Systems Design Chapter 03 Flashcards
Project management
Organizing and Directing other people to achieve a planned result within a determined schedule and budget
Reasons for Project Failure
- Incomplete or changing sys requirements
- Limited user involvement
- Lack of executive support
- Lack of technical support
- Poor project planning (including inadequate risk assessment)
- Unclear objectives (including unreasonable expectations)
- Lack of required resources
Reasons for Project Success
- Clear system requirments
- Substantial user involvement
- Support from upper management
- Thorough and detailed project plans
- Realistic work schedules and milestones
Project manager
Defines and executes project management tasks
Project Manager Internal Tasks
- Identify project tasks and build a work breakdown structure
- develop the project schedule
- recruit and train team members
- assign team members to tasks
- coordinate activities of team members and subteams
- assess project risks
- monitor and control project deliverables and milestones
- verify the quality of project deliverables
Project Manager External Tasks
- Report the project’s status and progress
- Establish good working relationshiops with those who identify the needed system requirements (the people who will use system)
- Work directly with the client (the project’s sponsor) and other stakeholders
- Identify resource needs and obtain resources.
Oversight Committee
Clients and key managers who review and direct the project
User
The person or gorup of people who will use system
Project Mangement Process that overlap the SDLC process
executing, controlling, and closing the project out.
Project Management Tasks
- Begining of Project - Overall planning
- During project:
- Project execution management
- Project Control Management
- Project Closeout
- Project management approach differs for Predictive SDLC & Adaptive SDLC
Project Mangement & SDLC Tasks for a predictive project
Project Execution mgmt and Project control mgmt over analysis design & implementation. Project closeout over deliverable.
Project Management & SDLC Tasks for an Adaptive Project
For each cycle:
- Detailed cycle plan
- Together:
- -Cycle execution
- -Cycle control mgmt
- Ending Cycle Close out
All over Analysis/design/implementation to deliverable.
PMBOK - Scope Management
- Control Functions included in system
- Control scope of work done by team
PMBOK - Time Management
- Build Detailed Schedule of all project tasks
- Monitor progress of project against milestones
PMBOK - Cost Mangement
- Calculate initial cost/benefit analysis
- Montior expenses
PMBOK - Quality management
Establish quality plan and control activities for each project phase
PMBOK - Human Resource Mangement
- Recruit and hire project team members
- Train, motivate, team build
PMBOK - Communications Management
- Identify statekholders and their communications
- Establish team communications
PMBOK - Risk Management
- Identify and review risks for failure
- develop plans to reduce these risks
PMBOK - Procurement Management
- Develop requests for proposals (RFPs)
- Evaluate bids, write contracts, monitor performance
PMBOK - Integration Mangement
Integrating all the other knowledge areas into one seamless whole
Three driving forces to start IS project
- Respond to opportunity - Top-down
- Resolve problem - Bottom up
- Conform to directive - Legislative changes
Defining the problem
- Review business needs
- use strategic plan documents
- consult key users
- develop list of expected business benefits
- Identify expected System capabilties
- define scope in terms of requirements
Business Benefits
Influences that can change the financial statements - decreasing costs, increasing revenues
Deliverables of problem defining activity
- System Scope Document - a document that contains problem description, business benefits, and system capabilties.
- Proof of concept prototype
- Context diagram
Producing the Project Schedule
- Developing a work breakdown structure WBS
- building a schedule using a Gantt chart
- Develop resource requirements and the staffing plan
Activities & Tasks
- Activity is made up of a group of related tasks or other smaller activities
- A task is the smallest piece of work that is identified and scheduled - can’t be broken down further
WBS - Work Breakdown Structure
- WBS is a list of all the required individual activities and tasks for the project.
- Two approaches for building a WBS - By deliverable or by timeline
4 Techniques for identifying tasks
- Top-Down- identifying the major activities and then listing internal tasks
- Bottom-up - Listing all the tasks you can think of and organizing them later
- Template - Using standard template of tasks
- Analogy - find a similar project that is finished and cophying its tasks
Charts used to develop a project schedule
- Pert Chart - tells us the minimum days reuqired or earliest possible completion date
- a technique for scheduling a project based on individual tasks or activities
- MS Project calls it a network diagram
- Gantt Chart
- a bar chart that represents the tasks and activities of the project schedule against a calendar
Critical Path
The sequence of tasks that determine the length of the project
It indicates the earliest date that the project can be completed
Slack Time / Float
Amount of time an task can be delayed wihtout having a negative impact on the project completion date
Milestone
A precise point on the project schedule that indicates a specific completion point
Confirming Project Feasibility
- Risk Management
- Economic feasibility - Cost/benefit analysis & Sources of funds (cash flow, long-term cap)
- Organizational and cultural feasibility
- Technological feasibility
- Schedule Feasibility
- Resource Feasibility
Risk Description
- Critical team member not available
- Chaging legal requirements
- employees not computer savvy
Organization and Cultural Feasibility
Each company has own culture - new system must fit into culture
Evaluate related issues for potential risks
Organizational & Cultural Issues
- Low level of computer competency
- Computer phobia
- Perceived loss of control
- Shift in power
- Fear of job change or employment loss
- Reversal of established work proceedures
Technological Feasibility
- Does system stretch stateof the art tech
- does inhouse expertise presently exist for development
- does an outside vendor need to be involved
- solutions include
- training or hiring more experienced employees
- hiring consultants
- changing scope and project approach
Schedule Feasibility
- Estimates needed without complete information
- Mangement deadlines may not be realistic
- Project Managers
- drive realistic assumptions and estimates
- recommend completion date flexibility
- assign interim milestones to periodically reassess completion dates
- involve experience personnel
- manage proper allocation of resources
Resource Feasibility
- Team member availability
- Team skill levels
- computers equipment and supplies
- support staff time and availablility
- physical facilities
Economic Feasibility
Is the aniticipated value of the benfits greater than projected cost of development
does organization have adequate cash flow to fund the project during the delveopment period
Cost/Benefits Analysis
3 step process
Estimate the anticipated development costs and operational costs
estimate the anticipated financial benefits
caculated from the dedtailed estimates of costs and benefits
Development Costs
- Salaries and wages
- Equipment and installation
- software and licenses
- consulting fees
- training
- facilities
- utilities and tools
- support staff
- travels and miscellaneous
Operating Costs
- Connectivity - pay service provider
- Euqipment maintenance
- Upgrade software
- computer operations
- program support
- amortization of equipment
- training and ongoing assistance
- supplies
NPV - Net Present Value
The net benefits and costs for an investement in today’s dollars
Payback Period
The time period in which the benefits have offset the costs
ROI - Return on Investment
A measure of percentage gain from an investment in the new system
Formula for discount factor
1/(1+discount)n
Where N=year
Formula for Payback Period
Number of years in red + (last year amount in red/(last year amount in red + first year amount in black))
Formula for ROI
(Benefits - Costs)/Costs
Source of Benefits
- Reducing Staff
- Increasing volume of work
- Decreasing operating expenses
- Reducing error rates
- achieving quicker processing speed
- bettering money management
- reducing paperwork costs
