Successful IT projects

uccessfu l I T

Darre n Dalche r an d Lindse y Brodi e

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Successfu l I T Project s

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5

FASTTRACK

Successfu l I T Project s

Darre n Dalche r an d Lindse y Brodi e

THOMSON

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THOMSON

*

Successful IT Projects

Darren Dalcher and Lindsey Brodie

Series Editor

Walaa Bakry, Middlesex University

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ISBN-13. 978-1-84480-699-7

ISBN-10. 1-84480-699-5

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Series preface ix

Preface xi

About the website xiii

1 Introduction to projects and project management 1

1 Introduction

2 What is a project?

.3 What is project management?

4 Success criteria for projects

5 Project lifecycles

6 Summary

.7 Review guestions

.8 Feedback to activities

9 References

2 Project selection 27

2.1 Introduction

.2 IT investment

.3 Project management lifecycle processes and proposal selection

4 Feasibility study

5 The role of success criteria in projects

6 Selecting your student project

7 Summary

.8 Review questions

9 Feedback to activities

10 References

3 Research methods 59

3.1 Introduction

3.2 The research process

3.3 The research question

3.4 Research philosophies

3.5 Research approaches

3.6 Research methods

3.7 Data collection methods

3.8 Data collection and analysis

3.9 Student projects

3 10 Summary

3.11 Review questions

3.12 Feedback to activities

3.13 References

4 Managing progress and change 93

4.1 Introduction

4.2 System development processes

4.3 People issues associated with managing change

4.4 Project deliverables

4.5 Configuration management

4.6 Project management reporting

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4 7 Management reviews

4.8 Student reports

4.9 Summary

4.10 Review questions

4.11 Feedback to activities

4.12 References

5 Project planning I: activities and schedules 133

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Planning

5.3 Develop a statement of work

5.4 Identify the project tasks

5.5 Create a work breakdown structure

5.6 Identify the milestones

5.7 Estimate effort/duration of each task

5.8 Identify the resources required for each task

5.9 Create the project schedule

5.10 Gantt charts

5.11 Use of project planning tools and project management applications

5.12 Planning your student project

5.13 Summary

5.14 Review questions

5.15 Feedback to activities

6 Project planning II: cost management 177

6 1 Introduction

6.2 The importance of cost management

6.3 Software costs

6.4 The cost management process

6.5 Cost estimation

6.6 Methods for cost estimation

6.7 Cost estimation tools

6.8 Software costs - the learning loop

6.9 Cost control

6.10 Estimating cost for student projects

6.11 Summary

6.12 Review questions

6 13 Feedback to activities

6.14 References

Leadership and teamworking 2

7.1 People make the difference

7.2 What is teamwork?

7.3 Project manager or project leader?

7 4 Specialist roles

7.5 Shaping the project team

7 6 Customers in project teams

7.7 Meetings and reports

7 8 Ethics

7.9 Working as a team

7.10 Your student project

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7.12 Review questions

7.13 Feedback to activities

7.14 References

8 Project quality management 237

8.1 Introduction

8.2 What is quality?

8.3 The cost of quality

8.4 Project quality management

8.5 Quality control methods

8.6 Quality metrics

8.7 Key contributors to the quality movement

8.8 Continuous improvement

8.9 Industry quality standards

8.10 Maturity models

8.11 Addressing quality issues in student projects

8.12 Summary

8.13 Review questions

8.14 Feedback to activities

8.15 References

9 Project risk management 263

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Attitudes towards risk

9.3 Definition of risk

9.4 The risk management process

9.5 Evolutionary systems development

9.6 Dealing with deadline pressure

9.7 Dealing with risk in student projects

9.8 Summary

9.9 Review questions

9.10 Feedback to activities

9.11 References

10 Project review and reflection 291

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Project closing activities

10.3 Post-delivery review

10.4 Project reports

10.5 Reflecting on, and checking, your student project report

10.6 Summary

10.7 Review questions

10.8 Feedback to activities

10.9 References

11 Answers to review questions 305

Appendix: PRINCE2 323

Index 341

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The FastTrack Series

Thomson Learning and Middlesex University Press have collaborated to produce a unique

collection of textbooks which cover core, mainstream topics in an undergraduate computing

curriculum. FastTrack titles are instructional, syllabus-driven books of high quality and utility.

They are:

• For students: concise and relevant and written so that you should be able to get 100% value

out of 100% of the book at an affordable price

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the applicability of these books. The resources associated with each title are designed to make

delivery of courses straightforward and linked to the text.

FastTrack books can be used for self-study or as directed reading by a tutor. They contain the

essential reading necessary to complete a full understanding of the topic. They are augmented

by resources and activities, some of which will be delivered online as indicated in the text.

