stakeholders and impact on them on successful completion of the project is

required

 Develop a Business Case

Before developing a business case, check whether the essential pillars of the project such as

feasibility, scope, and identification of stakeholders are in place. The very next step is to

come up with a full-fledged business case.

Project Planning

The planning phase frames a set of plans which helps to guide your team through the

implementation phase and closing phase. The program created at this point will surely help

you to manage cost, quality, risk, changes, and time. The project plan developed should

include all the essential details related to the project goals and objectives and should also

detail how to achieve it. It is the most complex phase in which project managers take care of

operational requirements, design limitations, and functional requirements.

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The project planning phase includes the following components

 Creating a Project Plan

A project plan is a blueprint of the entire project. A well-designed project plan should

determine the list of activities, the time frame, dependencies, constraints involved, and

potential risks. It assists the project manager to streamline operations to meet the end

objective and track progress by taking appropriate decisions at the right time.

 Creating a Resource Plan

The resource plan provides information about various resource levels required to accomplish

a project. A well-documented plan specifies the labour and materials to complete a project.

Resources used should have relevant project management expertise. Experience in the

concerned domain is a priority.

 Budget Estimation

Framing a financial plan helps you to set the budget and deliver project deliverables without

exceeding it. The final budget plan lists expenses on material, labour, and equipment.

Creating a budget plan will help the team and the project managers to monitor and control

the costs throughout the project management life cycle.

 Gathering Resources

Gathering resources is an essential part of project planning as it helps to monitor the quality

level of the project. It is not enough to assemble a well-balanced team from internal and

external resources. Resources like equipment, money, software solutions, and workplace

should be given to complete the assigned tasks.

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  Anticipating Risks and Potential Quality Roadblocks

The risk plan will help you identify risks and mitigate them. It will consist of all the potential

risks, the order of severity, and preventive actions to track it. Once threats are under control,

it is possible to deliver the project on time adhering to quality.

Project Execution

Project execution is the phase where project-related processes are implemented, tasks are

assigned, and resources allocated. The method also involves building deliverables and

satisfying customer requirements. Project managers or team leaders accomplish the task

through resource allocation and by keeping the team member’s focused. The team involved

will start creating project deliverables and seek to achieve project goals and objectives as

outlined in the project plan. This phase determines whether your project will succeed or not.

The success of the project mainly depends on project execution phase. The final project,

deliverable also takes shape during the project execution phase.

There are a lot of essential things that are taken care of during the execution phase. Listed

below are a few among them:

 Reporting Progress of a Project

During the project execution phase, it is essential to get regular project updates as it provides

the required information and even identifies the issues.

 Hold Regular Meetings

Before you kick-off a project meeting, be clear about the agenda and make team members

aware of what the meeting is all about well in advance. If communication is timely and

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straight-forward, the productivity of on-going projects and those that are in the pipeline will

not get affected.

 Manage Problems

Problems within the project are bound to occur. Issues such as time management, quality

management, and weakening in the team’s morale can hinder the success of a project. So

make sure all problems are solved in the beginning.

Project Execution

Change
Project Measure of
Management Identify Task
Deliverable project Activities
Document

Keep
Finalize new Environ-
Test Project on
requirement ment Setup
track

Devlopment
Review
Accept and
every phase
Deployment

Testing and Team

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Project monitoring and control

The main goal of this phase is to check whether everything aligns with the project

management plan, especially concerning financial parameters and timelines. It is the

responsibility of the project manager to make necessary adjustments related to resource

allocation and ensure that everything is on track. To aid this, a project manager may conduct

review meetings and get regular performance reports.

Monitoring project activity after project execution phase will allow the project manager to take

corrective actions. Meanwhile, considering the quality of work will also help to make the

necessary improvements. Keeping an eye on the budget will help to avoid unnecessary

expenses resources. Furthermore, we are going to describe the inputs, tools and techniques

and outputs involved in the monitor and control project work process.

Project Monitoring & Control Lifecycle

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Monitor and Control Project Work Process - Inputs

Project Management Plan:

The subsidiary plans and the project baselines form the basis of controlling the project, as it

mainly involves focusing on all the aspects of the project. This plan includes the subsidiary

plans like Development plan, Testing Plan, Database archival and maintenance plan,

Environment Setup Plan which are useful for process of developing a project management

plan.

Project Documents:

 Assumption log - The assumption log contains information about expectations and

pain points identified as affecting the project.

 Basis of estimates - Basis of estimates indicates how the various estimates were

borrowed and can be used to decide on how to respond to the difference of opinion.

 Cost forecasts - Based on the project’s previous performance, the cost forecasts are

used to determine if the project is within defined tolerance ranges for budget and to

identify if any necessary change requests arise.

 Issue log - The issue log is used to document and monitor who is responsible for

resolving specific issues within a scheduled date.

 Lessons learned register - The lessons learned register might contain information

on effective responses for variances and corrective and preventive actions.

 Milestone list - The milestone list shows the scheduled dates for particular

milestones and is also used to check if the planned milestones have been

accomplished.

 Quality reports - The quality report includes quality management issues; which are

also known as suggestions for the process, project, and product improvements;

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 corrective actions recommendations (includes rework, defect/bugs repair, 100%

inspection, and more); and the summary of findings from the Control Quality process.

 Risk register - The risk register provides details on the threats and opportunities that

have occurred during the execution of the project.

 Risk report - The risk report provides information on the overall project and specified

individual risks.

