Project planing

Question 1

Software custom built in house

Answer 1

Developers and users belong to the same organisation

Question 2

Software can also be outsourced

Answer 2

Purchased from a different organisation than the one using it.

Question 3

ERP system

Answer 3

System that is customisable to each organisation

Question 4

Advantages of off the shelf

Answer 4

• Cheaper as supplier can spread cost of large number of customers
  -Software already exists:
  -trialed already
  
  • No delay in implementation
    Many users so defects and bugs are more commonly found and erradicated

Question 5

Disadvantages of off the shelf

Answer 5

-Customers will have the same application, allowing no competitive advantage
- Customer may needto change the way they work in order to fit the application
- customer does not own code and cannnot change or personalise
- danger of over reliance, risk if they stop supporting the project.

Question 6

Structured Approach

Answer 6

• Heavyweight approaches, rigid structure
  -Step by Step Methods where each step and product is carefully defined
  -Emphasis on quality first time
  -UML diagrams, Class, sequence etc

Question 6

General approach to follow

Answer 6

Look at risks and uncertainties
are requirements understood
are technologies being used well

Look at the application being built(IT system, embedded system, mobile application etc

Approaches with heavy structure verses speed…
Does the require reliability and safetly
or is a fast delivery needed due to market changes.

Software Development process, waterfall agile etc

Question 6

Choice of development process model

Answer 6

Waterfall model, one shot or one through. step by step
-Prototyping, evolutionary development model(feedback) proof of concept
-incremental delivery system can be used early whle other sections are being developed
-Agile- Scrum, Flexibility, projects that have constant changing requirements

Question 7

Agile Methods

Answer 7

Prioritise Quick development, speed of delivery
RAD, Rapid application Development
SCRUM, framework to be agile

Question 7

Waterfall vs Agile (waterfall ADV and DisADV)

Answer 7

• everything is planned, predictive approach
• classical model
• limited for scope for iteration
  -no working software until later on into the project
  -high amounts of risks and uncertainty
• not good for complex and oop designs
  -poor for long ongoing projects
  -not good if requirements have a high chance of changing
  Integration is done at the end

Advantages-
-simple and easy to use
-easy to manage due to rigid model, each phase has specific deliverables.
-phases are processed and completed one at a time
-works well for smaller projects.
-clearly defined stages
-well understood milestones
-process and results are well documented.

Question 8

Waterfall vs Agile (Agile)

Answer 8

Fail fast, fail safe, based on experience, empiric approach

Disadvantages:
- large amounts of documentation
-documentation needs to be kept up to date
-communication accross specialised groups, can cause communication barriers.
-user exclusion from decision process
-long lead times to deliver anything

Question 9

Projects that suit Agile delivery

Answer 9

-Aggressive deadlines
-High degree of complexity
Unique ness- novelty
-delivering valuble features first, so key business needs can be met.

Question 10

Extreme Programming (XP)

Answer 10

a type of agile development.

-increments one to three weeks
-customer(end users) can suggest improvement at any point
-elimination of distinction between design and building of software.
- code developed to meet current needs only
-frequent refactoring to keep code structured.
-Developers work in pairs
-test Driven development
-consolidated set of test cases

Question 11

Limitations of XP

Answer 11

-Reliance on High quality developers
- Dependence on personal Knowledge
-Rational for decisions may be lost, Which test checks a particular requirement
-Reuse of existing code less likely

Question 12

“Throw Away” prototype

Answer 12

-Used to learn about an area of uncertainty, once knowlge is gained then prototype is thrown away

• Suitable for when the final design is unclear, and for when comparing alternatives

Question 13

“Evolutionary” Prototypes

Answer 13

-Developed and modified until it becomes an operational system
- Suitable for when the final design is clear

Question 14

Prototype

Answer 14

• A model for aquiring requirement
  -a working model built to learn how to work system could operate

Question 15

Reasons for Prototyping

Answer 15

-Learn by doing
-Improved communication
-improved user involvement
-feedback loop is established
-reduces need for documentation
-reduces maintenance cost, due to changes -before application goes live, feedback
-Producing expected results

Question 16

Dangers of Prototyping

Answer 16

-Users may misunderstand the role of the prototype
-expectations may be too high
-lack of project control and standards
-additional expense of building prototypes
-focus on useable interface, could be at expense of machinery efficiency

Question 17

Incremental Delivery

Answer 17

The application to be delivered is broken down into a number of components and lots that provide immediate value to customers

Each component is developed as a seperate increment

Question 18

Incremental Pros and Cons

Answer 18

Feedback from early stages
easier to cope with changing requirements
user gets some benefits earlier
project may be put aside temporarily

disADV
loss of economy of scale-Some costs will be repeated
Software Breakage, later requirements may break Earlier requirements

Question 19

Activity based Approach

Answer 19

-Draw up a work breakdown structure listing the work items needed based off similar past products

Question 20

Product based approach

Answer 20

used in Prince2 and StepWISE
- List deliverable and intermediate products of projects -PBS
- Identify the order which products have to be created -Product flow diagram
- Work out activities needed to create the products e.g. activity network

Question 21

Hybrid approach

Answer 21

• mix between Activity and Product based approach
• start with simple list of final deliverables
• apply to each deliverable and

Question 22

Labelling Convention

Answer 22

Earliest start
Duration
Earliest finish
Latest start
Float- amount of time an activity can be delayed without affecting project timeline
Latest finish

Question 22

Simple Bar Chart

Answer 22

The start and duration
understand the duration of tasks

Question 22

Assumptions of Activity network

Answer 22

-Each project is composed of a number of activities
-Can start when at least one activity is ready to start
-is completed when al activities are completed

Question 22

GANTT chart

Answer 22

-Each Task is represented visually
- Dependencies can be seen via Arrows
- the critical path sequence of tasks with Zero Float = No flexibility
-progress is visible and responsibilities can be assigned

Question 22

Activity Network

Answer 22

-Assess the feasibility of the planned project completion Date
-Identify when resourses will need to be deployed to activities
-Calculate when costs will be incurred
-Globally coordinated and motivate the project team