Systems Analysis

and Design

Lecture 2
Managing the Information
Systems Project
Learning Objectives
 Explain the process of managing an information systems
project.
 Describe the skills required to be an effective project
manager.
 List and describe the skills and activities of a project
manager during project initiation, project execution, and
project closedown.

Chapter 3 2
Learning Objectives (Cont.)
 Explain what is meant by critical path scheduling and
describe the process of creating Gantt charts and
Network diagrams.
 Explain how commercial project management software
packages can be used to assist in representing and
managing project schedules.

Chapter 3 3
Pine Valley Furniture (PVF)
 Manufactures high-quality wood furniture
 Its product lines include dinette sets, stereo cabinets, wall
units, living room furniture, and bedroom furniture.
 Distributes to retail stores within the U.S.
 Started in the early 1980s and expanded by 1984 doubling
sales volume
 By 1990, Pine Valley Furniture had become a complex
company, employing over 50 persons

Chapter 3 4
Pine Valley Furniture (Cont.)
 Due to the added complexity of the company’s operations.
Company organized into functional areas:
 Manufacturing
 Sales
 Orders
 Accounting
 Purchasing
 Established manual information systems, manual information
systems, such as accounting ledgers and file folders, which
worked well for a time

Chapter 3 5
Pine Valley Furniture (Cont.)
 PVF installed a network server to automate invoicing,
accounts receivable, and inventory control applications.

Chapter 3 6
Pine Valley Furniture (Cont.)
 In the late 1990s, PVF upgraded the network
server and implemented a centralized database
management system.
 Today, PVF has successfully deployed an
integrated, company-wide database and has
converted its applications to work with the
database.

Chapter 3 7
Pine Valley Furniture (Cont.)
 PVF decided to develop its application software
in-house.
 PVF hired staff and bought computer software
and hardware.
 The new information system will take into
account market conditions, the Internet, and
WWW.
 The Project Manager plays the key role in
developing the new information system.
Chapter 3 8
 Managing the
Information Systems Project
 A Project Manager is a systems analyst with a diverse set of skills
– management, leadership, technical, conflict management, and
customer relationship – who is responsible for initiating, planning,
executing, and closing down a project.

 Juanita Lopez and Chris Martin are the project managers for Pine
Valley Furniture.

 The focus of project management is to ensure that systems

development projects meet customer expectations and are
delivered within budget and time constraints.

Chapter 3 9
Managing the Information Systems
Project (Cont.)
 Project – a planned undertaking of related activities to
reach an objective that has a beginning and an end

 Deliverable – an end product of an SDLC phase

Chapter 3 10
Managing the Information Systems
Project (Cont.)
 System Service Request (SSR) – a standard
form uses for requesting systems development work.

 The form includes the name and contact information of

the person requesting the system, a statement of the
problem, and the name and contact information of the
liaison and sponsor.

Chapter 3 11
Managing the Information Systems
Project (Cont.)
FIGURE 3-2
System Service Request
for Purchasing
Fulfillment System with
name and contact
information of the
person requesting the
system, a statement of
the problem, and
the name and contact
information of the
liaison and sponsor

Chapter 3 12
Managing the Information Systems
Project (Cont.)
 Project management: a controlled process of
initiating, planning, executing, and closing down
a project.
 Project Management Process
 Initiating
the Process.
 Planning the Project.
 Project Scheduling
 Executing the Project.
 Closing down the Project.

Chapter 3 13
Initiating a Project

 Project initiation – the first phase of the

project management process in which activities
are performed to assess the size, scope, and
complexity of the project and to establish
procedures to support later project activities

Chapter 3 14
Initiating a Project (Cont.)
 The process of project initiation includes, establishing
and developing:
 An initiation team
 Organize an initial core of project team members to assist in
accomplishing project initiation

 A relationship with the customer

 A thorough understanding of your customer builds stronger
partnerships and higher levels of trust

 A project initiation plan

 Define activities required to organize team

Chapter 3 15
Initiating a Project (Cont.)
 Management procedures
 Successful projects require the development of effective
management procedures.
 Develop team communication and reporting procedures

 A project management environment

 Collect and organize tools that will be used to manage project.
 Diagrams, charts, and system descriptions provide much of the
project workbook contents

