Step Wise:

An
approach to planning software
projects

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 ‘Step Wise’ - an overview
0.Select
1. Identify project 2. Identify project
project objectives infrastructure

3. Analyse
project
characteristics
Review
4. Identify products
and activities

5. Estimate effort
Lower for activity
For each
level
6. Identify activity activity
detail
risks
10. Lower level
7. Allocate
planning
resources

8. Review/ publicize
9. Execute plan plan
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 Step 0:Select Project
• It is called 0 step
– It is outside main project planning process
• Here we do feasibility study
• Priority of projects
• Merits of project

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Step:1-Project scope and objectives

 1.1 Identify objectives and measures of effectiveness in

meeting those objectives

 1.2 Establish a project authority

◦ ‘who is the boss?’
◦ Project steering committee
◦ Setting, monitoring and modifying objective

 1.3 Identify all stakeholders in the project and their

interests
◦ ‘who will be affected/involved in the project?’
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 Step:1-Cont…
• 1.4 Modify objectives in the light of stakeholder
analysis
– ‘do we need to do things to win over stakeholders?’
– Add new features for stakeholder’s benefit
• Drawback is size(work and finance) may increase

• 1.5 Establish methods of communication with

all parties
– ‘how do we keep in contact?’

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 Step:1-Cont…
• Project Scope
• Identify the objectives
• Defining goals

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 Step:2- Establish project infrastructure

• Projects are rarely carried in vacuum

• 2.1 Establish link between project and any
strategic plan
– Identify projects to be carried out
– Order of projects
– Identify and prioritize the projects
– Establish framework for project
– ‘why did they want the project?’
– What h/w and s/w part needed

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 Tentative Priority steps
• The selection process—must select
• Proposals screening
• The priority Team
• Selection criteria
• Assessing results

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Understand the risk

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 Step:2-Cont…
• 2.2 Identify installation standards and
procedures
– What are the development procedures?
– ‘What standards do we have to follow?’
– Change control and management
• Changes to requirements are implemented in safe and
orderly manner.
– Quality standards
• Establish quality checks at each phase of SDLC.

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 Change control
• Change control is a systematic approach
to managing all changes made to a product or
system. The purpose is to ensure that no
unnecessary changes are made, that
all changes are documented, that services are
not unnecessarily disrupted and that
resources are used efficiently

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 Step:2-Cont…

• 2.3. Identify project team organization

– Identify your requirement of team
– Choose best people
– ‘where do I fit in?’
– Divide the activities
– Create groups
– There should be a project leader
– Restrict some groups to be combined
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Step:3-Analysis of project characteristics

• 3.1 Distinguish the project as either objective

or product-based
– Object v/s Product
– Project can be distinguished by their aim whether
it is to produce a product or to meet certain
objective.
– Is there more than one way of achieving success?
– Mostly in earlier stage projects are objective and
in later stage it become product driven

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 Step:3-Cont…

• 3.2 Analyze other project characteristics

(including quality based ones)
– what is different about this project?
– Whether it is a information system or embedded
system?
• Stock control system-Info. Sys.
• AC equipment- Embedded system
– What are the critical issues?
– Malfunctioning threatened human life?
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 Step:3-Cont…
• 3.3 Identify high level project risks
– ‘what could go wrong?’
– ‘what can we do to stop it?’
• 3.4 Take into account user requirements
concerning implementation
– For example customer want the product in java
• 3.5 Select development methodology and life
cycle approach
– waterfall? Increments? Prototypes?
– Generally Company use the same method or SDLC as
they were using in past
– It also depends on project need. 17
 Step:3-Cont…
• 3.6 Review overall resource estimates
– When it is clear that what are the risks and what
approach we are going to use
• Its good to re-estimate efforts and resources.
– Does all this increase the cost?’

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STEP:4-IDENTIFY PROJECT PRODUCTS AND
ACTIVITIES

Now more detailed planning activity take place

4.1 Identify and describe project products
- what do we have to produce? A product breakdown structure
Project
products (PBS)

System Module Management

Products Products Products

Module Module Progress

Overall Integrated Design Doc code Reports
Specification Test Cases
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 Products

• The result of an activity

• Could be-
– physical thing
• installed pc
– a document
• logical data structure
– a person
• trained user
– a new version of an old product
• updated software
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 Products
• The following are NOT normally products:
– activities
• training
– events
• interviews completed
– resources and actors
• software developer

• Products CAN BE deliverable or

intermediate

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 Product description (PD)
• Product identity • Relevant standards
• Description • Quality criteria
• Derivation
• Composition
• Format

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 4.2 Document Generic product
flows
Test Plan

Select Design Design Quality

Modules Questionnaire Parameters

Completed Test results

Fig: Product Flow questionnaire
Diagram (PFD)

Analysis report

Change
requests 23
 Step 4.3 Recognize product instances

• The PBS(Product Breakdown Structure )and

PFD(process flow diagram) 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
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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

• Draw up activity network

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 Step 5:Estimate effort for each activity

• 5.1 Carry out bottom-up estimates

– In Step3.6 we have done top-down estimation
– Top down v/s Bottom-Up
– distinguish carefully between effort and
elapsed time
– Effort is amount of work that needs to be done
– Calculate effort:
– Elapsed time is the time between start and the
end of the task
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 Step 5:Estimate effort for each activity
• 5.2. Revise plan to create controllable
activities
– It is very difficult to judge the progress of a Long
activity
– With long activity it is difficult to monitor and
control the activity.
– break up very long activities into a series of
smaller ones
– bundle up very short activities (create check lists?)

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 Step 6: Identify activity risks
• 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

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• 6.3 Adjust overall plans and estimates to
take account of risks
– Adjust the plans according to the risk involved
with it.
– e.g. add new activities which reduce risks
associated with other activities e.g. training,
pilot trials, information gathering

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 Step 7: Allocate resources
• 7.1 Identify and allocate resources to activities
– Type of staff needed
– Numbers
– Staff availability
• 7.2 Revise plans and estimates to take into
account resource constraints
– Some staff may be needed for more than one task
at same time so priority should be given to the
critical activity
– e.g. staff not being available until a later date
– Non-project activities
– O/P of this step is Gantt chart 30
Week Gantt charts
APRIL
commencing MARCH
5 12 19 26 2 9 16

Plan testing

Select subjects

Design
questionnaire
Design Quality
Parameters

Conduct tests

Analyze results

Draft changes

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 Step 8: Review/publicise plan

• 8.1 Review quality aspects of project plan

– When task is reported complete it is important
to review its quality
– There should be some quality criteria
• 8.2 Document plan and obtain agreement

Step 9 and 10: Execute plan

and create lower level plans
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Thank You

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