Software Project

Management
MODULE-1: Introduction to Software Project Management, Project Evaluation and
Programme Management, An Overview of Project Planning

Complied by: Pushpa Mahapatro

[email protected]

Vidyalankar School of
Information Technology
Wadala (E), Mumbai
www.vsit.edu.in
 Certificate
This is to certify that the e-book titled “Software project
management” comprises all elementary learning tools for a
better understating of the relevant concepts. This e-book is comprehensively
compiled as per the predefined eight parameters and guidelines.

Date:26-07-2021
Mrs. Pushpa Mahapatro
Assistant Professor
Department of IT
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this e-book is compiled and distributed
for educational purposes only. This e-book has been designed to help learners
understand relevant concepts with a more dynamic interface. The compiler of this
e-book and Vidyalankar Institute of Technology give full and due credit to the
authors of the contents, developers and all websites from wherever information
has been sourced. We acknowledge our gratitude towards the websites YouTube,
Wikipedia, and Google search engine. No commercial benefits are being drawn
from this project.
Unit 1 Introduction to Software Project Management, Project Evaluation
and Programme Management, An Overview of Project Planning

Contents:
Unit 1
Introduction to Software Project Management: Introduction, Why is Software
Project Management Important? What is a Project? Software Projects versus Other
Types of Project, Contract Management and Technical Project Management,
Activities Covered by Software Project Management, Plans, Methods and
Methodologies, Some Ways of Categorizing Software Projects, Project Charter,
Stakeholders, Setting Objectives, The Business Case, Project Success and Failure,
What is Management? Management Control, Project Management Life Cycle,
Traditional versus Modern Project Management Practices.
Project Evaluation and Programme Management: Introduction, Business Case,
Project Portfolio Management, Evaluation of Individual Projects, Cost benefit
Evaluation Techniques, Risk Evaluation, Programme Management, Managing the
Allocation of Resources within Programmes, Strategic Programme Management,
Creating a Programme, Aids to Programme Management, Some Reservations about
Programme Management, Benefits Management.
An Overview of Project Planning : Introduction to Step Wise Project Planning, Step
0: Select Project, Step 1: Identify Project Scope and Objectives, Step 2: Identify Project
Infrastructure, Step 3: Analyse Project Characteristics, Step 4: Identify Project
Products and Activities, Step 5: Estimate Effort for Each Activity, Step 6: Identify
Activity Risks, Step 7: Allocate Resources, Step 8: Review/Publicize Plan, Steps 9 and
10: Execute Plan/Lower Levels of Planning

Recommended Books:
1. Software Project Management McGRAW 6th Edition, Bob Hughes, Mike
Cotterell, Rajib Mall
2. Software Project Management McGRAW 4th Edition, Bob Hughes, Mike
Cotterell, Rajib Mall

• Prerequisites and Linking:

UNIT-I Pre-requisites SEM-V SEM-VI
Program Evaluation Software Engineering Projects Software
and Programme Quality
Management Assurance,
Projects
 UNIT-I
Chapter 01
Introduction to Software Project Management
Introduction:
What is software project management? Is it really different from ‘ordinary’ project
management? This is going to be tackled by looking firstly at what is meant by
‘project’. We are then going to examine whether ‘software project management’ is
really different from ‘normal’ project management. Is there anything special about
software as opposed to other engineered artefacts?

A Software Project is the complete procedure of software development from

requirement gathering to testing and maintenance, carried out according to the
execution methodologies, in a specified period of time to achieve intended software
product.

Software is said to be an intangible product. Software development is a kind of all

new stream in world business and there’s very little experience in building software
products. Most software products are tailor made to fit client’s requirements. The
most important is that the underlying technology changes and advances so
frequently and rapidly that experience of one product may not be applied to the
other one. All such business and environmental constraints bring risk in software
development hence it is essential to manage software projects efficiently.

How do you know when a project has been successful? For example, do the
expectations of the customer/client match those of the developers?
Why is project management important?

• Large amounts of money are spent on ICT e.g. UK government in 2003-4

spent £2.3 billions on contracts for ICT and only £1.4 billions on road building
• Project often fail – Standish Group claim only a third of ICT projects are
successful. 82% were late and 43% exceeded their budget.
• Poor project management a major factor in these failures
• The methodology used by the Standish Group to arrive at their findings has
been criticized, but the general perception of the prevalence of ICT project
failure is still clear.
Video: What is project management?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk-JwtScIlw

What is a project?
Some dictionary definitions:
“A specific plan or design”
“A planned undertaking”
“A large undertaking e.g. a public works scheme”

Key points above are planning and size of task

Here are some definitions of ‘project’. No doubt there are other ones: for
example
‘Unique process, consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities
with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective conforming to
specific requirements, including constraints of time, cost and resources.
• An endeavor with specific objectives:
– Usually consists of multiple tasks
– With defined precedence relationships
– With a specific time period for completion
• Non-Software Examples:
– A wedding
– An MBA degree
– A house construction project
– A political election campaign
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcgCvMj50i4
Video on Project.

What is a Task?
• A small piece of work:
– Meant to accomplish a straightforward goal
– Effort of no longer than a few person-hours
– Involves only a few people
– May or may not be a part of some project
– Usually repetition of a previously accomplished task
– Process management may be relevant!
• Non-software Examples:
– Attend a lecture class
– Buy a chocolate from the market
– Book a railway ticket
 Jobs versus projects

On the one hand there are repetitive jobs a similar task is carried out
repeatedly, for example Kwikfit replacing a tyre on a car or a lecturer giving an
introductory talk on project management. The task is well-defined and there is
very little uncertainty. In some organizations, software development might
tend to be like this – in these environments software process management
might be more important than software project management
On the other hand some exploratory activities are very uncertain. Some
research projects can be like this – we may not be sure what the outcome will
be, but we hope that we will learn some things of importance. It may be very
difficult to come up with precise plans, although we would probably have
some idea of a general approach.
Projects seem to come somewhere between these two extremes. There are
usually well-defined hoped-for outcomes but there are risks and uncertainties
about achieving those outcomes.

Characteristics of projects
A task is more ‘project-like’ if it is:
• Non-routine
• Planned
• Aiming at a specific target
• Carried out for a customer
• Carried out by a temporary work group
• Involving several specialisms
• Made up of several different phases
• Constrained by time and resources
• Large and/or complex

Are software projects really different from other projects?

Not really …but... The factors
• Invisibility
• Complexity
• Conformity
• Flexibility
Make software more problematic to build than other engineered artefacts.
Contract management versus technical project management
Projects can be:
• In-house: clients and developers are employed by the same organization
• Out-sourced: clients and developers employed by different organizations
• ‘Project manager’ could be:
– a ‘contract manager’ in the client organization
– a technical project manager in the supplier/services organization
Activities covered by project management:

There are two key points here.