Chapter 3 16
Initiating a Project (Cont.)
 A project charter
 The project charter is a short (typically one page),
high-level document prepared for the customer that
describes what the project will deliver and outlines many
of the key elements of the project

 The project charter ensures that both you and your

customer gain a common understanding of the project

Chapter 3 17
Initiating a Project (Cont.):
Project charter

Chapter 3 18
Planning the Project

 Project planning – the second phase of the

project management process that focuses on
defining clear, discrete activities and the work
needed to complete each activity within a single
project
 It often requires you to make numerous
assumptions about the availability of resources
such as hardware, software, and personnel

Chapter 3 19
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 you must divide the entire project into manageable
tasks and then logically order them to ensure a
smooth evolution between tasks.
 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – the process of
dividing the project into manageable tasks and logically
ordering them
 Gantt chart – a graphical representation of a project that
shows each task as a horizontal bar whose length is
proportional to its time for completion

Chapter 3 20
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 The characteristics of a task:
 Can be done by one person or a well-defined group
 Has a single and identifiable deliverable
 Has a known method or technique
 Has well-accepted predecessor and successor steps
 Is measurable so that percent completed can be determined

Chapter 3 21
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Divides the project into its various
subcomponents and defines hierarchical
levels of detail

Level
1 Project
2 Major tasks in project
3 Subtasks in major tasks
4 Activities to be completed
Example Work Breakdown
Structure
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Gantt chart

Chapter 3 24
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Develop a preliminary schedule:
 During this activity, you use the information on tasks and resource availability to assign
time estimates to each activity in the work breakdown structure.
 These time estimates will enable you to create target starting and ending dates for the
project.

 Network diagram – is a graphical depicts project tasks and their interrelationships

Chapter 3 25
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Develop a communication plan:
 The goal of this activity is to outline the communication
procedures among management, project team members,
and the customer.
 The communication plan includes:
 when and how written and oral reports will be provided by the team
 how team members will coordinate work
 what kinds of information will be shared with vendors and external
contractors involved with the project.

Chapter 3 26
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Determine project standards and procedures:
 During this activity, you will specify how various
deliverables are produced and tested by you and your
project team.
 For example, the team must decide which tools to
use, how the standard SDLC might be modified,
which SDLC methods will be used, documentation
styles (e.g., type fonts and margins for user manuals).

Chapter 3 27
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Identify and assess risk:
 The goal of this activity is to identify sources of project
risk and to estimate the consequences of those risks.
 Risks might arise from the use of new technology,
prospective users’ resistance to change, availability of
critical resources, competitive reactions or changes in
regulatory actions due to the construction of a system,
or team member inexperience with technology or the
business area

Chapter 3 28
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Estimate resources and create a resource plan:
The goal of this activity is to estimate resource requirements for each
project activity and to use this information to create a project
resource plan.
 Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO) – a widely used method
which uses parameters that are derived from prior projects of
differing complexity

Chapter 3 29
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO)
 It was developed in 1980s by Barry Boehm
 One of the most widely algorithmic model for efforts
estimation
 It predicts development effort based on the size and cost
drivers (metrics)
 Metrics are related to product , computer , personal and
project attributes

Chapter 3 30
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO)
 Organic
 Small and simple software

 Semidetached
 Intermediate software in terms of size and complexity

 Embedded
 Very complex and large projects

MM is the effort of one Man in one Month

Chapter 3 31
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Create a preliminary budget:
 During this phase, you need to create a preliminary
budget that outlines the planned expenses and
revenues associated with your project.

Chapter 3 32
Planning the Project (Cont.)
 Setting a Baseline Project Plan (BPP):
 Provides an estimate of the project’s tasks and
resource requirements and is used to guide the next
project phase .

Chapter 3 33
Project Scheduling

Commonly used techniques:

 Critical Path Method (CPM)

 Program Evaluation and Review
Technique (PERT)
Project Scheduling
 A network diagram is one of the most widely used and
best-known scheduling methods.
 Networking diagramming is a critical path scheduling
technique and used when tasks:
 Are well-defined and have a clear beginning and end point.
 Can be worked on independently of other tasks.
 Are ordered.
 Serve the purpose of the project.

Chapter 3 35
Project Scheduling (Cont.)
 Network diagrams are composed of circles or
rectangles representing activities and
connecting arrows showing required work flows,
as illustrated in Figure 3-20.