 Schedule forecasts - Based on the project’s earlier performance, the schedule

forecasts are used to determine if the project is within the defined tolerance ranges

for schedule and to identify any necessary change requests.

Work Performance Information:

Work performance data is an output of the Direct and Manage Project Work process where

the data is collected, analysed, and integrated to produce work performance information for

providing a sound foundation for taking project decisions. With the Performance information,

the project manager can gain knowledge on status deliverables, implementation status for

change requests and provide forecasted estimated time to complete.

Agreements:

The procurement agreement includes terms and conditions, and may also integrate other

items that the buyer specifies regarding what the seller is to perform or provide. If the project

is outsourcing part of the work, the project manager needs to oversee the contractor’s work

to make certain that all the agreements meet the specific needs of the project while adhering

to organizational procurement policies.

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Enterprise Environmental Factors:

The Enterprise Environmental Factors are conditions that are not under the control of the

project team. They vary widely depending on the nature of the environment and are as

follows:

 Government or Industry Standards - Includes aspects like, regulatory agency

regulations, codes of conduct, product standards, quality standards, and

workmanship standards which influence the process of monitoring and controlling the

project work.

 Existing Human Resources - The level of skills, disciplines, and knowledge, such as

design, development, legal, contracting, and purchasing capabilities of the

organization that influence the monitoring and controlling process.

 Stakeholder Risk Tolerances - A crucial aspect at any given stage of the project

work. The project manager should understand the tolerance level of the stakeholder

as to how much negative impact can he sustain during the project's lifecycle.

 Commercial Databases - Acquiring knowledge of standardized cost estimating data,

along with the industry risk study information, and risk databases from the previously

undertaken projects to have a better understanding of the current project working

procedure.

 Project Management Information System - PMIS are system tools and techniques

used in project management to deliver information. Project managers use the

methods and tools to collect, combine and distribute information through electronic

and manual means.

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Organizational Process Assets:

Organizational process assets are the plans, processes, policies, procedures, and

knowledge bases specific to and used by the performing organization. Organizational

process assets may be grouped into two categories:

Processes and Procedures:

The Processes and Procedures under the organizational process assets can be segregated

into three stages:

 Initiating and Planning: Implementing guidelines and criteria's used for tailoring the

organization's standard processes and procedures to satisfy the specific needs of the

project. Effective planning of organizational standards such as policies, product and

project life cycles and methods to maintaining quality policies and procedures are

necessary for monitoring and controlling the project.

 Executing, Monitoring and Controlling: A method to change the existing control

procedures and also to document how the changes are approved and validated. The

process also includes keeping a tab on the financial control procedures, issue and

defect management procedures, organizational communication requirements,

Change and risk control procedure along with Process measurement and lessons

learned database.

 Closing: During the closing stage, the project manager will monitor the project

closure guidelines, which includes focusing on the lessons learned, final project

audits, evaluations and product validations.

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Corporate Knowledge Base:

The organizational knowledge base for storing and retrieving information includes:

The knowledge base will comprise of various versions and baselines of the policies,

procedures and project documents. The knowledge base also includes financial databases

containing information on labour hours, incurred costs, budgets, and project costs overshoot.

A project manager should also know historical information and lessons learned from previous

project records and performance. For a project manager, should also have corporate

knowledge of the issues and defects so that he/she can control and resolute the same in any

problems arise. Finally, the corporate knowledge base also should have information on

components that include insights into the process measurement databases and information

on the project files from previous projects (Ex. scope, cost, schedule baselines and project

calendars)

Monitor and Control Project Work Process - Tools and Techniques

Expert Judgment:

To ensure that the project performances matches the expectation, the project manager, in

collaboration with the project management team uses expert judgment to interpret the

information provided by the monitor and control processes.

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Data Analysis:

Data analysis techniques that can be used include but are not limited to

 Alternatives analysis: Alternatives analysis is used to select the corrective actions

or a combination of corrective and preventive measures to implement when a

deviation occurs in the project management process.

 Cost-benefit analysis: Cost-benefit analysis helps to determine the best corrective

action regarding cost in case of project deviations.

 Earned value analysis: Earned value provides an integrated perspective on the

scope, schedule, and cost performance.

 Root cause analysis: Root cause analysis focuses on identifying the main reasons

for a problem. It can be used to determine the reasons for a deviation and the areas

the project manager should focus on in order to achieve the objectives of the project.

 Trend analysis: Trend analysis is used to forecast future performance based on past

results. It looks ahead in the project for expected slippages and warns the project

manager ahead of time that there may be problems later in the schedule if

established trends persist. This information is made available early enough in the

project timeline to give the project team time to analyse and correct any

inconsistency. The results of trend analysis can be used to recommend preventive

actions if necessary.

 Variance analysis: Variance analysis reviews the differences (or variance) between

planned and actual performance. This can include duration estimates, cost estimates,

resources utilization, resources rates, technical performance, and other metrics.

Variance analysis may be conducted in each Knowledge Area based on its particular

variables. In Monitor and Control Project Work, the variance analysis reviews the

variances from an integrated perspective considering cost, time, technical, and

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 resource variances about each other to get an overall view of variance on the project.

This allows for the appropriate preventive or corrective actions to be initiated.

 Decision Making:  A decision-making technique involves all the individuals, project

management teams, and stakeholders to agree upon a single decision through the

process of voting. This will enable the project to operate within the project

management scope.

 Meetings: Meetings may be face-to-face, formal, informal or virtual. It might comprise

of project team members stakeholders and others involved in the undertaken project.

The main agenda is to circulate information regarding the project and to make sure

that the expectations are clearly understood and met.