1. Often you see something like ‘feasibility study’ being put as the first stage of
development life cycle, and indeed it might be. However, the recommendation
of the feasibility study might be not to carry out the proposed project.
Planning of the project should therefore take place after the feasibility study
(or as a part of the feasibility study perhaps). Clearly the feasibility study itself
might need a plan.
2. All plans are to some extent provisional and subject to change. The key point
is that the evolving plan allows us to control the project.
The software development life-cycle (ISO 12207):

This section of the lecture discusses the software development life cycle. Note
that this is a technical model. It identifies the technical constraints on the
order activities are done. This does NOT imply that a ‘waterfall’ approach is
the only way to organize projects. The technical model could be implemented
as increments or in an evolutionary manner.

• Requirements analysis: The key point here is that requirement analysis has to
face in (at least) two different directions. It needs to communicate and elicit
the requirements of the users, speaking in their language. It needs to organize
and translate those requirements into a form that developers can understand
and relate to.

– Requirements elicitation: what does the client need?

– Analysis: converting ‘customer-facing’ requirements into equivalents
that developers can understand
– Requirements will cover
• Functions
 • Quality
• Resource constraints i.e. costs
• Architecture design: The software project will almost certainly be part of a
larger project which has non-software elements. In a software engineering
environment it could be the software will be embedded in hardware product
of some kind. Thus there are system requirements for the product as a whole
and software requirements for the software element.
• In a business information systems environment, the software development
could be a relatively minor part of a much larger organizational change
project.
– Based on system requirements
– Defines components of system: hardware, software, organizational
– Software requirements will come out of this
• Code and test
– Of individual components
• Integration
– Putting the components together
• Qualification testing
– Testing the system (not just the software)
• Installation
– The process of making the system operational
– Includes setting up standing data, setting system parameters, installing
on operational hardware platforms, user training etc
• Acceptance support
– Including maintenance and enhancement

Plans, methods and methodologies:

 A plan of an activity must be based on some idea of a method of work. While
a method relates to a type of activity in general, a plan takes one or more
methods and converts them into real activities by identifying:
• Start and end dates
• Who will carry it out
• What tools and materials would be needed.
A methodology is a set of related methods. Strictly speaking ‘methodology’
ought to mean the study of methods!

Some ways of categorizing projects:

Distinguishing different types of project is important as different types of task
need different project approaches e.g.
• Voluntary systems (such as computer games) versus compulsory systems e.g.
the order processing system in an organization
• Information systems versus embedded systems
• Objective-based versus product-based
• Product-development versus outsourced
With objective-based projects, a general objective or problem is defined, and
there are several different ways in which that objective could be reached. The
project team have freedom to select what appears to be the most appropriate
approach. With product-based projects, the product is already very strictly
defined and the development team’s job is to implement the specification
with which they have been presented. Arguably, information systems projects
are more likely to be objective-based than is the case with software
engineering. In many cases, an objective-based project could consider a
problem and recommend a solution that is then implemented by a product-
based project.
A Categorization of Software Projects:
Two Types of Software Projects
• Software product development projects
• Software services projects
Software Services:
Software service is an umbrella term, includes:
– Software customization
– Software maintenance
– Software testing
– Also contract programmers who carry out coding or any other assigned
activities.

Project Charter:
Project charter is an important high level document that authorizes the starting of a
project and use of the required resources. Project charter outlines the project
objectives, deliverables and the resources required. Project Charter documents the
aspects that are out of scope, identifies stakeholders, roles and responsibilities. The
project charter is signed and issued by a member of the top management of the
company whao also takes up the role of the sponsor of the project. Project charter
serves as a guiding document for all activities concerning the project. This document
is not expected to change throughout the project life cycle unlike other documents
like project plan, risk management plan and work break down structure (WBS)

Stakeholders:
These are people who have a stake or interest in the project
In general, they could be users/clients or developers/implementers
They could be:
• Within the project team
• Outside the project team, but within the same organization
• Outside both the project team and the organization
Different stakeholders may have different objectives – need to define common
project objectives
Each stakeholder will have their own goals and concerns in relation to the project
which may be different from those of the project as a whole. For example, a software
developer might work to make a living, pay the mortgage, learn new things and solve
interesting problems. The main stakeholders need, however, to understand and
accept overall project objectives that everyone can agree to.

Additional Learning:
https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-5-project-stakeholders-
project-management/
Video on Identify Stakeholders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uZiGB8DeJg

Setting objectives:
• Answering the question ‘What do we have to do to have a success?’
• Need for a project authority
– Sets the project scope
– Allocates/approves costs
• Could be one person - or a group
– Project Board
– Project Management Board
– Steering committee
• Different people who are involved in a project (Stakeholders) will have
different interests in the project and are likely to see different outcomes as
being important.

• For example, end-users would want a system that is ‘user-friendly’, that is,
easy to learn and to use, and a system that helps rather than hinders them
from doing their jobs. Their managers may be more interested in whether the
new system would allow them to reduce staffing levels.

• It is important therefore that a set of clearly defined objectives are identified

and published for the project. Some individual or group needs to be
pinpointed who acts as the main client for the project.
Objectives:
Informally, the objective of a project can be defined by completing the statement:
The project will be regarded as a success if……….
Rather like post-conditions for the project
Focus on what will be put in place, rather than how activities will be carried out
 The focus here needs to be on what the situation will be when the project is
completed. In what ways will the world be different? The objectives should avoid
describing activities:

e.g. ‘a new payroll application will be operational by 4th April’ not ‘design and
code a new payroll application’

Objectives should be SMART:

S – specific, that is, concrete and well-defined

M – measurable, that is, satisfaction of the objective can be objectively judged
A – achievable, that is, it is within the power of the individual or group
concerned to meet the target
R – relevant, the objective must relevant to the true purpose of the project
T – time constrained: there is defined point in time by which the objective
should be achieved

Additional Learning: Smart Objectives and how to apply them:

https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/what-are-smart-objectives-
and-how-do-i-apply-them

Goals/sub-objectives:
These are steps along the way to achieving the objective
Informally, these can be defined by completing the sentence
To reach objective X, the following must be in place
A……………
B……………
C…………… etc
Scoring a goal in football is a ‘goal’ or sub-objective on the way to achieving
the overall objective of winning the match. Sub-objectives and objectives can
be nested in a hierarchy, so that the objective of winning the match could
itself be a goal or sub-objective on the way to winning the league etc.

Often a goal can be allocated to an individual. Individual might have the

capability of achieving goal on their own, but not the overall objective e.g.
Overall objective – user satisfaction with software product
Analyst goal – accurate requirements
Developer goal – reliable software
Goals can be formulated in such a way that they represent what an individual
or group need to do to contribute to the success of the project’s objectives.
In the example above, the analyst or developer, by themselves, cannot
guarantee user satisfaction. However, the analyst can contribute to the
 achievement of the objective by making sure the users’ requirements are
accurately recorded and the developer by making sure that the software is
reliable.

