Chapter 11 Project Management

1. Chapter 11Project Management Jason C. H. Chen, Ph.D. Professor of MIS School of Business Administration Gonzaga University Spokane, WA 99258 chen@jepson.gonzaga.edu

2. Learning Objectives List the elements of a good project. Understand why so many IT projects fail to meet their targeted goals. Explain the relationship between time, scope, and cost of a project. Explain why Gantt charts are so popular for planning schedules. Define RAD and explain how it compares to the SDLC. Be able to identify when it is time to pull the plug on a project.

3. Real World Example Rural Payments Agency (RPA), UK, blamed poor planning and lack of system testing for delays in paying out 1.5billion pounds of EU subsidies. Only 15% were paid out by the end of 2006. The RPA had to make substantial changes to the system post implementation. Testing did not take into account the real environment, leading to unanticipated work to populate the database in the first place. The system had not been properly managed. Costs were at 122 million pounds, and were originally estimated at 46.5 million.

4. Failed IS Projects • Standish Group found that 67 percent of all software projects are challenged • Late, over budget or fail to meet performance criteria. • Managing a business project means managing an information systems project. • Many systems use or integrate the Internet.

5. The Need for Project Management • Critical for companies today: the ability to adapt existing business processes faster than the competition • Typical adaptation projects include: • “Rightsizing” the organization (what is another name?) • Reengineering business processes • Adopting more comprehensive, integrative processes

6. Successful IS Projects • To succeed, “a” general manager must be a project manager and must learn how to manage this type of risk. • Executive management no longer has an option but to consider skilled IT project management as fundamental to business success.

7. INTRODUCTION • This chapter provides an overview of what a project is and how to manage one • It discusses the aspects of IT-intensive projects that make them uniquely challenging • Finally, it identifies the issues that shape the role of the general manager in such projects and help them to manage risk

8. WHAT DEFINES A PROJECT

9. What Defines a Project? “[A] project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end. Unique means that the product or service is different in some distinguishing way from all similar products or services.” -Project Management Institute (1996)

10. Project • A project is a well-defined sequence of events with a beginning and an end, directed toward achieving a clear goal, and conducted by people within such established parameters as time, cost, resources, and quality. • A project is different from what we do every day, because a project goal is a specific, non-routine event.

11. Projects Companies use projects and operations to generate revenue. Projects are temporary endeavors that have a fixed start and stop date and time. Operations are ongoing, repetitive tasks that are performed until they are changed or replaced. Project managers may break projects into sub-projects depending upon the work. Figure 11.1 show the differences between operational and project based work.

12. Fig. 11.1 Characteristics of operational and project work

13. Define Task/ Mission Gather Information Glean relevant Information Analyze/Visualize Information Drill Down Information Generate Report Project Development Processes

14. MEASURES OF INFORMATION SYSTEM SUCCESS 1. HIGH LEVELS OF USE 2. USER SATISFACTION 3. FAVORABLE ATTITUDES 4. ACHIEVED OBJECTIVES 5. FINANCIAL PAYOFF TM -14 Dr. Chen,Managing IT Reos. Thru Strategic Partnerships; A Portoflio Approach to IT Development

15. Measuring Success • At the start of the project, the general manager should consider several aspects based on achieving the business goals. • Care is needed to prevent a too narrow or too broad set of goals. • It is important that the goals be measurable so that they can be used throughout the project to provide the project manager with feedback.

16. The IT component of projects • Virtually all projects involve an information technology component, including a computer and information flow • The amount of resources to complete IT-intensive projects is increasing as these have increased in complexity • Skilled IT project management is fundamental to business success.

17. WHAT ISPROJECT MANAGEMENT?

18. Project Management Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectation from a project. Involves continual trade-offs Manager’s job - manage these trade-offs.

19. POOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT • COST OVERRUNS • TIME SLIPPAGE • TECHNICAL SHORTFALLS IMPAIR PERFORMANCE • FAILURE TO OBTAIN ANTICIPATED BENEFITS TM -19 Dr. Chen,Managing IT Reos. Thru Strategic Partnerships; A Portoflio Approach to IT Development

20. Metrics • Metrics are combined measures and variables that quantify a goal. • Metric values are the numerical values for metrics. • Time horizon is the period allowed for achieving the goal or objective.