Monitor and Control Project Work Process - Outputs

Change Requests:

When both the planned results and actual results are compared, change requests will direct

the project to expand, adjust, or reduce in the project and product scope, quality

requirements, schedule and cost baselines. These changes will cover the way for the

collection and documentation of new requirements and can impact the project management

plan, documents or product deliverables. All changes that meet the project’s change control

criteria should go through the integrated change control process established for the project.

Change requests may include the below-mentioned aspects:

 Corrective Action: A deliberate activity that realigns the performance of the project

work with the project management plan

 Preventive Action: An intended activity that ensures the future performance of the

project work is associated with the project management plan

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  Defect Repair: A calculated activity to modify an unusual product or product

component.

Work Performance Reports:

These are the physical representation of work performance information compiled into project

documents, focused on generating decisions, actions, and awareness. To maintain, store

and distribute information, representation in the form of a project document is necessary.

These work performance reports are a sub-division of project documents, and these reports

may be provided for key stakeholders.

Project Management Plan Updates:

Changes identified during this process may affect the overall project management plan.

These changes, after being processed through the appropriate change control process can

lead to project management plan updates. Project management plan elements that may be

updated include are

 Scope management plan

 Requirements management plan

 Schedule management plan

 Cost management plan

 Quality management plan

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Project Documents Updates:

Project documents that may be updated include:

 Schedule and cost forecast: A document that stores information on the schedule

and cost limit of the concerned project.

 Work performance report: A document that contains the information on the number

of hours that have been spent, the quality standards that have been met and the

overall ability of the team.

 Issue log: A document that contains the information about all the issues that faced

during the project monitoring and controlling process and the time taken to resolve

the issue and the outcome of the action taken.

Changes are bound to occur during a project. There are scenarios where even those well-

drafted plans, will have varied results when compared with the actual planned values. Hence,

performing the Monitor and Control Project Work process is essential to determine those

changes. Monitor and Control Project Work process is crucial to meet the desired outcomes

of the project. Because if one doesn't measure the performance, they will not be able to know

how the project is going, and this is a significant risk for the failure of the project.

Project Closure

Project closure phase represents the final phase of the project, which is also known as

“follow-up” phase. Around this time, the final product is ready for delivery. Here the main

focus of the project manager and the team should be on product release and product

delivery. In this stage, all the activities related to the project are wrapped up. The closure

phase is not necessarily after a successful completion phase alone. Sometimes a project

may have to be closed due to project failure. Once the product is handed to the customers,

the documentation is finalized, the project team is disbanded, and the project is closed.

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After the project has been closed, a Post Implementation Review is completed to determine

the project’s success and identify the lessons learned. The first step taken when closing a

project is to create a Project Closure Report. It is extremely important that you list every

activity required to close the project within this Project Closure report, to ensure that project

closure is completed smoothly and efficiently. Once the report has been approved by your

sponsor, the closure activities stated in the report are action.

The activities taken to close a project and the templates which help you to complete each

activity are shown in the following diagram

Analyzing
Project
Performance

Analyzing
Teams
Performance

Document
Project
Closure

Conduct
Reviews

Account for
Budget

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Analysing Project Performance:

This project management step deals with analysing whether the project goals have been

met. If the project is accomplished within the agreed budget and time and is capable of

addressing the issue which it set out to resolve, then the project can be declared a success.

Analysing Teams Performance:

The next project management step is to consider the performance of the team members.

Performing quality check against parameters like quality of work and timelines will provide a

clear picture of the team’s performance.

Document Project Closure:

This is the most vital of project management steps as it involves a systematic presentation of

a project from the ideation stage to completion. A well- written project document without any

loose ends is handed over to the clients/stakeholders at the closure phase.

Conducting Post-Implementation Reviews:

Soon after the closure phase, a final evaluation of the project provides meaningful insights

into the entire process. These reviews will provide lessons learned for upcoming projects.

Accounting for Used and Unused Budget:

In the final phase of the project, specific resources and budget which are untouched may be

redeployed for further projects. It helps to reduce resource wastage and costs as well.

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Software Development Life Cycle and Models

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE (SDLC) is a systematic process for building

software that ensures the quality and correctness of the software built. SDLC process aims

to produce high-quality software that meets customer expectations. The system development

should be complete in the pre-defined time frame and cost. SDLC consists of a detailed plan

which explains how to plan, build, and maintain specific software. Every phase of the SDLC

life cycle has its own process and deliverables

 It offers a basis for project planning, scheduling, and estimating

 Provides a framework for a standard set of activities and deliverables

 It is a mechanism for project tracking and control

 Increases visibility of project planning to all involved stakeholders of the development

process

 Increased and enhance development speed

 Improved client relations

 Helps you to decrease project risk and project management plan overhead.

SDLC Phases

Requirement collection and analysis:

The requirement analysis is the first stage in the SDLC process. It is conducted by the senior

team members with inputs from all the stakeholders and domain experts in the industry.

Planning for the quality assurance requirements and recognition of the risks involved is also

done at this stage. This stage gives a clearer picture of the scope of the entire project and

the anticipated issues, opportunities, and directives which triggered the project.

Requirements Gathering stage need teams to get detailed requirements. This helps

companies to finalize the necessary timeline to finish the work of that system.

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 Requirement
Analysis

Feasibility
study

Design

Coding

Testing

Installation /
Deployment

Maintenance

Feasibility study:

Once the requirement analysis phase is completed the next step is to define and document

software needs. This process conducted with the help of 'Software Requirement

Specification' document also known as 'SRS' document. It includes everything which should

be designed and developed during the project life cycle.