Measures of effectiveness:
How do we know that the goal or objective has been achieved?
By a practical test, that can be objectively assessed.
e.g. for user satisfaction with software product:
• Repeat business – they buy further products from us
• Number of complaints – if low etc etc

The business case:

Benefits of delivered project must outweigh costs
Costs include:
- Development
- Operation
Benefits include:
- Quantifiable
- Non-quantifiable

It is not always possible to put a precise financial on the benefits of a project.

The client’s willingness to pay up to a certain price to get a project
implemented implies that they have informally identified a value to them of
getting that project implemented.

Project success/failure:
Degree to which objectives are met
 In general if, for example, project is running out of time, this can be recovered
for by reducing scope or increasing costs. Similarly costs and scope can be
protected by adjusting other corners of the ‘project triangle’.

Other success criteria:

These can relate to longer term, less directly tangible assets
• Improved skill and knowledge
• Creation of assets that can be used on future projects e.g. software libraries
• Improved customer relationships that lead to repeat business

What is management?
This involves the following activities:
• Planning – deciding what is to be done
• Organizing – making arrangements
• Staffing – selecting the right people for the job
• Directing – giving instructions
• Monitoring – checking on progress
• Controlling – taking action to remedy hold-ups
• Innovating – coming up with solutions when problems emerge
• Representing – liaising with clients, users, developers and other stakeholders

Additional Learning: Management Study Guide

https://www.managementstudyguide.com/what_is_management.htm

Case Study:
Paul Duggan is the manager of a software development section. On Tuesday at 10.00
am he and his fellow section heads have a meeting with their group manager about
the staffing requirements for the coming year. Paul has already drafted document
‘bidding’ for staff’. This is based on the work planned for his section for the next
year. The document is discussed at the meeting. At 2.00 pm Paul has a meeting with
his senior staff about an important project his section is undertaking. One of the
software development staff has just had a road accident and will be in hospital for
some time. It is decided that the project can be kept on schedule by transferring
another team member from less urgent work to this project. A temporary
replacement is to be brought in to do the less urgent work, but this might take a
week or so to arrange. Paul has to phone both the personnel manager about getting
a replacement and the user for whom the less urgent work is being done explaining
why it is likely to be delayed. Identify which of the eight management
responsibilities listed above Paul was responding to at different points during his
day.

Video on Management
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBqwhYLEJo

Project Planning:
In the project initiation stage, an initial plan is made. As the project start, the
project is monitored and controlled to proceed as per the plan. But, the initial plan is
refined from time to time to factor in additional details and constraints about the
project become available.

Important activities:
– Estimation
– Scheduling
– Staffing
 – Risk management
– Miscellaneous plans

Traditional versus Modern Project Management:

Rather than making a long term project completion plan, the project manager now
plans all incremental deliveries with evolving functionalities. This type of project
management is often called Extreme project management.

• Projects are increasingly being based on either tailoring some existing product
or reusing certain pre-built libraries.
• Facilitating and accommodating client feedbacks
• Facilitating customer participation in project development work
• Incremental delivery of the product with evolving functionalities.

Management control:

Data – the raw details

e.g. ‘6,000 documents processed at location X’
Information – the data is processed to produce something that is meaningful
and useful
e.g. ‘productivity is 100 documents a day’
Comparison with objectives/goals
e.g. we will not meet target of processing all documents by 31st March

Modelling – working out the probable outcomes of various decisions

e.g. if we employ two more staff at location X how quickly can we get the
documents processed?
 Implementation – carrying out the remedial actions that have been decided
upon

Project Management Processes:

In the project initiation stage, an initial plan is made. As the project starts, the
project is executed and controlled to proceed as planned. Finally, the project
is closed.

Video on Project Management Life Cycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzUozepFlbE
Project Management Life Cycle Versus Product Development Life Cycle:

During the software development life cycle, the software developers carry out
several types of development processes. On the other hand, during the
software project management life cycle, the software project manager carries
out several project management processes.

Phases of Project Management Life Cycle:

Project Initiation:
• During the project initiation phase it is crucial for the champions of the project
to develop a thorough understanding of the important characteristics of the
project.
• In his W5HH principle, Barry Boehm summarized the questions that need to
be asked and answered in order to have an understanding of these project
characteristics.
W5HH Principle:
• A series of questions that lead to a definition of key project characteristics:
– Why is the software being built?
– What will be done?
– When will it be done?
– Who is responsible for a function?
– Where are they organizationally located?
– How will the job be done technically and managerially?
– How much of each resource is needed?
 Project Planning:
Various plans are made:
– Project plan: Assign project resources and time frames to the tasks.
– Resource plan: List the resources, manpower and equipment that
required to execute the project.
– Financial plan: plan for manpower, equipment and other costs.
– Quality plan: Plan of quality targets and control.
– Risk plan: Identification of the potential risks, their prioritization and a
plan for the actions that would be taken to contain the different risks.

Project Execution:
• Tasks are executed as per the project plan
• Monitoring and control processes are executed to ensure that the tasks are
executed as per plan
• Corrective actions are initiated whenever any deviations from the plan are
noticed.
Project Closure:
• Involves completing the release of all the required deliverables to the
customer along with the
• necessary documentation.
• Subsequently, all the project resources are released and supply agreements
with the vendors are terminated and all the pending payments are completed.
• Finally, a post-implementation review is undertaken to analyze the project
performance and to list the lessons learnt for use in future projects.
 Chapter Two
Project evaluation and programme management
Main topics to be covered:
• The business case for a project
• Project portfolios
• Project evaluation
– Cost benefit analysis
– Cash flow forecasting
• Programme management
• Benefits management

The business case:

It is worth recalling the difference between project success (the project is successfully
completed) and business risks (the new product or system successfully established by
the project goes on to generate benefits for the organization).

• Feasibility studies can also act as a ‘business case’

• Provides a justification for starting the project
• Should show that the benefits of the project will exceed development,
implementation and operational costs
• Needs to take account of business risks
Contents of a business case:
1. Introduction/ background
2. The proposed project
3. The market
4. Organizational and operational infrastructure
5. The benefits
6. Outline implementation plan
7. Costs
8. The financial case
9. Risks
10. Management plan

Details:
• Introduction/background: describes a problem to be solved or an
opportunity to be exploited
• The proposed project: a brief outline of the project scope
 • The market: the project could be to develop a new product (e.g. a new
computer game). The likely demand for the product would need to be
assessed.
• Organizational and operational infrastructure: How the organization would
need to change. This would be important where a new information system
application was being introduced.
• Benefits These should be express in financial terms where possible. In the end
it is up to the client to assess these – as they are going to pay for the project.
• Outline implementation plan: how the project is going to be implemented.
This should consider the disruption to an organization that a project might
cause.
• Costs: the implementation plan will supply information to establish these
• Financial analysis: combines costs and benefit data to establish value of
project.

