Chapter Three

Creating the Software Scope

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 Chapter Objectives
• After completion of this chapter, you have to
be able to:-
– Analyze stakeholder needs
– Create the software scope
– Manage software requirements
– Dealing with project constraints
– Creating the work breakdown structure

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 Understanding Product Scope
and Project Scope
• The product scope is the summation of the attributes and
features that will comprise the product you’re creating for your
customer.
• When the stakeholders are in agreement on the product scope,
then you can focus on creating the software project scope.
• The difference between the two is that, the product scope
describes the end result of the project-the things the
customer sees.
• The project scope describes the work that must be completed
in order to complete the project-the things the project
manager focuses on.

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 …contd’
• The best way to determine the product scope is to
analyze the concrete (and sometimes hidden)
needs and expectations of the stakeholders.
• The following sections help you in this process.
– Completing stakeholder analysis
– Interviewing stakeholders now, to avoid surprises
later
– Managing Stakeholder Objectives

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 Building the Software Scope
• When you and the stakeholders have a clear vision of
where the project’s going, you need a clearly defined set of
requirements.
• Early on the project, you and the key stakeholders define
what must be in the project and what would be nice to
have in software.
• Requirements are the things your software must create in
order for the customer to accept the project deliverable
• A deliverable is a product produced as part of a project,
such as hardware or software, planning documents, or
meeting minutes.
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 …contd’
• The software project scope is created based on the
product scope.
• But not everything is really a requirement, some
facets of your software may be optional
• It’s a great idea to identify, or at least prioritize, the
things your project will create.
• Because the beginning of a project, stakeholders may
believe that nothing is optional. They’ll want every
feature, every button, and every concept they’ve
dreamed up.
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 …contd’
• Discuss the feasibility of their wishes, cost of the
plans, and realistic timetable to deliver everything
stakeholders want with your experts.
• After discussions with concerned bodies, you and the
main stakeholder need a requirements document that
identifies everything the project promises to create
and you and the customer should sign off on this
document .

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 Project scope management
• Project scope management includes the
processes involved in defining and controlling
what is or is not included in a project.

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Project Scope Management Processes

1. Scope initiation
• Is the process of formally recognizing the existence
of project within the organization.
• A project is started because a need is identified
within the organization.
• An organization need can be triggered by problems,
opportunities or business requirements includes:
market demand, business need, customer request,
technological advance, legal requirement and social needs.

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2. Scope planning
• Scope planning is the process of progressively elaborating
and documenting the project work(project scope) that
produces the product of the project.
• Scope statement is a document used to develop and confirm
a common understanding of the project.
Knowing what the project scope statement must include
– Deliverables. The project scope defines what the project will
create for the project customer. Think of things in the software
package, the screen interface, the software compatibility, and so
on.
– Assumptions. Every project scope must list the assumptions that
went into its creation. For example, you assume that the software
can be developed in C++.

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• Exclusions. These are things that won’t be included in the
project scope. For example, your project will create the
software for the customer, but your project will not actually
deploy the software to the 10,000 users on the company
network.
• Functions. Your project scope must define what the software
will do. In your scope you should document the functionality
of the software.
• Technical structure. Your project scope must illustrate the
flow of data, the subsystems the software may interact with,
and the dependencies of the software (such as Internet,
network, .asp, and operating system).
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3. Scope definition
• Scope definition involves subdividing the major project
deliverables into smaller more manageable components to:
– Improve accuracy of cost, duration, and resource estimate
– Define a baseline for performance measurement and control
– Facilitate clear responsibility assignment
• When there is poor scope definition, the final project costs
be expected to be higher because of inevitable changes
which disrupt project rhythm, cause rework, increase
project time and lower the productivity and moral of the
work force.
• During this phase you develop a work breakdown
structure
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• A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a visual representation
of everything the project will create.
• A WBS includes things (deliverables, components, and so on),
not activities
• Decomposition is subdividing project deliverables into
smaller pieces
• A work package is a task at the lowest level of the WBS
• The purpose of developing WBS is to:
– Allow easier management of each components
– Allow accurate estimation of time, cost, and resource requirements
– Allow easier assignment of resources.
– Allow easier assignment of responsibility for work packages.

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 Cont…
• When developing the work breakdown structure there
are several steps to be accomplished. These are:
– Divide the total work in to major group
– Subdivide these groups in to subtasks
– Divide these tasks in to subtasks

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4. Scope Verification
• Scope verification involves formal acceptance of the
completed project scope by the stakeholders.
• Acceptance is often achieved by a customer inspection
and then sign-off on key deliverables.
• Includes activities such as measuring, examining and
testing project deliverables.
• The project deliverables must conform to the
requirements in terms of specifications and quantities.
• Formal acceptance of the deliverables is the objective.

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 Cont…
• Scope verification is time-consuming and
expensive.
• It is preferable to do it once for each project
deliverable
• Achieved by making sure that your project
team understand and complies with the agreed
upon acceptance procedure and that all
acceptance documentation is signed by
designated stakeholders.
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5. Scope Control
• Scope control involves controlling changes to the project
scope
• Goals of scope control are to:
– Influence the factors that cause scope changes.
– Ensure changes are processed according to procedures developed as
part of integrated change control.
– Manage changes when they occur.
• Variance is the difference between planned and actual
performance
• When projects go over budget or miss milestones, the cause can
often be traced back to the scope management phase
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Best practices for avoiding scope problem

1. Keep the scope realistic:

– Don’t make projects so large that they can’t be
completed; break large projects down into a series
of smaller ones
2. Involve users in project scope management:
– Assign key users to the project team and give
them ownership of requirements definition and
scope verification

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3. Use off-the-shelf hardware and software whenever
possible
– Many project people enjoy using the latest and greatest
technology, but business needs, not technology trends,
must take priority
4. Follow good project management processes
• As described in this chapter and others, there are well-
defined processes for managing project scope and others
aspects of projects

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 The End!

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