Software Project Management (SE-4349)

INTRODUCTION

Software project management is an art and science of planning and leading software projects.It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.The purpose of project planning is to identify the scope of the project, estimate the work involved, and create a project schedule. Project planning begins with requirements that define the software to be developed. The project plan is then developed to describe the tasks that will lead to completion. The project execution is the process of completing the tasks defined in the project plan. Project monitoring and control is then performed to keep the team and management up to date on the project's progress.

In this course students will study the software project planning, cost estimation and scheduling, project management tools, factors influencing productivity and success. Students will also learn productivity metrics, analysis of options and risks, software process standards and process implementation, software contracts and approaches to maintenance and long term software development.

COURSE CODE: SE-4349

CREDIT HOURS: 03

PREREQUISITES: Software Engineering (CMP-3310)

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course the students will be able to:

  • Describe the basic concepts of software project management and project planning
  • Apply project management techniques to real-world projects
  • Apply different techniques in monitoring and control of projects and people
  • Work in team to understand and evaluate project management standards, tools, managing contracts and software quality.

TEXT BOOK: Software Project Management, Sixth Edition by Bob Hughes and Mike Cotterell.

REFERENCE BOOK: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Sixth Edition (PMBOK Guides).

COURSE CONTENTS

  • Introduction to software project management
  • PMI BOK, Process groups and knowledge areas
  • Project Evaluation
  • Over view of Project Planning
  • Appropriate Project Approach
  • Software effort estimation
  • Activity Planning
  • Risk Management
  • Resource Allocation
  • Monitoring and Control
  • Project Closeout
  • Review and Evaluation
  • Managing People in Software Environments
  • Organizational structures
  • Software Quality
  • Challenges of Outsourcing
  • Project Management Tools

COURSE ASSESSMENT:

  • Final Term Exam: 50 Marks
  • Mid Term Exam: 30 Marks
  • Sessional: 20 Marks
    • Quiz: 8 Marks
    • Class Participation: 2 Marks
    • Assignment: 5 Marks
    • Project: 5 Marks

CLASS TIMING: BSSE 6th Regular (Wednesday: 8:00 - 9:30 AM) (Thursday: 11:00 - 12:30 PM)

CLASS TIMING: BSSE 6th Self (Wednesday: 11:00 - 12:30 PM) (Thursday: 8:00 - 9:30 AM)

WEEKLY PLAN:

  Week

     Topics and Readings

Book with Page No.

 

1

Introduction and Importance of SPM, what is project, what is management, Software Project Versus Other Type of Projects, Activities in SPM, ways of categorizing software projects, project charter, stakeholders, the business case, project management lifecycle,   traditional versus modern project management practices.

 [TB- Ch 1: pg 1,2,4,7,8,16,23]

2

Introduction to PMI, What is PMI BOK, 5 process models and 9 knowledge areas of PMI BOK..

[Handouts]

 

3

Project Evaluation: Introduction, Project portfolio management, Evaluation of individual projects, Technical assessment, cost benefit analysis, cash flow forecasting.

[TB- Ch 2: pg 31, 34-42]

 

4

Introduction to step wise project planning, Ten Steps of a project Plan.

[TB- Ch 3: pg 58-78]

5

Selection of an appropriate project approach: Build or Buy?

Methodologies and technologies of analyzing various project characteristics, Software Process Models, Selecting the most appropriate model.

[TB- Ch 4: pg  84, 88-106, 111]

 

 

6

Software effort estimation: problems with over and under estimates, basis for software estimating, estimation techniques, Function point analysis, COCOMO II, Effect of schedule compression

[TB- Ch 5: pg 117, 120-126,133,134,135, 143]

 

7

Activity Planning: Activities, Approaches for identifying activities, project schedules, network planning models, forward and backward pass, critical path, critical activities, shortening the project duration.

[TB- Ch 6: pg 156, 157, 163, 164, 169-175]

8

Risk management: Risks, categories of risk, risk management approaches, Framework for dealing with risk, Applying the PERT Technique.

[TB- Ch 7: pg 188, 189, 190-199, 202, 203]

9

Monitoring and control: creating the framework, collecting the data, review, Visual representation, getting project back to the target.

[TB- Ch. 9 pg. 238, 241, 244, 250, 251]

10

Monitoring and control Change control, Software Configuration Management.

[TB- Ch. 9 pg. 259, 261]

 

11

Managing contracts: types of a contract, stages in contract placement, typical terms of a contract, contract management.

 

[TB- Ch. 10 pg. 271, 276, 280, 283]

12

Managing people in software environments: understanding behavior, selecting the right person for a job, motivation, stress management.

Working in team: decision making, team structures, dispersed and virtual teams, communication plans, leadership.

[TB- Ch. 11 pg. 288, 290, 292, 296]

 

[TB- Ch. 12 pg. 307, 312, 318, 319, 321, 323, 323]

13

Software quality: importance of software quality, software quality models, product and process metrics, quality management systems, process capability models, techniques of enhancing software quality, testing.

Introduction to MS Project.

[TB- Ch. 13 pg. 327, 329, 331, 341, 343, 353, 357]

14

MS Project [Session#1]

MS Project [Session#2]

Practical Work

15

MS Project [Session#3]

MS Project [Session#4]

Practical work

16

Project closeout: reasons for project closure, project closure process, project closure report.

Revision

[TB Ch 14 pg 374, 375, 377, 380]
 

 

Course Material

Other Courses by Aisha Tehreem