Project portfolio management:

The concerns of project portfolio management include:
• Evaluating proposals for projects
• Assessing the risk involved with projects
• Deciding how to share resources between projects
• Taking account of dependencies between projects
• Removing duplication between projects
• Checking for gaps
There are three elements to PPM:
1. Project portfolio definition
– Create a central record of all projects within an organization
– Must decide whether to have ALL projects in the repository or, say, only
ICT projects
– Note difference between new product development (NPD) projects and
renewal projects e.g. for process improvement
2. Project portfolio management
Actual costing and performance of projects can be recorded and
assessed.
3. Project portfolio optimization
Information gathered above can be used achieve better balance of
projects e.g. some that are risky but potentially very valuable balanced by less
risky but less valuable projects. You may want to allow some work to be done
outside the portfolio e.g. quick fixes.
Additional Learning: PPM Defined
https://www.ecosys.net/knowledge/what-is-ppm/

Video on Introduction to CBA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tdKkeNClPE

Cost benefit analysis (CBA):

This relates to an individual project. You need to:
• Identify all the costs which could be:
– Development costs
– Set-up
– Operational costs
• Identify the value of benefits
• Check benefits are greater than costs

Video on Cost-Benefits Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tdKkeNClPE&t=63s
Addition Learning: Distribution Analysis in CBA:
https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/97801999343
86.001.0001/acprof-9780199934386-chapter-
18?gclid=CjwKCAjwuvmHBhAxEiwAWAYj-
IoUCsZtzWC6XfKfyQ4ySK9HnniSLJF7avKBKRG5Fc325Y7ntBn_JRoClTIQAvD_BwE

Case Study:
Brightmouth College is considering the replacement of the existing payroll service,
operated by a third party, with a tailored, off-the-self computer-based system. List
some of the costs it might consider under the heading of:
Development costs
Setup costs
List some of the benefits under the headings:
Quantified and valued benefits
Quantified but not valued
Identified but not easily valued
For each cost or benefit, explain how, in principle, it might be measured in monetary
terms.

Product/system life cycle cash flows:

• The timing of costs and income for a product of system needs to be

estimated.
• The development of the project will incur costs.
• When the system or product is released it will generate income that gradually
pays off costs
• Some costs may relate to decommissioning – think of demolishing a nuclear
power station.

Exercise: Consider the project cash flow estimates for four projects at JOE shown in
the table; Negative levels represent expenditure and positive values income. Rank the
four projects in order of financial desirability and make a note of your reasons for
ranking them in that way.

Year Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Project 4

0 -100000 -1000000 -100000 -120000
1 10000 200000 30000 30000
2 10000 200000 30000 30000
3 10000 200000 30000 30000
4 20000 200000 30000 30000
5 100000 300000 30000 75000
Net Profit 50000 100000 50000 75000
Project 2 has the highest rank as per Net Profit.

Ex 2.3: Consider the project cash flow and identify the best project.

Year Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Project 4

0 -100000 -100000 -1000000 -120000
1 20000 20000 300000 30000
2 30000 30000 300000 30000
3 10000 20000 300000 30000
4 20000 20000 300000 30000
5 20000 30000 300000 50000
Net Profit
•

Net profit:
Year Cash-flow

0 -100,000

1 10,000

2 10,000

3 10,000

4 20,000

5 100,000

Net
50,000
profit
 ‘Year 0’ represents all the costs before system is operation
‘Cash-flow’ is value of income less outgoing
Net profit value of all the cash-flows for the lifetime of the application

Pay back period

This is the time it takes to start generating a surplus of income over

outgoings. What would it be below?
Year Cash-flow Accumulated

0 -100,000 -100,000

1 10,000 -90,000

2 10,000 -80,000

3 10,000 -70,000

4 20,000 -50,000

5 100,000 50,000

The payback period would be about 4.5 years. This can be calculated as the
last year in which the accumulated cash flow was negative + (absolute
accumulated cash flow at the end of that year / cash-flow for the next year)
e.g. year 4 + (50,000/100,000). This assumes that the flow of cash is constant
throughout the year in question e.g. £100,000/12 or £8,333 a month in year 5.

Return on investment (ROI):

Return on investment (ROI) = Average annual profit X 100
Total investment
In the previous example
• average annual profit
= 50,000/5
= 10,000
• ROI = 10,000/100,000 X 100 = 10%

Net present value:

Would you rather I gave you £100 today or in 12 months time?
If I gave you £100 now you could put it in savings account and get interest on
it.
 If the interest rate was 10% how much would I have to invest now to get £100
in a year’s time?
This figure is the net present value of £100 in one year’s time
If you invested £91 now you would get £9.10 in interest which would give you
£100.10 in 12 months. The interest rate of 10% is used purely to make it easy
to do the calculations, not because it is a realistic rate.

Discount factor:
Discount factor = 1/(1+r)t
r is the interest rate (e.g. 10% is 0.10)
t is the number of years
In the case of 10% rate and one year
Discount factor = 1/(1+0.10) = 0.9091
In the case of 10% rate and two years
Discount factor = 1/(1.10 x 1.10) =0.8294

Applying discount factors:

NPV is the sum of the discounted cash flows for all the years of the ‘project’ (note
that in NPV terms the lifetime of the completed application is included in the
‘project’)
The figure of £618 means that £618 more would be made than if the money were
simply invested at 10%. An NPV of £0 would be the same amount of profit as would
be generated by investing at 10%.

Year Cash-flow Discount Discounted

factor cash flow

0 -100,000 1.0000 -100,000

1 10,000 0.9091 9,091

2 10,000 0.8264 8,264

3 10,000 0.7513 7,513

4 20,000 0.6830 13,660

5 100,000 0.6209 62,090

NPV 618

Internal rate of return:

• Internal rate of return (IRR) is the discount rate that would produce an NPV of
0 for the project
 • Can be used to compare different investment opportunities
• There is a Microsoft Excel function which can be used to calculate

Dealing with uncertainty: Risk evaluation:

• project A might appear to give a better return than B but could be riskier
• Draw up a project risk matrix for each project to assess risks – see next
overhead
• For riskier projects could use higher discount rates

Video on What is Risk Management,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcKoUe8vRE0

Example of a project risk matrix:

In the table ‘Importance’ relates to the cost of the damage if the risk were to
materialize and ‘likelihood’ to the probability that the risk will actual occur. ‘H’
indicates ‘High’, ‘M’ indicates ‘medium’ and ‘L’ indicates ‘low’. The issues of
risk analysis are explored in much more depth in lecture/chapter 7.
Cost benefit Analysis:
• Consider each possible outcome and estimate the probability of its occurring
and the corresponding value of the outcome.
• Find the cash flow forecast for each risk with an associated probability of
occurring.
• The value of the project is then obtained by summing the cost or benefit for
each possible outcome weighted by its corresponding probability.

