Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

Chapter-1
Overview of Software Project Management
What is Project?
A project is a group of tasks that need to complete to reach a clear result. A project
also defines as a set of inputs and outputs which are required to achieve a goal.
Projects can vary from simple to difficult and can be operated by one person or a
hundred.
Projects usually described and approved by a project manager or team executive. They
go beyond their expectations and objects, and it is up to the team to handle logistics
and complete the project on time. For good project development, some teams split the
project into specific tasks so they can manage responsibility and utilize team
strengths.

What is software project management?

Software project management is an art and discipline of planning and supervising
software projects. It is a sub-discipline of software project management in which
software projects planned, implemented, monitored, and controlled.
It is a procedure of managing, allocating and timing resources to develop computer
software that fulfills requirements.
In software Project Management, the client and the developers need to know the
length, period, and cost of the project.

Prerequisite of software project management

There are three needs for software project management. These are:
1. Time

2. Cost
3. Quality
It is an essential part of the software organization to deliver a quality product, keeping
the cost within the client’s budget and deliver the project as per schedule. There are
various factors, both external and internal, which may impact this triple factor. Any of
three-factor can severely affect the other two.
Project Manager
A project manager is a character who has the overall responsibility for the planning,
design, execution, monitoring, controlling and closure of a project. A project manager
represents an essential role in the achievement of the projects.
A project manager is a character who is responsible for giving decisions, both large
and small projects. The project manager is used to manage the risk and minimize

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 1

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

uncertainty. Every decision the project manager makes must directly profit their
project.
Role of a Project Manager:
1. Leader:
A project manager must lead his team and should provide them direction to make
them understand what is expected from all of them.

2. Medium:
The Project manager is a medium between his clients and his team. He must
coordinate and transfer all the appropriate information from the clients to his team
and report to the senior management.
3. Mentor:
He should be there to guide his team at each step and make sure that the team has an
attachment. He provides a recommendation to his team and points them in the right
direction.
Responsibilities of a Project Manager:
1. Managing risks and issues.
2. Create the project team and assigns tasks to several team members.
3. Activity planning and sequencing.
4. Monitoring and reporting progress.
5. Modifies the project plan to deal with the situation.

Project management Fundamentals

• Projects are unique.
• Projects are temporary in nature and have a definite beginning and end date.
• Projects are completed when the project goals are achieved, or it is determined
the project is no longer viable.
• A successful project is one that meets or exceeds the expectations of your
stakeholders.
How Unique?

• Product characteristics are progressively elaborated.

• The product or service is different in some way from other product or services.

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 2

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

How Temporary?
• It has a definite beginning and end.
• It ceases when objective has been attained.

• The team is disbanded upon project completion.

What is Project Management?

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to
project activities to meet project requirements.
Project management is accomplished using the processes such as −

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitor and Controlling
• Closing
Project managers or the organization can divide projects into above phases to provide
better management control with appropriate links to the ongoing operations of the
performing organization. Collectively, these phases are known as the project life cycle.

Project managers deliver projects while balancing the following constraints −

• Scope
• Schedule
• Quality

• Resources
• Customer Satisfaction
• Risk
These all are so intertwined that a change in one will most often cause a change in at
least one of the others
For example −
• If time is extended, the cost of the project will increase.
• If time extended with the same cost, then quality of the product will reduce.
• If scope is extended, then cost and time will also extend.

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 3

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

Changes to any of these legs sets off a series of activities that are needed to integrate
the change across the project.

What is Program Management?

A program consists of a group of related projects and Program management is the
process of managing multiple ongoing projects. An example would be that of
designing, manufacturing, and providing support infrastructure for an automobile
market.
Program management involves centrally managing and coordinating groups of related
projects to meet the objectives of the program.
In some cases, Project Management is a subset of Program Management. The project
manager may report to the program manager in such cases. A portfolio consists of
multiple programs.
What is Portfolio Management?

A portfolio is a collection of projects, programs sub portfolios, and operations that are
grouped together to facilitate effective management of that work to meet strategic
business objectives. Organizations manage their portfolios based on specific goals.
Senior managers or senior management teams typically take up the responsibility of
portfolio management for an organization.
Portfolio management encompasses managing the collections of programs and projects
in the portfolio. This includes weighing the value of each project, or potential project,
against the portfolio's strategic objectives.
Portfolio management also concerns monitoring active projects for adherence to
objectives, balancing the portfolio among the other investments of the organization,
and assuring the efficient use of resources.

Why do we need Project Management?

We need project management to manage projects effectively and drive them to success.
Project Management starts with the decision to start a project upon weighing its need

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 4

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

and viability. Once a project starts, it is crucial to watch the project progress at every
step to ensure it delivers what all is required, in the stipulated time, within the
allocated budget. Other drivers influencing the need of project management are −

• Exponential expansion of human knowledge

• Global demand for goods and services
• Global competition

• Team is required to meet the demand with quality and standard.