There are mainly five types of feasibilities checks:

1. Economic: Can we complete the project within the budget or not?

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 2. Legal: Can we handle this project as cyber law and other regulatory

framework/compliances?

3. Operation feasibility: Can we create operations which are expected by the client?

4. Technical: Need to check whether the current computer system can support the

software

5. Schedule: Decide that the project can be completed within the given schedule or not.

Design

In this third phase, the system and software design documents are prepared as per the

requirement specification document. This helps define overall system architecture. This

design phase serves as input for the next phase of the model.

There are two kinds of design documents developed in this phase:

High-Level Design (HLD)

 Brief description and name of each module

 An outline about the functionality of every module

 Interface relationship and dependencies between modules

 Database tables identified along with their key elements

 Complete architecture diagrams along with technology details

Low-Level Design (LLD)

 Functional logic of the modules

 Database tables, which include type and size

 Complete detail of the interface

 Addresses all types of dependency issues

 Listing of error messages

 Complete input and outputs for every module

Once the system design phase is over, the next phase is coding. In this phase, developer’s

starts build the entire system by writing code using the chosen programming language. In the

coding phase, tasks are divided into units or modules and assigned to the various

developers. It is the longest phase of the Software Development Life Cycle process.

In this phase, Developer needs to follow certain predefined coding guidelines. They also

need to use programming tools like compiler, interpreters, debugger to generate and

implement the code.

Testing:

Once the software is complete, and it is deployed in the testing environment. The testing

team starts testing the functionality of the entire system. This is done to verify that the entire

application works according to the customer requirement.

During this phase, QA and testing team may find some bugs/defects which they

communicate to developers. The development team fixes the bug and send back to QA for a

re-test. This process continues until the software is bug-free, stable, and working according

to the business needs of that system.

Installation/Deployment:

Once the software testing phase is over and no bugs or errors left in the system then the final

deployment process starts. Based on the feedback given by the project manager, the final

software is released and checked for deployment issues if any.

Maintenance:

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Once the system is deployed, and customers start using the developed system, following 3

activities occur

 Bug fixing - bugs are reported because of some scenarios which are not tested at all

 Upgrade - Upgrading the application to the newer versions of the Software

 Enhancement - Adding some new features into the existing software

The main focus of this SDLC phase is to ensure that needs continue to be met and that the

system continues to perform as per the specification mentioned in the first phase.

SDLC models

Waterfall model:

The waterfall is a widely accepted SDLC model. In this approach, the whole process of the

software development is divided into various phases. In this SDLC model, the outcome of

one phase acts as the input for the next phase. Waterfall model is a sequential model that

divides software development into pre-defined phases. Each phase must be completed

before the next phase can begin with no overlap between the phases. Each phase is

designed for performing specific activity during the SDLC phase. It was introduced in 1970 by

Winston Royce.

Incremental Approach:

The incremental Model is a process of software development where requirements are broken

down into multiple standalone modules of software development cycle. Incremental

development is done in steps from analysis design, implementation, testing/verification,

maintenance. It is essentially a series of waterfall cycles. The requirements are divided into

groups at the start of the project. For each group, the SDLC model is followed to develop

software. The SDLC process is repeated, with each release adding more functionality until all

35
requirements are met. In this method, every cycle act as the maintenance phase for the

previous software release. Modification to the incremental model allows development cycles

to overlap. After that subsequent cycle may begin before the previous cycle is complete.

V-Model:

In this type of SDLC model testing and the development, the phase is planned in parallel. So,

there are verification phases on the side and the validation phase on the other side. V-Model

joins by Coding phase. V-Model is an SDLC model that has a testing phase corresponding to

every development stage in the waterfall model. It is pronounced as the "vee" model. The V-

model is an extension of the waterfall model. It is also called a Validation and Verification

Model.

Agile Model:

Agile methodology is a practice which promotes continues interaction of development and

testing during the SDLC process of any project. In the Agile method, the entire project is

divided into small incremental builds. All of these builds are provided in iterations, and each

iteration lasts from one to three weeks.

Spiral Model:

The spiral model is a risk-driven process model. This model adopts the best features of the

prototyping model and the waterfall model. The spiral methodology is a combination of rapid

prototyping and concurrency in design and development activities.

Spiral Model is a combination of a waterfall model and iterative model. Each phase in spiral

model begins with a design goal and ends with the client reviewing the progress. The spiral

model was first mentioned by Barry Boehm in his 1986 paper.

The development team in Spiral-SDLC model starts with a small set of requirement and goes

through each development phase for those set of requirements. The software engineering

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team adds functionality for the additional requirement in every-increasing spirals until the

application is ready for the production phase

Big bang model:

Big bang model is focusing on all types of resources in software development and coding,

with no or very little planning. The requirements are understood and implemented when they

come.

This model works best for small projects with smaller size development team which are

working together. It is also useful for academic software development projects. It is an ideal

model where requirements are either unknown or final release date is not given.

RAD model:

RAD or Rapid Application Development process is an adoption of the waterfall model; it

targets at developing software in a short span of time. RAD follows the iterative. It focuses on

input-output source and destination of the information. It emphasizes on delivering projects in

small pieces; the larger projects are divided into a series of smaller projects. The main

features of RAD model are that it focuses on the reuse of templates, tools, processes, and

code.

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Literature Review:

SMART technique:

The November 1981 issue of Management Review contained a paper by George T. Doran

called there’s an S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives. It discussed

the importance of objectives and the difficulty of setting them.