21. Project Measurement • Some metrics used for IS projects are the same as those used for all business projects: on-time, on-budget, and met specifications • Projects are measured against budgets of cost, schedules of deliverables, and the amount of functionality in the system scope • However, IT projects are difficult to estimate and most fail to meet their schedules and budgets • Software systems often involve highly interactive, complex sets of tasks that rely on each other to make a completed system and most projects cannot be made more efficient simply by adding labor

22. Typical Project Management trade-offs Scope Product: quality, features, functions Project: work required to deliver product/service Time – the time required to complete the project Cost – all the resources required to carry out the project. Cost vs. Quality The quality of a system will normally impact its cost. Figure 11.2 shows the three sides of the project triangle.

23. Figure 11.2 Project Triangle(Project Management Trade-offs) QUALITY Cost Time Scope The objective of the PM is to define project’s scope realistically and ultimately deliver quality of product/serviceon time, on budget and within scope.

24. Project Manager’s Role The project manager will typically be involved in: Ensuring progress of the project according to defined metrics.. Identifying risks. Ensuring progress toward deliverables within time and resource constraints. Running coordination meetings. Negotiating for resources on behalf of the project. Business projects are often initiated because of a successful business case.  A successful project begins with a well-written business case (i.e., spells out components of the project.)

25. PROJECTELEMENTS

26. Essential Components There are four components essential for any project. Necessary to assure a high probability of project success. Common Project Vocabulary: so all team members can communicate effectively (very important as many are new). Teamwork: to ensure all parts of the project come together effectively and correctly (make sure to clearly define the teams objectives). Project cycle plan: method and schedule to execute the project (Gantt charts, CPM, and PERT diagrams). Project management is needed so that it is coordinated and executed appropriately The objective of the PM is to define project’s scope realistically and ultimately deliver quality of product/service on time and within the budget.

27. EXHIBIT: IT Alignment: Team Perspective Effectiveness Alignment Process Effectiveness Outcome Effectiveness • Level of effort brought to bear on the task • Level of knowledge/skill • Appropriateness of task performance strategies Team • Performance • Satisfaction • Group viability/ learning • Context • Environment • Organization Technology Task TM -27 Dr. Chen,Managing IT Reos. Thru Strategic Partnerships; A Portoflio Approach to IT Development

28. Project Cycle Plan The project cycle plan organizes discrete project activities, sequencing them into steps along a time line. Therefore, the project delivers according to the requirements of customers and stakeholders. Identifies critical beginning and ending dates and breaks the work spanning these dates into phases The three most common approaches (and software tools) are: Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) (Figure 11.3): multiple (probabilistic) task time estimates Critical Path Method (CPM): deterministic task times. Gantt chart: displaying time relationships of project tasks and monitoring the progress toward project completion (Figure 11.4) Figure 11.5 provides detail on the project cycle template.

29. Figure 11.3 PERT chart Shows dependencies between tasks

30. 1 0 3 3 0 3 CPM - Node Configuration Activity number Earliest start Earliest finish Latest finish Activity duration Latest start

31. 1 4 2 5 3 0 5 5 3 3 3 8 5 6 4 Start 2 1 3 3 1 3 5 6 0 4 5 7 3 5 8 Activity of Latest Startand Finish Times #2, LF = min(LS followings) = min(5,6) = 5 LS = LF-t = 5-2 = 7 #9, LF =9 LS=LF-t=9-1 Lay foundations Build house 7 8 9 1 8 9 Design house and obtain financing Finish work 6 6 7 1 7 8 Select carpet Order and receive materials Select pain

32. 1 4 2 5 3 0 5 5 3 3 3 8 5 6 4 Start 2 1 3 3 1 3 5 6 0 4 5 7 3 5 8 Activity of Latest Startand Finish Times #2, LF = min(LS followings) = min(5,6) = 5 LS = LF-t = 5-2 = 7 #9, LF =9 LS=LF-t=9-1 Lay foundations Build house 7 8 9 1 8 9 Design house and obtain financing Finish work 6 6 7 1 7 8 Select carpet Order and receive materials Select pain

33. Milestone Figure 11.4Gantt Chart critical vs. non-critical Shows time estimates of tasks

34. Project Milestone • A milestone represents an event or condition that marks the completion of a group of related tasks or the completion of a phase of the project. • It is an interim goal or checkpoint in the project. It is like a task with duration of zero. • Purpose: Milestones help us organize tasks into logical groups or sequences. They also help us note the progress of the project.

