The Software Development
Life Cycle: An Overview
Presented by
Maxwell Drew
and
Dan Kaiser
Southwest State University
Computer Science Program
Last Time

Key Ideas and Terminology of Software
Engineering

Phases of the Software Development Life Cycle

Software Process Models

Introduction to the Microsoft Solutions Framework
(MSF)

Introduction to the Rational Unified Process
(RUP)
Session 2: Agenda


Project Management Concepts
The Schwan’s Information Services
Deliverables Guide

Initial Statement of Work

Project Management Techniques

Project Management in MSF and RUP
The Four P’s


Effective project management focuses on

People

Product

Process

Project
In that order!
People


Software Development is an intensely
human endeavor.
The Players





Senior Managers
Project or Technical Managers
Practitioners
Customers
End Users
The Project Manager

Skills needed include

Team Building

Organization

Innovation

Problem Solving

Discernment
Communication


Must plan, motivate, organize and control
the development team
Where do they come from?

The Software Engineering Institute has
developed a People Management Capability
Model (PM-CMM)

“to enhance the readiness of software
organizations to undertake increasingly complex
applications by helping to attract, grow, motivate,
deploy and retain the talent needed to improve
software development.”
Curtis, B., et al., People Management Capability Model,
Software Engineering Institute, 1994
Product

At the beginning of a project a manager
is faced with developing a plan but has
little or no solid information on which to
base the plan



Analysis takes time
Requirements can be fluid
The first management activity should always
be the determination of software scope.
Scope

Context


Information Objectives


How does it fit in and what are the
constraints?
What output is required? What input is
required?
Function and Performance

How is the input transformed into output by
the software?
Project Failure

In 1998, industry data indicated that
26% of software projects failed
outright.

Another 46% experienced significant
cost and schedule overruns.
Reel, J.S. “Critical Success Factors in Software Projects”, IEEE
Software, May, 1999
Factors Contributing to Failure
10. Team members lack appropriate skills
9.
Users are resistant
8.
Chosen technology changes
7.
Sponsorship is lost
6.
Deadlines are unrealistic
Factors (continued)
5.
Managers avoid best practices
4.
Changes are poorly managed
3.
Software people didn’t understand
customers needs
2.
Project is ill-conceived in the first place
1.
The project scope is poorly defined
Process









Requirements analysis and definition
System design
Program design
Program Implementation
Unit testing
Integration testing
System testing
System delivery
Maintenance
Process Activity Organization


Activities in a project should be organized to produce
tangible outputs by which progress can be measured

Milestones are the end-points of process activities

Deliverables are project results delivered to customers
The waterfall process model allows for the
straightforward definition of progress milestones
Initial Statement of Work

The objective of the Initial Statement of Work
is to bring together information from the
Project Scoping Phase and get approval from
the customer to proceed with Analysis.