Ideally speaking, each corporate, department, and section objective should be:

Specific – target a specific area for improvement.

Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.

Assignable – specify who will do it.

Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.

Time-bound – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

Specific

Measurable

S.M.A.R.T. Achievable

Realistic

Timebound

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Notice that these criteria don’t say that all objectives must be quantified on all levels of

management. In certain situations it is not realistic to attempt quantification, particularly in

staff middle-management positions. Practicing managers and corporations can lose the

benefit of a more abstract objective in order to gain quantification. It is the combination of the

objective and its action plan that is really important. Therefore serious management should

focus on these twins and not just the objective.

Specific:

The criterion stresses the need for a specific goal rather than a more general one. This

means the goal is clear and unambiguous; without vagaries and platitudes. To make goals

specific, they must tell a team exactly what's expected why it's important, who’s involved,

where it's going to happen and which attributes are important.

A specific goal will usually answer the five 'W' questions:

 What: What do I want to accomplish?

 Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

 Who: Who is involved?

 Where: Identify a location.

 Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

Measurable:

The second criterion stresses the need for concrete criteria for measuring progress toward

the attainment of the goal. The thought behind this is that if a goal is not measurable it is not

possible to know whether a team is making progress toward successful completion.

Measuring progress is supposed to help a team stay on track, reach its target dates and

39
experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs it on to continued effort required to

reach the ultimate goal.

A measurable goal will usually answer questions such as:

 How much?

 How many?

 How will I know when it is accomplished?

 Indicators should be quantifiable

Attainable:

The third criterion stresses the importance of goals that are realistic and also attainable.

Whilst an attainable goal may stretch a team in order to achieve it, the goal is not extreme.

That is, the goals are neither out of reach nor below standard performance, since these may

be considered meaningless. When you identify goals that are most important to you, you

begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities,

skills and financial capacity to reach them. The theory states that an attainable goal may

cause goal-setters to identify previously overlooked opportunities to bring themselves closer

to the achievement of their goals.

 An achievable goal will usually answer the question how?

 How can the goal be accomplished?

 How realistic is the goal based on other constraints?

40
Relevant:

The fourth criterion stresses the importance of choosing goals that matter. A bank manager's

goal to "Make 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by 2pm" may be specific, measurable,

attainable and time-bound but lacks relevance. Many times you will need support to

accomplish a goal: resources, a champion voice, someone to knock down obstacles. Goals

that are relevant to your boss, your team, your organization will receive that needed support.

Relevant goals (when met) drive the team, department and organization forward. A goal that

supports or is in alignment with other goals would be considered a relevant goal.

A relevant goal can answer yes to these questions:

 Does this seem worthwhile?

 Is this the right time?

 Does this match our other efforts/needs?

 Are you the right person?

 Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?

Time-bound:

The fifth criterion stresses the importance of grounding goals within a time-frame, giving

them a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps a team focus their efforts on

completion of the goal on or before the due date. This part of the SMART goal criteria is

intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise

in an organization. A time-bound goal is intended to establish a sense of urgency.

A time-bound goal will usually answer the question

 When?

 What can I do six months from now?

 What can I do six weeks from now?

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  What can I do today?

Project reporting:

Crucial decisions must be taken at five points during a project; these decision points

correspond to the end of each project phase, and they call for recording the projects current

status and writing an intermediate report. They also provide the opportunity to reconsider the

project phases that are yet to come.

At these decision points, project leaders should consult with their clients regarding decisions

about the project and adjust the control factors, if necessary. For example, if many new and

unexpected requirements have emerged during the definition phase that could increase the

costs considerably, it is useless to proceed with the original budget.

The decision points at the end of the phases are often �go/no-go moments�; they call for

decisions regarding whether to proceed with the project or whether it should be discontinued.

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The following situation often occurs in organizations that do not work according to project

phases: a project plan is initially written, in which the control factors are described. A timeline

(Time) is specified, and a budget (Money) is prepared, a team is formed (Organization), a

goal is described (Quality) and the tools for information services surrounding the project are

determined (Information). During a project, the project leader continues to make sure that the

project remains somewhat within the total budget and the timeline, but makes no real

adjustments. Near the end of a project, the project proves to cost more or to take longer than

originally expected. The project is then scaled back to avoid further cost over-runs or delays.

Unfortunately, the project result suffers.

Had the project leader in such a case worked with the six-phase model, the team would

probably have already concluded in the design phase or perhaps even in the definition phase

that the original timeline and budget were insufficient. If the project leader had made

adjustments at that time, a simpler design could have been chosen that would have been

less expensive and time-consuming to implement. Alternatively, more time, money or both

could have been requested from the client. At any rate, the status of the project would have

been clear months earlier, and it would have been possible to steer the project in a

meaningful way.

Uncertainty in project plans:

Projects involve uncertainty. At the beginning of a project, the exact amount of time that will

be needed is not known, nor is the precise amount that the project will eventually cost. For

some projects, it is even uncertain whether the intended goal will be reached at all. In a world

of fast-paced change, the foundations of a project have sometimes already changed before

the project is completed. This sometimes occurs because of technological developments or

developments in the market or political arena.

When preparing project plans, project leaders can only estimate the control factors (i.e. time,

money, team, quality goals and necessary information) of the project. As the project

43
proceeds, more knowledge emerges about the project itself. In the initiation phase, only an

idea exists. In the definition phase, the idea is refined according to requirements. In the

design phase, possible designs are examined and developed, providing even more clarity. In

the development phase, it becomes clear how the design should be realized. In the

implementation phase, the actual project result is built, and in the follow-up phase, all of the

loose ends are tied together.