Decision trees:

This illustrates a scenario that could relate to the IOE case study. Say Amanda
is responsible for extending the invoicing system. An alternative would be to
replace the whole of the system. The decision is influenced by the likelihood
of IOE expanding their market. There is a strong rumour that they could
benefit from their main competitor going out of business: in this case they
could pick up a huge amount of new business, but the invoicing system could
not cope. However replacing the system immediately would mean other
important projects would have to be delayed.
The NPV of extending the invoicing system is assessed as £75,000 if there is
no sudden expansion. If there were a sudden expansion then there would be a
loss of £100,000. If the whole system were replaced and there was a large
expansion there would be a NPV of £250,000 due to the benefits of being able
to handle increased sales. If sales did not increase then the NPV would be -
£50,000.
The decision tree shows these possible outcomes and also shows the
estimated probability of each outcome.
 The value of each outcome is the NPV multiplied by the probability of its
occurring. The value of a path that springs from a particular decision is the
sum of the values of the possible outcomes from that decision. If it is decided
to extend the system the sum of the values of the outcomes is £40,000 (75,000
x 0.8 – 100,000 x 0.2) while for replacement it would be £10,000 (250,000 x 0.2
– 50,000 x 0.80). Extending the system therefore seems to be the best bet.

Programme management:
One definition:
‘a group of projects that are managed in a co-ordinated way to gain
benefits that would not be possible were the projects to be managed
independently’ Ferns

Programmes may be
• Strategic
• Business cycle programmes
• Infrastructure programmes
• Research and development programmes
• Innovative partnerships

Strategic
Several projects together implement a single strategy. For example, merging two
organizations will involve many different activities e.g. physical re-organization of
offices, redesigning the corporate image, merging ICT systems etc. Each of these
activities could be project within an overarching programme.
Business cycle programmes
A portfolio of project that are to take place within a certain time frame e.g. the next
financial year
Infrastructure programmes
In an organization there may be many different ICT-based applications which share
the same hardware/software infrastructure
Research and development programmes
In a very innovative environment where new products are being developed, a range
of products could be developed some of which are very speculative and high-risk but
potentially very profitable and some will have a lower risk but will return a lower
profit. Getting the right balance would be key to the organization’s long term success
Innovative partnerships
e.g. pre-competitive co-operation to develop new technologies that could be
exploited by a whole range of companies

Programme managers versus project managers:

The programme manager may well have a pool of staff upon which to call. He/she
will be concerned with ensuring the best use of staff e.g ensuring that staff have
regular work with no periods of enforced idleness between project tasks. The project
leader would think in terms of ‘I need a Java programmer for four weeks’ without
being concerned which specific person it is (beyond obvious concerns that they are
fully capable).

Programme manager:
– Many simultaneous projects
– Personal relationship with skilled resources
– Optimization of resource use
– Projects tend to be seen as similar

Project manager:
– One project at a time
– Impersonal relationship with resources
– Minimization of demand for resources
– Projects tend to be seen as unique

Managing the Allocation of Resources within Programmes:

• Resources shared between concurrent projects
Projects sharing resources:
During the resource allocation phase of project planning – some project
activities could be delayed while waiting for a resource to become available.

Strategic programmes:
• Based on OGC approach
• Initial planning document is the Programme Mandate describing
– The new services/capabilities that the programme should deliver
– How an organization will be improved
– Fit with existing organizatioal goals
• A programme director appointed a champion for the scheme

• The material here is based on the UK government’s Office of Government

Commerce (OGC) approach which is described in detail in their publication
Managing successful programmes.
• The programme director should be someone who is in a prominent position in
the organization so that the seriousness and commitment of the organization
to the programme are made clear.
• For example - It might be found at the IOE company that the customers’
experience of the organization can be very variable and inconsistent. The
employee who records the customer’s requirements is different from the
people who actually carry out the work and different again from the clerk who
deals with accounts. Different maintenance engineers deal with different types
of equipment. A business objective might be to present a consistent and
 uniform interface to the client. This objective might need changes to a number
of different systems which until now have been largely self-contained. The
work to reorganize each individual area might be treated as separate projects,
co-ordinated at a higher level as a programme.

Next stages/documents:
• The programme brief – equivalent of a feasibility study: emphasis on costs
and benefits
• The vision statement – explains the new capability that the organization will
have
• The blueprint – explains the changes to be made to obtain the new capability

Aids to Programme Management:

• Dependency diagram

• Delivery planning

Some Reservations about Programme Management

 • Focus on structure – e.g. who reports to whom, at the expense of process –
e.g. the basis on which decisions are made.

Benefits management:

• Providing an organization with a capability does not guarantee that this will
provide benefits envisaged – need for benefits management
• This has to be outside the project – project will have been completed
• Therefore done at programme level

• Benefit profiles can be produced that document when and how it is planned
that the benefits will be experienced.

• As different components of the new capability are developed, a series of

tranches of projects (projects grouped in different steps of the programme)
may be completed, each with a set of associated benefits.

• The achievement of benefits might be made the responsibility of staff who are
designated as business change managers.

To carry this out, you must:

• Define expected benefits
• Analyse balance between costs and benefits
• Plan how benefits will be achieved
• Allocate responsibilities for their achievement
• Monitor achievement of benefits
 Video on Benefits Management,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTS8HSZeIRc

Benefits:
These might include:

• Mandatory requirement
• Improved quality of service
• Increased productivity
• More motivated workforce
• Internal management benefits
• Risk reduction
• Economies
• Revenue enhancement/acceleration
• Strategic fit
We need to comply with a mandatory requirement, the question of benefits is
irrelevant in this case. However as failure to comply will a negative outcome (e.g. not
being able to trade), avoiding that negative outcome is clearly a benefit which could
be costed.

‘Internal management benefits’ includes things like better decision-making. In the

case of an insurance company a deeper analysis of insurance claims might help
identify types of business that are most risky and allow the company to adjust
premiums to cover these.

‘Economies’ refers to cost-cutting e.g. using an automated telephone system to

direct calls without human intervention could allow an organization to reduce staff.

Revenue enhancement/acceleration e.g. the sooner that bills reach the customers,
the sooner they can pay them.
‘Strategic fit’ A change might not benefit any single group within an organization but
might have to be made to obtain a benefit for the organization as a whole.

Video on Benefit Management Realization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thj6tTLcBfY

Quantifying benefits:

Benefits can be:

• Quantified and valued e.g. a reduction of x staff saving £y
• Quantified but not valued e.g. a decrease in customer complaints by x%
• Identified but not easily quantified – e.g. public approval for a organization in
the locality where it is based
Remember
• A project may fail not through poor management but because it should never
have been started
• A project may make a profit, but it may be possible to do something else that
makes even more profit
• A real problem is that it is often not possible to express benefits in accurate
financial terms
• Projects with the highest potential returns are often the most risky
 Chapter 3
Step Wise: An approach to planning software projects

This chapter provides an overview of the basic steps needed to produce a project
plan. The framework provided allows students to identify where some of the
particular issues discussed in other chapters are applied to the planning process. One
element of project planning will be to decide what project control procedures need
to be in place.