How the series evolved

Rapid growth in communications technology means that learning can become a global activity.

In collaboration, Global Campus, Middlesex University and Thomson Learning have produced

materials to suit a diverse and innovating discipline and student cohort.

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• Scope: Context and the learning outcomes

• Content: The bulk of the course: text, illustrations and examples

• Activity: Elements which will help students further understand the facts and concepts

presented to them in the previous section. Promotes their active participation in their learning

and in creating their understanding of the unit content

• Thinking: These elements give students the opportunity to reflect and share with their peers

their experience of studying each unit. There are review questions so that the students can

assess their own understanding and progress

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Successful IT Projects

This book is written as a complete reference source for the management of IT projects and

delivery of results, with additional support and activities for improving student projects.

This book covers:

• An introduction to the topics of project management and IT projects (with a unique focus on

both project management and systems development lifecycles)

• Feasibility studies (project proposal and business case)

• Management of change (including deliverables and progress)

• Project planning (activities, schedules and cost estimation)

• Leadership and team-working

• Project quality management (quality control and quality standards)

• Project risk management (risk identification, assessment and mitigation)

• Project evaluation and reflection

. Introduction to PRINCE2.

It also offers help and advice about student projects, with guidance on choosing your project

topic, on writing your project report and on dealing with deadline pressures. It also relates the

project management theory to student project activities, setting appropriate exercises that will

help you with your student project.

The book includes a chapter on research methods, which introduces the research process, and

describes the main research methods and data collection methods.

Using this book

There are several devices which will help you in your studies and use of this book. Activities

usually require you to try out aspects of the material which have just been explained, or invite

you to consider something which is about to be discussed. In some cases, a response is

provided as part of the text that follows - so it is important to work on the activity before you

proceed! Usually, however, a formal answer will be provided at the end of each chapter.

The time bar indicates approximately how long each activity will take:

short < 10 minutes

medium 10-45 minutes

long > 45 minutes

£\ Review questions are (usually) short questions for each chapter to check you have

remembered the main points of a chapter. They are found at the end of each chapter;

feedback is provided at the back of the book. They are a useful practical summary of the

content and can be used as a form of revision aid to ensure that you remain competent

in each of the areas covered.

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About the authors

Darren Dalcher

Darren Dalcher is Professor of Software Project Management at Middlesex University and

Visiting Professor of Computer Science at the University of Iceland as well as the founder and

Director of the National Centre for Project Management.

Professor Dalcher has written over 200 papers and book chapters on project management and

software engineering. He is editor-in-chief of Software Process Improvement and Practice and

editor of a new series of books on Advances in Project Management.

Professor Dalcher is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the Association for Project

Management, and a Member of the Project Management Institute, the Academy of

Management, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Association for

Computing Machinery. He is a Chartered IT Practitioner and a consultant to government

departments and industry both in the UK and beyond.

Lindsey Brodie

Lindsey Brodie is a Research Student Tutor at Middlesex University. She worked for ICL (now

Fujitsu Siemens Computers) for many years: initially on customer projects in the areas of

government, banking and retail, providing technical support for operating systems and writing

software for operational support, then in product support of data management software.

Having completed an MSc in Information Systems Design, Lindsey moved into consultancy,

working in the areas of user requirements, IT strategy and business processes. More recently,

she edited Tom Gilb's book, Competitive Engineering. She is currently carrying out doctoral

research on impact estimation, which is a quantitative method for investigating the

contributions of designs towards meeting requirements.

Lindsey is a Member of the British Computer Society and a Chartered IT Practitioner.

Acknowledgements

This book grew from a module taught at Middlesex University. Thanks are due to the lecturers

who have assisted in creating and teaching that module, especially Dr Robert Ettinger and

Chris Sadler. Other people have also helped with the writing of this book. Gillian Palmer wrote

Chapter 7: 'Leadership and teamworking', and Steven Burbidge contributed the example for

PRINCE2 in the Appendix. Walaa Bakry contributed to several chapters, in particular Chapters

3, 4, 5 and 10. Thanks are due to Professor Tony White and Dr. George Dafoulas for reading

and commenting on early drafts of the chapters: and to Aboubakr Moteleb and Richard

Veryard for their assistance: also to Professor Colin Tully for his support and encouragement.

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Visit the accompanying website at www.thomsonlearning.co.uk/fasttrack and click through to

the appropriate booksite to find further teaching and learning material including:

For Students

• Activities

• Multiple choice questions for each chapter.

For Lecturers

• Downloadable PowerPoint slides.

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