Clarity increases as a project progresses. It is therefore pointless to make a detailed budget

for the follow-up phase (which will take place later) during the initiation phase. At this stage, it

is still possible for the project to proceed in any of a number of possible directions. The idea

has yet to be elaborated. The exact form of the follow-up phase is probably also known only

in the broadest terms. This is too little information upon which to base a realistic, detailed

estimate for the follow-up phase. A broad outline of a budget is the most that can be

expected at this stage.

Project plans therefore work as follows: a global budget is made for the entire project, along

with a concrete budget for the next subsequent phase. For example, if a project team is

preparing to enter the implementation phase (after the development phase), they are well

aware of what must happen. At that point, it is possible to make a detailed budget for the

implementation phase.

The global budget estimates for the total project must be adjusted after each phase. After

each phase, there is more knowledge and decisions have been taken that allow the global

budget to be completed in more detail. In this way, estimates of the total costs of the project

become increasingly accurate after each phase.

Making a global budget for the entire project and a concrete budget for the next phase is

important, and not only for the control factor of money. It is important to work from global to

concrete for the other factors as well.

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The process of making budget estimates can be summarized as follows:

 Budgeting should occur before each phase.

 Make or adjust the global budget for the entire project.

 Make a concrete budget for the next phase.

 All control factors should be reconsidered and re-estimated for each new phase.

Budgeting in this way (particularly with regard to time and money) is a realistic manner of

coping with uncertainty, which is greater at the beginning of the project than it is at the end. It

creates a problem, however, for organizations that are financed by government subsidies,

social foundations or both. This is particularly true for organizations that conduct innovative,

and thus uncertain, projects.

Most foundations and grant makers require a project proposal that includes a complete and

firmly established budget before they will release funds for a project. An organization that

seeks financing for a project must therefore develop a complete, concrete budget at a very

early stage. In the beginning, however, the project is still in the conceptual phase, and it is

thus impossible to make a realistic cost estimate or timeline. Only after the design phase,

when the idea has been elaborated and a design has been chosen, is there sufficient

information to say how much the project will cost and how much time its implementation will

take. This stage does not occur until several months after the grant application must be

submitted.

One result of the way in which grant makers and foundations tend to work is that many

organizations request amounts that are based on rough estimates of the project costs.

Project activities are subsequently fitted to the budget that has been made available. This

puts the project team in a tight position from the start, even though the most flexibility is

needed in the early stages.

The process of elaborating concepts during the definition and design phases, therefore, often

reveals that the timeline that was proposed in the grant application is not feasible. The

45
budget may also prove inadequate, including too much for some items and not enough for

others. Any additional requirements from the grant maker (e.g. no item may deviate more

than five per cent) place the project team under immense pressure. Matters must be

implemented in too little time and within a budget that is too tight. This situation often leads to

considerable shuffling among the various items in the budget. Considerable text and analysis

is then necessary in the project statement to explain why the desired result was not

achieved.

The situation would improve if grant makers were to couple their financing onto the various

phases instead of providing funds at one time in advance. The initial financing would then be

intended for the definition and the design phases. The requirements would be investigated

and a number of alternative designs would be prepared within this limited budget. A

subsequent application based on these designs would then be submitted for implementation

and follow-up. This would allow projects to avoid unnecessary pressure. An additional

advantage would be that the expectations of the involved parties would be more realistic,

saving time, money and disappointment.

What are the key indicators of IT project success and failure?

Experience suggests that a handful of indicators can predict project success and Can be

relied upon. They include:

• User involvement Relates to involving the right users, who will depend on the

technical solution professionally and personally to meet their goals.

• Executive support specifically related to how timely decisions are made

regarding critical issues that impact the project.

• Clear business objectives the focus of the project must be on the business

value that the project is to provide the organization, which is driven by a

clearly articulated vision of the project’s deliverable solution.

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• Scope management delivering what the users of the new system need to do

their jobs; avoiding extraneous functionality that might never be touched by

the users of the system.

• Business requirements management the ability to be flexible, yet decisive, in

shaping, changing, and managing project requirements.

• Experienced project manager having a project manager on the team who has

experience with projects of similar size and complexity within the industry on

47
Which the project is focused?

• Financial management planning the presence of objective tools for monitoring

and interpreting a project’s financial status and relating that to project

performance.

• Project team management having access to project team members and

subject matter experts with the requisite skills and knowledge to do the work

necessary to provide an acceptable solution.

• Use of a formal methodology the availability of a project delivery approach

that is formally identified yet executed as informally as possible.

• Project management tools and infrastructure the availability and application of

tools to facilitate project success, such as schedules, collaboration tools, and

scope management tools, and the ability to use and interpret the project

artifacts produced by those tools.

• Procurement management planning Progressive and responsive procurement

planning and execution processes that identify procurement needs and the

best approach for filling those needs.

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Project Management Tool:

Project management tools can vary from team to team, but they are more commonly used as

computer programs enabling project managers to plan, execute and manage their projects in

one centralized virtual location.

Project management software can be used for any of the following:

 Project planning

 Project scheduling

 Resource allocation and capacity planning

 Budgeting and monitoring project cost

 Quality management

 Storing and sharing documentation and project records

 Creating and publishing project reports

 Tracking the actual time spent on project tasks Vs plan

 Analysing trends and forecasting

Who should use project management tools?

