Project Management

Systems Analysis and Design

Importance of Project
Management
• Project management may be the most
important aspect of systems
development.
• Effective PM helps to ensure
• The meeting of customer expectations.
• The satisfying of budget and time
constraints.
• PM skills are difficult and important to
learn.
Managing the Information
Systems Project
• Project
• A planned undertaking of related activities
to reach an objective that has a beginning
and an end
• Project management
• A controlled process of initiating, planning,
executing, and closing down a project
Managing the Information
Systems Project (cont.)
• Project manager
• Systems analyst with management and
leadership skills responsible for leading
project initiation, planning, execution, and
closedown
• Deliverable
• The end product of an SDLC phase
Project Management
Activities

A project manager
juggles numerous
activities
The Process of Identifying and
Selecting IS Development Projects
• Top-down source are projects
identified by top management or by a
diverse steering committee.
• Bottom-up source are project
initiatives stemming from managers,
business units, or the development
group.
• The process varies substantially
across organizations.
Project Management
Fundamentals
• Project initiation
• Determining project feasibility
• Activity planning and control
• Project scheduling
• Managing systems analysis team
members
Project Initiation

• Problems in the organization

• Problems that lend themselves to systems
solutions
• Opportunities for improvement
• Caused through upgrading, altering, or
installing new systems
Checking Output, Observing Employee Behavior, and
Listening to Feedback Are all Ways to Help the Analyst
Pinpoint Systems Problems and Opportunities
Selection Of Projects

• Backing from management

• Appropriate timing of project commitment
• Possibility of improving attainment of
organizational goals
• Practical in terms of resources for the system
analyst and organization
• Worthwhile project compared with other ways
the organization could invest resources
Selection of Projects: Improving
Attainment of Organizational Goals
• Improving corporate profits
• Supporting the competitive strategy of the
organization
• Improving cooperation with vendors and
partners
• Improving internal operations support
• Improving internal decision support so that
decisions are more effective
• Improving customer service
• Increasing employee morale
Defining Objectives

Many possible objectives exist including:

• Speeding up a process
• Streamlining a process
• Combining processes
• Reducing errors in input
• Reducing redundant storage
• Reducing redundant output
• Improving system and subsystem integration
Determining Feasibility

• Defining objectives
• Determining resources
• Operationally
• Technically
• Economically
The Three Key Elements of Feasibility Include
Technical, Economic, and Operational Feasibility
Technical Feasibility

• Can current technical resources be

upgraded or added to in a manner that
fulfills the request under consideration?
• If not, is there technology in existence
that meets the specifications?
Economic Feasibility

• Economic feasibility determines whether

value of the investment exceeds the time and
cost.
• Includes:
• Analyst and analyst team time
• Business employee time
• Hardware
• Software
• Software development
Operational Feasibility

• Operational feasibility determines if the

human resources are available to
operate the system once it has been
installed.
• Users that do not want a new system
may prevent it from becoming
operationally feasible.
Activity Planning and Control

• Planning includes:
• Selecting a systems analysis team
• Estimating time required to complete each task
• Scheduling the project
• Control includes:
• Comparing the plan for the project with its actual
evolution
• Taking appropriate action to expedite or
reschedule activities
Estimating Time

• Project is broken down into phases.

• Further project is broken down into tasks or
activities.
• Finally project is broken down into steps or
even smaller units.
• Time is estimated for each task or activity.
• Most likely, pessimistic and optimistic
estimates for time may be used.
Beginning to Plan a Project by Breaking it
into Three Major Activities
Refining the Planning and Scheduling of Analysis
Activities by Adding Detailed Tasks and Establishing the
Time Required to Complete the Tasks
Project Scheduling

• Gantt Charts
• Simple
• Lends itself to end user communication
• Drawn to scale
• PERT diagrams
• Useful when activities can be done in
parallel
Using a Two-Dimensional Gantt Chart for
Planning Activities that Can Be Accomplished in
Parallel
PERT Diagram

• PERT - Program Evaluation and Review

Technique
• PERT diagrams show precedence, activities
that must be completed before the next
activities may be started
• Used to calculate the critical path, the
longest path through the activities
• This is the shortest time to complete the
project
A Completed PERT Diagram for the
Analysis Phase of a Systems Project
PERT Diagram Advantages