‘Step Wise’ – aspirations:

The motivation for identifying an overall framework was that students, and others,
were often at a loss as to where to start when new to project planning. A structured
approach was seen as catering for the needs of such people.
Students are perhaps most likely to come into contact with some kind of project
planning (i) when they are involved in student projects, especially those carried in
groups and (ii) if they are members of a project team when they are undertaking a
placement year in industry. The first situation is probably quite small-scale compared
to the second. The same general principles of planning however relate to both.

• Practicality
– tries to answer the question ‘what do I do now?’
• Scalability
– useful for small project as well as large
• Range of application
• Accepted techniques
– e.g. borrowed from PRINCE etc.

The approach described here is designed to be applicable to a range of different

types of project. For example, multimedia projects are not explicitly discussed, but
one of the authors teaches a course project management for multimedia and the
general approach described here seems to work satisfactorily when applied to these
types of projects. It might be asked why a standard approach such as PRINCE2 has
not been adopted. There has been caution about using PRINCE2 more centrally
because:
• PRINCE2 tend to be used mainly in the UK and many users of the Software
Project Management textbook are from elsewhere
• The content of this course would be vulnerable to changes to the method
imposed by its design authority
• PRINCE2 tends to focus more on procedural and bureaucratic matters at the
expense of techniques – the few planning techniques that are associated with
PRINCE, for example, the development of product flow diagrams, are used in
the Step Wise approach as well.
‘Step Wise’ - an overview:

This is an overview of the main steps, details of which will be discussed in the
following overheads:
0. Select project: There must be some process by which the project to be
executed was selected. Chapter 3 on project evaluation looks at this in more
detail.
1. Identify project objectives: It is important that at the outset the main
stakeholders are all aware of the precise objectives of the project.
2. Identify project infrastructure: This may not be a significant step where
you are working on an in-house project in a very familiar environment.
However, where the project is being carried out for external clients then you
may need to investigate the characteristics of the environment in which the
project is to be carried out.
3. Analyse project characteristics: Different types of project will need
different technical and management approaches. For example, a project to
implement control software embedded in industrial equipment will need a
different set of methods than a project to implement a business information
system. A multimedia application would again need a different set of activities.
4. Identify products and activities: With software projects, it is best to start
by listing the products, both deliverable and intermediate, to be created. The
activities needed to create the products can then be identified
5. Estimate effort for activity.
 6. Identify activity risks: Having assessed the amount of effort and the
elapsed time for a project, the reasons why these might be vary during the
actual execution of the project need to be considered. Where there is a very
high risk of additional effort/time being needed then actions to reduce this
risk may be formulated.
7. Allocate resources: With software projects, these resources will mainly be
staff, but could be equipment etc.
8. Review/publicize: It is no good having a plan if no one knows about it
9. Execute Plan.
10. Lower level planning: Not all of a project, especially when it is large, can
be planned in detail at the outset. Not all the information needed to plan the
later stages will be available at the beginning: for example software
development cannot be broken down into precise sub-tasks with realistic
target times until more is known about what the overall design of the system
is known.

A project scenario: Brightmouth College Payroll:

• College currently has payroll processing carried out by a services company
• This is very expensive and does not allow detailed analysis of personnel data
to be carried out
• Decision made to bring payroll ‘in-house’ by acquiring an ‘off-the-shelf’
application
• The use of the off-the-shelf system will require a new, internal, payroll office
to be set up
• There will be a need to develop some software ‘add-ons’: one will take payroll
data and combine it with time-table data to calculate the staff costs for each
course run in the college
• The project manager is Brigette.
Step 1: establish project scope and objectives:
• 1.1 Identify objectives and measures of effectiveness
– ‘how do we know if we have succeeded?’
• 1.2 Establish a project authority
– ‘who is the boss?’
• 1.3 Identify all stakeholders in the project and their interests
– ‘who will be affected/involved in the project?’

• 1.4 Modify objectives in the light of stakeholder analysis

– ‘do we need to do things to win over stakeholders?’

• 1.5 Establish methods of communication with all parties

 – ‘how do we keep in contact?’

1.1. Identifying objectives and measures of effectiveness. Key points are that the
student project objectives must be such that a student can realistically be responsible
for their achievement. For instance, an objective to reduce conflict between project
team members would be at too high a level for a software developer: he or she is
there to produce software and evaluation of the particular psychometric test would
be outside their capabilities. If the student was a psychology student and the project
was regarded as a psychological one, then things might be different.

1.2.Establishment of a project authority In the case of students on placement or

carrying final year projects for outside organizations, the problem of identifying who
has the final say on the project can occur surprisingly often, particular when different
user groups have conflicting requirements. In larger, more formal projects, the
project authority might reside in a Project Board or steering committee.

1.3 Identify all stakeholders in the project and their interests. Stakeholders can
be anyone who has an interest in the project. They may be users of the final
application or might be involved in the development or implementation of the
project.

1.4 Modify objectives in the light of stakeholder analysis. The key point here is
the need to ensure commitment to the project from the important stakeholders. This
might need to be done by ensuring that there is some benefit from the project for
them.

1.5 Establish methods of communication with all parties In the case of a small
student project, it might be mainly swapping email addresses and mobile phone
numbers. With larger projects, it could involve setting up groups who meet regularly
to co-ordinate action. Sometimes specific ‘communication plans’ are drawn up to
deal with these issues.

Back to the scenario:

• Project authority
- Brigette finds she has two different clients for the new system: the
finance department and the personnel office. A vice principal agrees to
be official client, and monthly meetings are chaired by the VP and
attended by Brigette and the heads of finance and personnel
- These meetings would also help overcome communication barriers
• Stakeholders/revision to objectives: The application will not ultimately be a
success if project team members are not happy to use the system. They might
be happier to use the testing system if the results of their own tests were
 automatically notified to them personally by the software application, so that
this might have to be added as a requirement for the project.
• For example, personnel office would supply details of new staff, leavers
and changes (e.g. promotions)
• To motivate co-operation Brigette might ensure new payroll system
produces reports that are useful to personnel staff

Step 2 Establish project infrastructure:

At the same time as establishing exactly what the project objectives are, the person
responsible may know little about the organizational environment in which the
application is to be developed and implemented. The actions in Step 2 address this
problem.

• 2.1 Establish link between project and any strategic plan

– ‘why did they want the project?’
• 2.2 Identify installation standards and procedures
– ‘what standards do we have to follow?’
• 2.3. Identify project team organization
– ‘where do I fit in?’