Anyone that manages projects can benefit from project management software. Even if you

don’t run formal projects or don’t have “project manager” as your title, project management

software still provides value.

In fact, many companies that don’t run formal projects still use project management software

to plan, organize, track, monitor and execute their projects.

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Why use project management software?

Managing a project without the proper software is possible, but it will increase the risk of

errors and add inefficiencies to the process. Project management software allows for visibility

and team collaboration that can otherwise be difficult to attain.

For example, while it is possible to use spread sheets for project tracking, It takes a lot of

time and effort to do correctly. In addition, manually updating spread sheets increases the

risk of manual errors and, in order for the rest of the team to see the update, the spread

sheet has to be re-saved and re-uploaded to a central location.

Other issues project managers have with spread sheets are:

 Multiple versions of the same file existing and constantly having to identify which is

the most accurate and up to date

 When more than one person needs to update the spread sheet at the same time, it

can be tough to sync each version or work together in real-time

 Security can be an issue when the spread sheet is being uploaded and downloaded

multiple times in multiple places

 There are often delays between activities occurring and updates being recorded

 Project management software is designed to overcome all of these issues.

Here are some additional reasons why people choose to use project management

software:

 Creating new projects and tasks from old files and templates is easy

 Modifying existing projects and tasks automatically updates linked tasks,

dependencies, and other variables in real-time.

 Building reports and dashboard views to visualize project performance is easier.

 There is less risk of losing your progress than with manual tracking methods.

50
  Stakeholders can be granted access to view real-time progress and reports for

greater visibility.

 When everything is in one place, you get a clearer overview of the project’s overall

health.

 Automated notifications can be set up to alert you when certain actions occur, such

as when a task is assigned to you or if a task is past due.

 Lessons and learning’s from previous projects, as well as documentation, can be

stored in one centralized location.

 Certain project management platforms integrate with other applications you, your

team or your customers use, increasing efficiency.

 Project management software can coordinate tasks and automate workflows, so that

team members are notified when one task is complete and another needs to start.

Key features of selecting the project management software

 Real-time collaboration:

Project management software should allow for collaboration between team members

and stakeholders. People should be able to access and make changes to the system

at the same time.

 Sharing & storing documents:

Project management software should allow for the sharing and storage of documents.

This provides a knowledge repository for your projects.

 Cost management:

Tracking and reporting of costs as well as monitoring for potential overruns.

 Reporting:

Customizable reports and dashboards are allowed for real-time reporting. You should

be able to filter and format based on the criteria that are important to you.

 Ease of use:

51
 If the system is too complex, your team will not want to use it.

 Template creation:

It’s important to be able to create and customize templates so that you’re not building

each project and activity from scratch.

 Warning flags:

The system should be able to trigger alerts or warnings when things go off track, such

as when an activity is late.

 Scheduling:

You will want a software system that allows for the creation of a schedule baseline,

and the ability to monitor your actual schedule against it.

 Time management:

Actual time worked will need to be tracked in the system to monitor progress and

manage both labor costs and resources.

 Resource allocation:

You should be able to assign resource roles (i.e., developer), and individual people

(i.e.,Pranal) to tasks in the system.

 Customization:

Software should be flexible enough to adapt to the different projects and processes

that your organization has.

 Controls & governance:

While flexibility is important, a system also needs to have sufficient controls and

restrictions in place to ensure data is secure and approvals are tracked and recorded.

 Integration capability:

The software should be able to integrate with your other business systems such as

your testing and development management system.

 Unique calendars:

52
 You will want to have calendars that can be changed to reflect your work days and

hours, as well as updated to reflect any shutdown periods or vacations.

Control Factors of an IT project Management:

Control factors in Project Management are the parameters along which projects are reported

on and directed. These factors also play an important role in the coordination of multiple IT

projects:

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Before the start of a project and after each project phase, a project leader should provide an

estimate of the control factors for the rest of the project. The project leader also evaluates

these factors as they have been implemented thus far after each phase. This information is

transferred to a programme manager or the management team for decision-making

purposes, usually in collaboration with the project leader and external parties (e.g.

customers, financers).

53
1. Money:

The money factor manifests itself in the project budget. The management of money within a

project involves ensuring that the costs remain within the budget. Given that the majority of

the costs in most projects are comprised of labour costs, the factors of money and time (the

number of labour hours) are closely intertwined.

Money in project plans:

 Determine the fees of the team members.

 Estimate the hours for the team members.

 Assign budgets to team members for specific tasks.

 Determine costs for material and tools.

Money in progress monitoring:

 Monitor cash flow.

 Negotiate with suppliers.

 Determine whether the original cost estimates are still accurate.

 Adjust budgets.

 Negotiate with customer and/or client concerning budget adjustments.

Money in project reporting:

 Compile financial reports and statements.

 Analyse definitive financial report.

2. Organization:

Within a project, the team must be managed. In the narrowest sense, team management

involves determining who will do what from the list of activities. In broader terms, it also

involves all of the soft skills (e.g. motivational techniques, communication skills, leadership

54
styles) that are needed to achieve a goal with a group of people. Regardless of their

importance, these soft skills exceed the scope of this handbook.

Organization in project plans:

 Assemble the team.

 Assign authority.

 Assign tasks to team members.

 Make agreements concerning the availability of people with other (project) managers

and higher management.

Organization in progress monitoring:

 Direct the team.

 Monitor human aspects (soft skills).

 Mediate between the parties who are involved in the project.