Chapter 3 36
 Project Management Example:
General Foundry Inc.
 Have 16 weeks to install a complex air
filter system on its smokestack
 May be forced to close if not completed
w/in 16 weeks due to environmental
regulations
 Have identified 8 activities
Network diagrams for General
Foundry
Activity Time Estimates
Critical Path Method (CPM)

Need to find the following for each activity:

 Earliest Start Time (EST)

 Earliest Finish Time (EFT)
 Latest start time (LST)
 Latest Finish Time (LFT)
 Forward Pass
 Identifies earliest times (EST and EFT)
 EST Rule: All immediate predecessors
must be done before an activity can begin
 If only 1 immediate predecessor, then
EST = EFT of predecessor
 If >1 immediate predecessors, then
EST = Max {all predecessor EFT’s}
 EFT Rule:
EFT = EST + activity time

Node Notation:
Forward Pass: Earliest Start and Finish
Times
Backward Pass
 Identifies latest times (LST an LFT)
 LFT Rule:
If activity is the immediate predecessor
to only 1 activity, then
LFT = LST of immediate follower
If activity is the immediate predeccor to
multiple activities, then
LFT = Min {LST of all imm. followers}
 LST Rule:
LST = LFT – activity time
Backward Pass: Latest Start and Finish Times
Slack Time and Critical Path(s)
 Slack is the length of time an activity can
be delayed without delaying the project
Slack = LST – EST
 Activities with 0 slack are Critical Activities
 The Critical Path is a continuous path
through the network from start to finish that
include only critical activities
Project Schedule and Slack Times
Critical Path and Slack Times
Calculating Expected Time
Durations using PERT
 PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique) – a
technique that uses optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic
time estimates to calculate the expected time for a
particular task.

Chapter 3 51
PERT Analysis
 Uses 3 time estimates for each activity
Optimistic time (o)
Pessimistic time (p)
realistic completion time (r)

 These estimates are used to calculate an

expected value and variance for each
activity (based on the Beta distribution)
Calculating Expected Time
Durations using PERT (Cont.)
 Formula for Estimated Time:
 ET = (o + 4r + p)/6

 Where
 ET = expected time for the completion of an activity.
o = optimistic completion time for an activity.
r = realistic completion time for an activity.
p = pessimistic completion time for an activity.
Chapter 3 53
Calculating Expected Time
Durations using PERT (Cont.)
activity predecessors duration
O R P
A - 5 6 7
B - 1 3 5
C - 1 4 7
D A 1 2 3
E B 1 2 9
F C 1 5 9
G C 2 2 8
H E,F 4 4 10
I D 2 5 8
J H,G 2 2 8

 Draw the network diagram

 Find the Expected time (ET) for each activity
 Determine the critical path(s)
Chapter 3 54
Executing the Project

 Project execution – the third phase of the

project management process in which the plans
created in the prior phases (project initiation and
planning) are put into action

 project execution occurs primarily during the

analysis, design, and implementation phases

Chapter 3 55
Closing Down the Project

 Project Closedown – the final phase of the

project management process that focuses on
bringing a project to an end
 Closing down the project
 Conducting postproject reviews
 Closing the customer contract

Chapter 3 56
Using Project Management
Software
 Many powerful software tools exist for assisting
with project management.
 Special-purpose project management software
is also available.
 For example, Microsoft Project can help with
 Establishing a project starting or ending date.
 Entering tasks and assigning task relationships.
 Selecting a scheduling method to review project
reports.
Chapter 3 57
Using Project Management
Software (Cont.)
 Microsoft Project Gantt Charts:
 Black line at top indicates a summary activity
(composed of subtasks).
 Diamond shape indicates a milestone.
 Microsoft Project Network Diagrams:
 Hexagon shape indicates a milestone.
 Red boxes and arrows indicate critical path (no slack).

Chapter 3 58
Summary
 In this chapter you learned how to:
 Explain the process of managing an information
systems project.
 Describe the skills required to be an effective project
manager.
 List and describe the skills and activities of a project
manager during project initiation, project execution,
and project closedown.

Chapter 3 59
Summary (Cont.)
 Explain what is meant by critical path scheduling and
describe the process of creating Gantt charts and
Network diagrams.
 Explain how commercial project management
software packages can be used to assist in
representing and managing project schedules.

Chapter 3 60