• Easy identification of the order of

precedence
• Easy identification of the critical path
and thus critical activities
• Easy determination of slack time
Managing Analysis and Design
Activities
• Team management
• Assembling a team
• Team communication strategies
• Project productivity goals
• Team member motivation
Assembling a Team

• Shared value of team work

• Good work ethic
• Honesty
• Competency
• Readiness to take on leadership based on
expertise
• Motivation
• Enthusiasm for the project
• Trust of teammates
Communication Strategies

• Teams often have two leaders:

• Task leader: leads members to accomplish tasks
• Socioemotional leader: concerned with social
relationships
• The systems analyst must manage:
• Team members
• Their activities
• Their time and resources
Project Charter

• Describes in a written document what the

expected results of the systems project are
and the time frame for delivery
Project Charter Clarifies these
Questions
• What does the user expect of the project?
• What is the scope of the project?
• What analysis methods will the analyst use to
interact with users?
• Who are the key participants?
• What are the project deliverables?
• Who will evaluate the system and how will they
evaluate it?
• What is the estimated project timeline?
• Who will train the users?
• Who will maintain the system?
Gantt Chart Example

C o n d u c t In te rv ie w s

Q u e stio n n a ire s

R e a d R e p o rts

A n a ly ze D a ta F lo w s

In tr o d u ce P r o to ty p e s

O b se rv e R e a c tio n s

P e r fo r m C o st/B e n e fit

P r e p a re P r o p o sa l

P r e se n t P ro p o sa l

1 5  10 15 20
C urrent W eek W eeks
PERT Diagram

• PERT - Program Evaluation and Review

Technique
• PERT diagrams show precedence, activities
that must be completed before the next
activities may be started
• Used to calculate the critical path, the
longest path through the activities
• This is the shortest time to complete the
project
 PERT Diagram Example
A C o n d u c t In te rv ie w s None 3
B Q u e s tio n n a ire s A 4
C R e a d R e p o rts None 4
D A n a ly ze D a ta F lo w s B, C 8
E In tr o d u ce P r o to typ e s B, C 5
F O b s e rv e R e a c tio n s E 3
G P e r fo r m C o s t/B e n e fit D 3
H P r e p a re P r o p o s a l G 2

I P r e s e n t P ro p o s a l H 2

20
A, 3 B, 4

C, 4 D, 8 G, 3 H, 2 I, 2
10 30 50 60 70 80

E, 5 F, 3
40
PERT Exercise

• Given the Activity Table with their

respective predecessors and duration,
prepare the following:
• Gantt Chart
• PERT Diagram
• Enumerated Paths / Critical Path
A ctivity P re d e ce sso r D u ra tio n
A none 2
B A 3
C A 2
D B 5
E D 3
F A 4
G C 3
H E, F 5
I G 6
J D 2
K H, I 2
L H, I 4
M J 3
N K 1
O L 2
Activity Predecessor Duration
A none 2
B A 3

Gantt Chart
C A 2
D B 5
E D 3
F A 4
G C 3
H E, F 5
I G 6
J D 2
K H, I 2
L H, I 4
M J 3
N K 1
O L 2
Activity
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A ctivity P re d e ce sso r D u ra tio n
A none 2

PERT
B A 3
C A 2
D B 5
E D 3
F A 4
G C 3
H E, F 5
I G 6
J D 2
K H, I 2
L H, I 4
M J 3
N K 1
O L 2
Paths
Paths Days
10-20-40-70-90-120 15
10-20-40-70-50-80-100-120 21
10-20-40-70-50-80-110-120 24
10-20-50-80-100-120 14
10-20-50-80-110-120 17
10-20-30-60-80-100-120 16
10-20-30-60-80-110-120 19
10-20-40-70-50-80-110-120
24
1. How many possible paths are there from the start to the end of the project?
2. Which tasks are on the critical path of the PERT chart above?
3. What is the slack time for tasks C, D and G?
4. The person working on task C tells the project manager he can't start work
until one day after the scheduled starting date. What impact would this
have on the completion date of the project? Why?
5. Task A will be delayed by 2 days because some equipment has arrived
late. If the project manager still wants to finish the project within the original
time frame, he will need to shorten the time for one or more of the tasks.
What steps can he take to reduce the number of days allocated to a task?
6. The project manager decides to reduce the time needed for tasks D and F
by one day each. How effective will this reduction be in achieving his aim of
maintaining the original finish time for the project?