Step 3 Analysis of project characteristics:

Step 3 is about examining the nature of the application to be built and the
environment in which it is to be built and implemented and identifying the most
appropriate technical approach.

• 3.1 Distinguish the project as either objective or product-based.

– Is there more than one way of achieving success?
• 3.2 Analyse other project characteristics (including quality based ones)
– what is different about this project?

3.1 Objective-based versus product-based projects. With a product-based project

the developers have to create a product, the specification of which is often (but not
always) clearly defined. In an objective-based project, a problem is defined that
needs to be solved but there could be more than one solution. For example, if an
organization needed a payroll application they might consider (a) writing the system
themselves (b) using a service company to do the payroll for them (c) acquire an off-
the-shelf package.

3.2 Analyse other project characteristics – such as is it an information system or

an embedded real time or a multimedia application? Is it safety-critical? etc. The
payroll application is clearly an information system. If an off-the-shelf application is
adopted, there is plenty of guidance on how off-the-shelf applications can be
accessed and selected that could be consulted by Brigette.
Identifying high level risks could influence the general approach to the project. For
example, if the users appeared to be uncertain about the precise nature of the
requirement then a more iterative approach, including the use of prototypes to refine
user needs, might be selected.
If the application is very large and complex then breaking it down into increments
might be the way to proceed.
• Identify high level project risks
– ‘what could go wrong?’
– ‘what can we do to stop it?’
• Take into account user requirements concerning implementation
• Select general life cycle approach
– waterfall? Increments? Prototypes?
• Review overall resource estimates
– ‘does all this increase the cost?’

Back to the scenario:

• Objectives vs. products
– An objective-based approach has been adopted
• Some risks
– There may not be an off-the-shelf package that caters for the way
payroll is processed at Brightmouth College
• Answer?
– Brigette decides to obtain details of how main candidate packages
work as soon as possible; also agreement that if necessary processes
will be changed to fit in with new system.

Step 4 Identify project products and activities:

Here we follow the PRINCE approach of firstly identifying the products to be created.
These products could be deliverables that will eventually be handed over to the
customer, or intermediate products such as specifications and design documents,
that are produced along the way.

• 4.1 Identify and describe project products - ‘what do we have to produce?’

The PBS is a way of listing these products.
In the scenario, one set of products will relate to the products needed to produce
one or more invitations to tender (ITTs) to supply the hardware and software needed
to operate the new payroll application. In order to allow the most suitable
configuration to be identified the number of transactions and the size of the
database needed will have to be identified – volume figures. To set up an
appropriate network attached to secure printers and servers, a layout of the
proposed office will need to be created. A user requirement will need to be
produced which describes the existing system, identifies additional requirements
(such as the need to be able to access database details in order to produce one-off
queries and reports), and some test data and expected results which further
illuminate the details of the requirements. This test data could form the basis of user
acceptance tests.

Products:
• The result of an activity
• Could be (among other things)
– physical thing (‘installed pc’),
– a document (‘logical data structure’)
– a person (‘trained user’)
– a new version of an old product (‘updated software’)
• The following are NOT normally products:
– activities (e.g. ‘training’)
– events (e.g. ‘interviews completed’)
– resources and actors (e.g. ‘software developer’) - may be exceptions to
this
• Products CAN BE deliverable or intermediate

Product description (PD):

The names of products on the PBS can be rather vague. If you were to ask someone
to produce, for example, the ‘analysis report’ in the usability testing scenario, then
you would need to explain exactly what you mean by that. This is done via a Product
Description. PDs can usually be re-used from one project to another. Note that they
are different from specifications – the explanation in general terms what a product is
and the description is relevant to all instances of that product. A specification
describes a particular instance within the class of products.
• Product identity
• Description - what is it?
• Derivation - what is it based on?
• Composition - what does it contain?
• Format
• Relevant standards
• Quality criteria

4.2 document generic product flows:

The product flow diagram shows the order in which the products have to be
completed. Effectively it defines a method of working. The flow of the PFD is
generally from top to bottom and left to right. We do no put in lines which loop
back. This is not because iterative and back-tracking is not accepted. Rather it is that
you can in theory jump back to any preceding product.

Step 4.3 Recognize product instances:

• The PBS and PFD will probably have identified generic products e.g. ‘software
modules’
• It might be possible to identify specific instances e.g. ‘module A’, ‘module B’ …
• But in many cases this will have to be left to later, more detailed, planning

4.4. Produce ideal activity network:

• Identify the activities needed to create each product in the PFD
• More than one activity might be needed to create a single product
• Hint: Identify activities by verb + noun but avoid ‘produce…’ (too vague)
• Draw up activity network
An ‘ideal’ activity:

The activity network is the basis of the data that is input to planning software tools
like MS Project.

Step 4.5 Add check-points if needed:

There are some points in the project when we want to check that the quality of what
we have done so far is a sound basis for further work. In the example we have
decided to check that all the module designs are compatible with one another before
continuing. Note that the benefit of reducing wasted work at a later stage when
incompatibilities lead to products being reworked, has to be balanced against the
delay caused by the check-point. The start of coding of modules A, B and C all have
to wait for the completion of the design of all the modules A, B and C. With no
check-point, module A could be coded as soon as the design of module A had been
done without having to wait for B and C.
Step 5: Estimate effort for each activity:
Effort is the total number of staff-hours (or days etc) needed to complete a task.
Elapsed time is the calendar time between the time task starts and when it ends. If 2
people work on the same task for 5 days without any interruption, then the effort is
10 staff-days and the elapsed time is 5 days.
Using the PBS/PFD to generate the activities often means that some activities are
very small and others are huge. Often there is an activity called ‘write software’ which
is 70% of a software development project. These large activities need to be broken
down into more manageable small tasks. You should aim for the average length of
your activities to be about the time between progress meetings e.g. if you have team
progress meeting once a fortnight, try to make the tasks last about 2 weeks.

• 5.1 Carry out bottom-up estimates

– distinguish carefully between effort and elapsed time
• 5.2. Revise plan to create controllable activities
– break up very long activities into a series of smaller ones
– bundle up very short activities (create check lists?)

Step 6: Identify activity risks:

Note that we have already considered some high level risks that could affect the
project as a whole at Step 3. Estimates of the effort and duration of activities can be
quite tricky. When you produce an estimate for an activity it is worth reflecting about
the events which could cause the assumptions upon which you have based your
estimate to be wrong. Where the risk seems very high, then you might try to
introduce new activities specifically designed to reduce the risk, or to formulate a
contingency action if the risk should materialize. For example, there is not much you
can do to stop people getting the flu at a critical time in the project, but you might
be able to have a plan to bring in temporary cover for sickness in the case of time-
critical activities.
• 6.1.Identify and quantify risks for activities
– damage if risk occurs (measure in time lost or money)
– likelihood if risk occurring
• 6.2. Plan risk reduction and contingency measures
– risk reduction: activity to stop risk occurring
– contingency: action if risk does occur
• 6.3 Adjust overall plans and estimates to take account of risks
– e.g. add new activities which reduce risks associated with other
activities e.g. training, pilot trials, information gathering

Step 7: Allocate resources:

You now need to allocate resources (in particular, staff) to the activities in the plan.
Where there is a resource constraint, that is there are not enough staff (or other
resource) of the right type to start all the activities that run in parallel at the planned
time, then the start of some activities may need to be delayed until the appropriate
resources are available.