35. Figure 11.5 Project cycle template

36. Elements of Project Management The following elements can be considered as managerial skills that influence a project’s chance for success. Identification of requirements Organizational integration Team management Risk and Opportunity management Project control Project visibility Project status Corrective action Project leadership See figure 11.6 in the text for a description of each element Figure 11.7 reflects the inverse relationship between the players of a project.

37. Figure 11.7 Project leadership vs. project management process More leadership Needed Less leadership Needed Project Leadership Project Management Process No PM process Team is new to PM process Team does not value process PM process exists Team is fully trained in process Team values process

38. IT Projects and its Development Methodology

39. IT Projects • IT projects are a specific type of business project involving significant amount of technology. • IT projects are difficult to estimate. • Many projects are measured in “man-months”. • How many people will be required to complete the project in a specified time period. • Additional people may speed up the process (but may not). • “Man-months” is a “poor” metric for IT PM as some projects can’t be sped up with additional people.

40. Business versus System functionality • Metrics for functionality are typically divided along lines of business functionality and system functionality • The first set of measures are those derived specifically from the requirements and business needs that generated the project • Whether the system meets expectations • The second are related to the system itself such as how well the individual using the system can and does use it, orsystem reliability • e.g., usability and reliability

41. IT PROJECT DEVELOPMENTMETHODOLOGIES

42. Project Development Methodologies The choice of development methodologies and managerial influences distinguish IT projects from other projects. There are four main methodologies IT professionals use to manage the technology projects: Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Prototyping Rapid applications development (RAD) Joint applications development (JAD)

43. Systems Development Life Cycle SDLC typically consists of seven phases Initiation of the project The requirements definition phase The functional design phase The system is actually built Verification phase The “cut over” where the new system is put in operation and all links are established. Possible conversion methods Parallel Direct Phased in/out pilot The maintenance and review phase See Figure 11.8 for more information on each step. Which one is the best approach?

44. Systems Development Life Cycle:Another View Project Identification and Selection Project Initiation and Planning Analysis Logical Design Physical Design Implementation Maintenance

45. Limitations of SDLC Traditional SDLC methodology for current IT projects are not always appropriate: Many systems projects fail to meet objectives because of the difficulty in estimating costs and each project is often so unique that previous experience may not provide the necessary skills Objectives may reflect a scope that is too broad or two narrow so that the problem the system was designed to solve may still exist, or the opportunity that it was to capitalize upon may not be appropriately leveraged. If the business environment is very dynamic, there may not be enough time to adequately do each step of the SDLC for each IT project

46. Prototyping SDLC may not work for all situations, requires a lot of planning and is difficult to implement quickly. Prototyping is a type of evolutionary development. Builds a fast, high-level version of the system at the beginning of the project. Advantages include: User involvement and comment early on and throughout the development process. Disadvantages include: Documentation may be difficult to write. Users may not understand the realistic scope of the system.

47. Prototyping • Prototpying is one of the most popular rapid application development (RAD) methods. • It is an iterative process of system development in which requirements are converted to a working system that is continually revised through close work between analysts and users. A prototyping is a small, but working system that contains only those important (not complete) features.

48. Figure 11.9 Iterative approach to systems development System Concept Version “1” Version “2” Version “N” Software Development Process

49. The prototyping methodology

50. RAD RAD (Rapid Application Development) is similar to the SDLC but it substantially reduces the time through reduction in steps (4 instead of 7). RAD, like prototyping, uses iterative development tools to speed up development: GUI, reusable code, code generation, and programming, language testing and debugging Goal is to build the system in a much short time frame than normal. Drawbacks: basic principles of software development are overlooked in race to finish the project requirements are frozen too early due to speedy process