Software management
This topic is about software management. We need to manage the software project on a daily basis to be able to develop the software all time within the budget, and with all the stated requirements.
Most of the projects that
failed was due to poor management practices.
Software management is important for the success of the entire software project. Software management
consists of several activities. For example, planning and scheduling of the development task,
estimating the total cost
of developing the software,
assigning developers to the development task, and monitoring the progress of the project. Software management is critical because the software development process
is constrained by the budget and the deadline.
Also, the process usually
faces changes like changing requirements. Therefore, the manager must
consider those changes in the project plan. Software management is a continuous activity
from the first development task to the delivery of the software. Software management is a complex process that involves several activities, some of them are complex, estimating the total cost.
These activities are defined
to meet the stakeholders need. For example, we must develop the software on time because it is needed by the customer.
The manager seeks for
a compromise between the cost, the time, and the quality of the project.
We can view the software process as plan the work and then work the plan,
which means plan the development task and then perform those tasks. We can also view the process consisting of three main part, the feasibility study, then software management, then project execution.
Project plan
Software management is conducted using a project plan. This plan is defined
before starting developing the software, consist mainly of nine activities:
project overview
process model & methods
planning & scheduling
team organizat. & commu.
Risk assessment
quality assurance
budget estimation
monitoring & reporting
project overview
The project overview consists of the following items: The main objectives of the project. The main functionalities of the software, The software size,
to be able to estimate the effort and time needed to develop such software.
The products to be delivered to the customer and the stakeholders
to be assigned to.
process models and methods
Regarding the process model, we need to identify
the exact process model to
follow when developing the software. Then within this model, we outline the main development task. For the second part, we determine the techniques, tools, and standards to be used for each development task.
We also start writing
the technical documentation regarding
the planning and scheduling activity.
PERT chart and Gantt chart
planning and scheduling
First, the manager determines all the development task. Then for each task, estimate the starting time and duration.
This management activity also shows the dependencies between the development task, when possible, organizes the task in parallel to increase the productivity of the developers. There are two well known graphical notations for this management activity.
We usually use chart for planning and Gant chart for scheduling as shown in the next slides. Lastly, the manager needs to
update the schedule when problems arise.
team organization and communication
important management activity for the success of the project. The manager assigns the development tasks and responsibilities for each member of the project according to their expertise and skills.
Members can belong to
the same company or they can be hired from other companies. Another important role of the manager is to oversee
the communication and
collaboration between the stakeholders ports.
Risk assesment
In software management, it is important to identify and address possible risks because the impact, the project timeline and budget. For each project, the manager must identify the risks, assess their probabilities and severity levels. The manager’s priority is to handle the most damaging risks first.
Overall, the manager must take steps to address and reduce the impact of risk on the projects. Risks can happen at different stages in the software process.
Some are related to requirements, lack changing requirements, while others are associated with technology or estimating the cost.
lacking important info or frequent changes
Quality Assurance
Quality insurance comes with a set of procedures that are used to check that the produced documents meet the stated requirements and the established standards within the company. The goal of these procedures is
to prevent issues during
the development process and also to guarantee that the produced documents
are of high quality.
Training program and regular reviews.
Budget estimation
Budget estimation is
the most difficult management activity.
First, the manager identifies all the resources that are needed to develop the new application. Next, the manager estimate the comprehensive cost for the identified resources. there is a well known cost estimation model called Como. This model has several variants
depending on the applications being developed. the basic formulas to estimate the total cost.
E = a.(LOC)^b
E = effort
a and b = constant on project type
LOC = line of code
organic (a = 2.4 b = 1.05)
Monitoring and reporting
The last management activity is monitoring and reporting. The goal of this activity is to track the status and progress of the project.
This is done by checking if
the development tasks are being performed according
to the plan and the schedule. The manager should also inform all the stakeholders about the project progress and submit progress reports.