• 7.1 Identify and allocate resources to activities

• 7.2 Revise plans and estimates to take into account resource constraints
– e.g. staff not being available until a later date
– non-project activities

Gantt charts:
A Gantt chart, commonly used in project management, is one of the most popular
and useful ways of showing activities (tasks or events) displayed against time. On the
left of the chart is a list of the activities and along the top is a suitable time scale.
Each activity is represented by a bar; the position and length of the bar reflects the
start date, duration and end date of the activity.
We now have the basic information needed to produce a plan. One way of
presenting the plan is by means of a Gantt chart (named after Henry Gantt).

Step 8: Review/publicise plan:

We have noted already that it is not feasible to produce a detailed plan for all stages
of the project right at the beginning of the project planning process and not all the
information needed for the detailed planning of the later stages is available at the
outset. Initially an outline plan for the whole project would be produced, plus a
detailed plan for the first stage.
 • 8.1 Review quality aspects of project plan
• 8.2 Document plan and obtain agreement

Step 9 and 10: Execute plan and create lower level plans

Key points:
• Establish your objectives
• Think about the characteristics of the project
• Discover/set up the infrastructure to support the project (including standards)
• Identify products to be created and the activities that will create them
• Allocate resources
• Set up quality processes
*******************************************************************
Graded Questions:
Chapter 01
Introduction to Software Project Management
1. Why is project management important?
2. What is a project? What are its characteristics?
3. What are the Activities covered by project management?
4. Explain the software development life-cycle (ISO 12207).
5. What do you mean by Plans, methods and methodologies?
6. What are the different ways of categorizing projects?
7. Who are Stakeholders?
8. What do you mean by objectives and sub-objectives in a project?
9. What do mean by Project Management? Differentiate between Traditional and
Modern Project Management.
10. Explain Management Control with a suitable diagram.
11. Explain about the different phases of Project Management Life Cycle.
Chapter 02

Project evaluation and programme management

1. Describe Business Case. What are its contents?

2. What do you mean by Project portfolio management? What are its steps?
3. How do you perform Cost benefit analysis (CBA)?
4. What are the different Cost Benefit Evaluation Techniques?
Year Cash-flow Discount factor Discounted cash
flow
0 -100,000 1.0000 ?
1 10,000 0.9091 ?
2 10,000 0.8264 ?
3 10,000 0.7513 ?
 4 20,000 0.6830 ?
5 100,000 0.6209 ?
NPV ?
5. What do you mean by Risk evaluation?
6. Explain Programme management.
7. Differentiate between Programme managers and project managers.
8. How allocation of Resources within Programmes is managed?
9. Define Strategic programmes.
10. Define Benefits management.
11. Based on the Decision tree, whether the organization should extend or
replace the system?

Chapter 03
Step Wise: An approach to planning software projects
1. Explain the Step Wise approach to planning software projects.
2. Explain Step 1: establish project scope and objectives.
3. Write a note on Step 2 Establish project infrastructure.
4. Write a note on Step 3 Analysis of project characteristics.
5. Explain Step 4 Identify project products and activities.
6. What is Product? What is Product Desription?
7. How do add checkpoints in a Network Diagram?
8. How do you Allocate resources?
Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the Activities covered by Project Management?

1. Feasibility study
2. Planning
3. Time
4. None
2. Requirements phase of SDLC covers __________________________
1. Quality
2. Functions
3. Scope
4. None

3. Testing the System includes ____________

1. Installation Testing
2. Acceptance Testing
3. Qualification Testing
4. All of these

4. Software Service Projects includes _________________.

1. Maintenance projects
2. Generic Software Product
3. Vertical Software Product
4. None

5. Stakeholders of the project are _________________

1. Users
2. Developers
3. Implementers
4. All of these

6. Project Cost involves _________________.

1. Development costs
2. Set-up cost
3. Operational costs
4. All of these

7. ____________________ can also act as a ‘business case’.

1. Project Management
2. Feasibility studies
3. Benefits
4. None

8. PPM stands for ______________________.

1. Portfolio Project Management
2. Project Portfolio Management
3. Management of Project Portfolio
4. None
9. Cost benefit Evaluation, Negative values represent ____________.
1. Expenditure
2. Income
3. Budget
4. none of these

10. Given a business case:

Year 0 -100000
Year 1 20000
Year 2 20000
Year 3 30000
Year 4 20000
Year 5 30000
Year 6 20000

What is the Net Profit?

1. 20000
2. 30000
3. 40000
4. 50000

11. Which one of the following most closely describes the sequence of phases of
a project management life cycle?
1. Initiation, planning, execution and closing
2. Concept, definition, development and closure
3. Initiation, definition, planning and monitoring
4. Concept, definition, implementation and maintenance

12. In which phase of the project management life cycle, most of the project
funding is likely to be spent?
1. Initiating
2. Executing
3. Planning
4. Closeout

13. Which one of the following is not included in a project scope document?
1. The deliverables for the project
2. The features and functions that are to be included in the
software
3. The time schedule
4. The project plan
14. ___________ document identifies the project tasks, and a schedule for the
project task assigns project resources and time frame to the task.
1. Project plan
2. Resource plan
3. Financial plan
4. Quality plan

15. _______________ involves completing the release of all the required deliverables
of the customer along with the necessary documentation.
1. Project Initiation
2. Project closure
3. Project Planning
4. Project execution
 Gamification:

Flash Card Activity on difference between Programme manager and project

Manager:

https://quizlet.com/in/515658795/difference-between-programme-manager-
and-project-manager-flash-cards/

Flash Card Activity on CBA:

https://quizlet.com/in/604102561/ty-spm-l7-flash-cards/?new

Match Card on Project Portfolio Management:

https://quizlet.com/515658795/match

Match Card on Programme Management:

https://quizlet.com/515770973/match

Take Home Task:

Calculate Net Present Value for each of the projects A, B and C shown in table using
each discount rates 8%, 10% and 12%. For each of the discount rates, decide which
is the best project. What can you conclude from these results?

Year Project A Project B Project C

0 -8000 -8000 -10000
1 4000 1000 2000
2 4000 2000 2000
3 2000 4000 6000
4 1000 3000 2000
5 500 9000 2000
6 500 -6000 2000
Net Profit 4000 5000 6000

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