Page 286 - DCAP304_DCAP515_SOFTWARE_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Software Project Management

Notes
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Caselet A Primer on Project Management

ll of us have heard, some read, the famous best seller on Execution: The discipline
of getting things done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Execution translates
Avisions of the organizations in to reality. In the software industry, it often translates
to effective project management. The topic assumes more relevance today especially for
software firms that are at “tipping point” in their growth stories.
The Project Manager (PM) and the development team today deal with many pressures -
senior management, marketing, finance, customers, and users - during the software
development process. These pressures impact the cost and the quality of the software
produced. There are generally more than one or two reasons for a software project to fail,
and it usually is a combination of technical, project management and business decisions.
Opting to Outsource
Project life cycles have become shorter, thanks to rapid evolution of technologies and
markets. This has resulted in short-term contract agreements, with customers expecting
the firm to ramp up in capabilities in short time to meet their needs. The clients demand
more value for the outsourced work as cost arbitrage of the Indian firms continue to be
eroded and are looking “to squeeze every dollar spent”. Hence, there’s an increasing need
to manage projects effectively and efficiently – leaving no slack on cost, quality and
schedule.

Software outsourcing projects are of two types: fixed price (FP) contracts and time &
material (T&M) contracts. In FP contracts the software firm gets a fixed price and pays for
all realised costs. This keeps the software firm interested in managing the projects
effectively, with available resources at minimal costs to meet schedules.
In T&M contracts, though the client pays for all realized costs, the onus of finding resources
(mainly competent engineers) for the projects rest with the firm.
This poses a challenge in executing effective staff management in a highly attrition-afflicted
industry. All these factors compel companies to increasingly focus on the following project
management capabilities.
Meticulous Methods

First, define and defend the boundaries of the project well with the client. . Effective
requirements, scope management, defining exact deliverables and committing to all these
become important. Research has often showed that badly defined requirements are one of
the main reasons why software projects fail. These can be better managed by shortening
the cycles for delivery and periodically delivering smaller work products that allows
clients to provide timely feedback. Methods such as agile project management are tailored
for this context. These methods reduce risks for both the client and the firm .
Second, have robust methodologies and frequent cross-checks to ensure that effort estimates
are appropriate, especially in FP projects. While optimistic, underestimates often lead to
unmanageable projects, pessimistic overestimates end up as a losing proposition. Hence,
the need for reliable statistics.

Third, focus continually on people’s productivity and skills . This becomes a challenge as
firms tend to increase the bottom of the “pyramid model” of resourcing to reduce costs.
Project managers often have to deal with partially trained fresher’s, mentor and motivate
Contd....

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