• Improved control over the project

• Improved performance
• Improved budget and quality
Project Management Skills
Many of the tools and techniques for managing projects are specific to project
management. However, effective project management requires that the project
management team acquire the following three dimensions of project management
competencies −
• Project Management Knowledge Competency − This refers to what the
project management team knows about project management.
• Project Management Performance Competency − This refers to what the
project management team can do or accomplish while applying their project
management knowledge.
• Personal Competency − This refers to how the project management team
behaves when performing the project or activity.
Interpersonal Skills Management
The management of interpersonal relationships includes −
• Effective communication − The exchange of information
• Influencing the organization − The ability to "get things done"
• Leadership − Developing a vision and strategy, and motivating people to achieve
that vision and strategy
• Motivation − Energizing people to achieve high levels of performance and to
overcome barriers to change
• Negotiation and conflict management − Conferring with others to come to terms
with them or to reach an agreement
• Decision Making − Ability to take decision independently.

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 5

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

• Political and cultural awareness − Important to handle various personal and

professional issues.
• Team Building − Ability to create a productive team.

What is PMBOK Guide?

PMBOK Guide is the bible for Project Management. PMBOK stands for Project
Management Body of Knowledge. There are ten knowledge areas defined in PMBOK
Guide, which are as follows −

• Project Integration Management

• Project Scope Management
• Project Cost Management
• Project Time Management
• Project Risk Management
• Project Quality Management
• Project HR Management
• Project Communication Management
• Project Procurement Management

• Project Stakeholder Management

Each Knowledge area has certain processes. There are a total of 47 processes in
PMBOK. Each process has following three important parts.
• Inputs

• Tools & Techniques

• Outputs
The PMBOK covers each of the 10 knowledge areas and 47 processes with their
inputs, outputs, and tools & techniques.

Software project management Activities

Software Project Management consists of many activities, that includes planning of the
project, deciding the scope of product, estimation of cost in different terms, scheduling
of tasks, etc.

The list of activities are as follows:

1. Project planning and Tracking

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 6

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

2. Project Resource Management

3. Scope Management
4. Estimation Management

5. Project Risk Management

6. Scheduling Management

7. Project Communication Management

8. Configuration Management
Now we will discuss all these activities -
1. Project Planning: It is a set of multiple processes, or we can say that it a task that
performed before the construction of the product starts.
2. Scope Management: It describes the scope of the project. Scope management is
important because it clearly defines what would do and what would not. Scope
Management create the project to contain restricted and quantitative tasks, which
may merely be documented and successively avoids price and time overrun.
3. Estimation management: This is not only about cost estimation because whenever
we start to develop software, but we also figure out their size(line of code), efforts, time
as well as cost.
If we talk about the size, then Line of code depends upon user or software
requirement.
If we talk about effort, we should know about the size of the software, because based
on the size we can quickly estimate how big team required to produce the software.
If we talk about time, when size and efforts are estimated, the time required to develop
the software can easily determine.
And if we talk about cost, it includes all the elements such as:
o Size of software
o Quality

o Hardware
o Communication

o Training

o Additional Software and tools

o Skilled manpower

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 7

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

4. Scheduling Management: Scheduling Management in software refers to all the

activities to complete in the specified order and within time slotted to each activity.
Project managers define multiple tasks and arrange them keeping various factors in
mind.
For scheduling, it is compulsory -

o Find out multiple tasks and correlate them.

o Divide time into units.
o Assign the respective number of work-units for every job.

o Calculate the total time from start to finish.

o Break down the project into modules.
5. Project Resource Management: In software Development, all the elements are
referred to as resources for the project. It can be a human resource, productive tools,
and libraries.

Resource management includes:

o Create a project team and assign responsibilities to every team member
o Developing a resource plan is derived from the project plan.
o Adjustment of resources.
6. Project Risk Management: Risk management consists of all the activities like
identification, analyzing and preparing the plan for predictable and unpredictable risk
in the project.
Several points show the risks in the project:

o The Experienced team leaves the project, and the new team joins it.
o Changes in requirement.
o Change in technologies and the environment.
o Market competition.
7. Project Communication Management: Communication is an essential factor in
the success of the project. It is a bridge between client, organization, team members
and as well as other stakeholders of the project such as hardware suppliers.
From the planning to closure, communication plays a vital role. In all the phases,
communication must be clear and understood. Miscommunication can create a big
blunder in the project.
8. Project Configuration Management: Configuration management is about to
control the changes in software like requirements, design, and development of the
product.

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 8

Chapter-1//Overview of Software Project Management

The Primary goal is to increase productivity with fewer errors.

Some reasons show the need for configuration management:
o Several people work on software that is continually update.

o Help to build coordination among suppliers.

o Changes in requirement, budget, schedule need to accommodate.

o Software should run on multiple systems.

People involved in Configuration Management:

DR. GANGONE SWAPNA 9