3. Quality:

The project result must fulfil a number of quality requirements. This also applies to the

various intermediate products of the project. When managing a project, it is particularly

important for quality requirements to be determined, agreed upon and recorded in writing

during the definition phase. These requirements should never remain implicit. A clear list of

requirements can be checked at the end of the implementation phase. This can allow the

project team to prove that they have carried out the project according to specifications.

Additional quality requirements may be specified for various tasks within the project. For

example, a particular task can be carried out only by certified personnel.

55
Quality in project plans:

 Establish the desired quality of the project result and the intermediate products (this

takes place primarily in the definition phase).

 Establish the desired quality of the carrying out of the various activities in the project.

Quality in progress monitoring:

 Test the (intermediate) results.

 Address any quality problems.

Quality in the project reporting:

 Confirm that the desired quality has been attained.

 Address any complaints (particularly in the follow-up phase).

4. Information:

The information factor concerns how, by whom and on which basis decisions can be taken.

Who may decide about which matters in the project? Is it the project leader, the client or a

substantive expert within the team? What will be archived and by whom? Will tools (e.g.

project website, issue tracker, e-mail notification, and joint agenda) be used? These and

other informational questions must be answered before a project can be started.

Organizations that regularly work with projects have a number of tools (e.g. Word templates)

on hand for handling information within a project.

Information in project plans:

 Which information must be provided to whom and in which form?

 Which information will be recorded, distributed and archived?

 Which information tools will be used?

56
Information in progress monitoring:

 Arrange for periodic consultation.

 Ensure that the right information is provided to the right person.

 Determine whether agreements have been met.

Information in project reporting:

 Write the project report.

 Issue list

 Action-and-decision list

 Risk log

 Meeting report

The issue list contains all of the points that must be discussed. This list must be discussed

regularly. For keeping track of progress and registering decisions that have been taken, a

model for an action and decision list has been included. A risk log has been included to help

document risks that are identified during a project. These risks must then be discussed in the

next meeting of the project team and, where necessary, eliminated. Finally, a standard

meeting report has been included as an example of how to compiled and archive this type of

report.

5. Time:

The time factor manifests itself in a project in the form of deadlines for tasks and the amount

of time that these tasks may take. Managing time involves ensuring that tasks are completed

on time.

57
Time in project plans:

 Determine which activities should take place in which phase.

 Estimate how long each activity will take

 Determine the order in which activities should be completed.

 Allocate people and materials.

 Allocate activities over time.

 Determine the (most important) deadlines.

Time in progress monitoring:

 Monitor progress.

 Monitor deadlines.

 Adjust schedules.

 Time in project reporting

 Report on the actual timeline.

Analyse and explain why some tasks proceeded much more quickly or much more slowly

than expected. Time schedules are based on a work-breakdown structure (WBS). A WBS is

a decomposition of the tasks that must be completed in order to achieve the project result.

Developing a time schedule requires knowing the amounts of time that is needed for each

task, which will complete each task and when.

A rapidly growing organization was continually taking on more projects. As the company

continued to become busier its products were in great demand the personnel began to feel

pressured to work in a frenzy to complete all of the work that needed to be done. The

personnel wanted more people to be hired. Because of the cost, management was hesitant

to do so, and they pressured the existing personnel to work harder. How much work could

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the team actually handle? This question apparently had no good answer, as the organization

had no time-registration system.

When a new project was started, an estimate was made of the number of hours that was

thought necessary, but no one ever checked during or after the project to determine whether

this number of hours was actually needed. Project leaders were nonetheless urged to keep

their projects under control. The project leaders protested that, without time records, they

had no oversight over the projects. After all, because they had no insight into the number of

hours that were used to carry out the tasks of a project, and there was absolutely no chance

of adjustment.

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Conclusion:
The cost of maintaining software is much more than the cost of producing the software due

to improper project management. In order to reduce cost, time and resources effective

project management techniques should be implementing in software project.

Below are the important factors throughout the IT project.

 Money: determining whether projects are financially feasible

 Organisation: arriving at mutual agreements concerning the hierarchy among

projects and between the projects and other departments

 Quality: determining whether the goals of a project are consistent with the strategy of

the organisation

 Information: establishing who will report what about the project and when to the

management team?

 Time: estimating how many personnel will be needed within a given period to arrive

at a good distribution of workers across the project teams.

. Non-technical components of software development process tend to be under managed.

The cause of most project failure is mostly due to non-technical issues.

Below are the some points according to my understanding as a part of IT industry:

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of

valuable software.

2. The success or failure of software project management consists of two components,

namely the technical and non-technical components of software.

3. To fulfil the business requirements, Business Team and Application Team must work

together daily throughout the project.

4. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a

development team is face-to-face conversation.

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5. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing

teams.

6. Database archival, Logs archival must be take care in the maintenance phase by the

application owners.

7. Bug reports, RCA and Issue logs must be analysed by senior member to avoid any

issues in LIVE environment.

8. Sign off should be required in each of every phase before closing anything.

9. Documents, Versions controls and reports should be maintained in the project

management tool, so that can be used in future for similar projects.

10. Environment setup is the one of the important challenge in IT project and if

environment is not available then overall activity got stuck.

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Bibliography:
 https://www.ecosys.net/reference/what-is-project-controls/

 http://www.amanet.org/training/seminars/Information-Technology-Project-

Management.aspx

 http://project-management.com/top-5-project-management-phases/

 https://www.wrike.com/project-management-guide/

 http://www.ijcaonline.org/volume27/number9/pxc3874576.pdf

 https://www.projectmanagement-training.net/book/chapter1.html

 https://www.wikipedia.org/

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