Administrative Details
• Midterm grades are posted
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Average grade between B+/AHomework weighted 33%, midterm #1 weighted 67%
Homework grades generally lower than midterm grades
Extra credit on MT made the difference for some
• HW #7
– Revised version in boxes (naming changed etc.)
– Due next Tuesday in class
– Last individual homework before White Paper at end of class
• HW #5
– Sorry for the delay, mostly graded
• TA Office Hours
– reduced to make time for project team meetings
Tuesday, October 19,
1999
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Class Project: Home-Delivered Meals
• Context:
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Service delivery planning
Application services provision
Web-enabled resource management
Resource: http://www.hdm.heinz.cmu.edu (and others)
• Deliverables
– Stand-alone Access database for limited, counselor-level HDM
planning
– Web site containing team member profiles, problem statement, solution
strategy/components, sample of Web-enabled interface
• Project Characteristics
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Unclear/changing objectives/requirements
Unreliable client
Evolving technology
Real-world constraints and expectations!
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1999
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Research on HDM in Allegheny County
• Population is aging and redistributing from city to suburbs
• Management at HDM kitchen level not equipped to respond to changes in
client (and volunteer) base
• Inability to measure service quality
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1999
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Research on HDM in Allegheny County
• Management at county
agency level lacks
knowledge for long-term
planning
• Need to determine where
kitchens ought to be
located/relocated to meet
population needs
• Need to coordinate:
– strategic planning
– counselor/client
interaction
– kitchen-level operations
An Internet-based system for HDM management can meet
planning needs at various organizational levels and time-frames
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1999
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Project Resources
• HDM program materials:
– sample client intake form
– sample delivery list
• HDM entity-relationship diagram (incomplete)
• HDM relational database model (incomplete)
• HDM data on LAN (incomplete):
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kitchens
sample routes
demographic data
sample clients
• Problem dialog
• Application development software: Access2000,
FrontPage2000, Project98
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1999
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Project Team and Support
• Teams of 8 - 12 students work in parallel
• Three milestone assignments clarify project deliverables:
– Project definition/scope, E-R diagram, team skills, work schedule
– Database design, data dictionary, context diagram, service area
analysis, Web site with: (a) resumes/pictures, (b) project description, (c)
preliminary work schedule
– Data flow diagrams, database with sample data, Web site with: (a) E-R
diagram, (b) RDBM, (c) Data dictionary, (d) Service area analysis
• One TA assigned to each team to provide technical support
• Team roles:
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Project manager
System analyst(s)
Programmer/analyst(s)
Database manager
Webmaster
Application version manager
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1999
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Introduction to IT Project Management
• A project:
– has a goal
– has a start and a finish
– requires resources, including people, money, equipment and
administration
– requires coordination
• IT projects differ from ordinary projects due to:
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Unclear objectives
Project risk: excessive time, cost and unmet objectives
Variety of project types
Difficulty in calculating requirements and visualizing end-product
Variety of management structures/styles
IT project management incorporates all skills you are likely to
learn in the Heinz School curriculum!
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1999
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IT Project Types
• System development
– Transactions systems
– Decision support
– Expert systems
• Package implementation
– Personal productivity
– Groupware
– Enterprise-wide applications
•
•
•
•
Systems architecture
Selection projects
Business process re-engineering
Prototyping
IT projects can encompass various types and require many different
skills, client bases and technologies
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1999
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IT Project Components
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sponsor
Steering committee
Users
IT staff
In-house (but external to project team) technical specialists
External consultants/contractors
Project team:
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Project manager
Project leader
Analysts
Designers
Programmers/developers: RDBM, Web, decision models, network
Librarian/secretary/version control manager
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1999
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IT Project Stages
•
•
•
•
Initiation
Feasibility assessment
Project planning
Project implementation
(multiple phases):
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(Fig. 1.8)
Schedule tasks
Obtain resources
Execute tasks
Collect results
Check quality
Assess progress
Report
Plan next phase
Refine estimates
• Project termination
Tuesday, October 19,
1999
(Fig. 1.9)
(Source: Managing Technology Projects, McLeod and Smith, Course Technology, 1995)
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IT Project Pre-Implementation Steps
• Definition:
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Project originator, sponsor
Project title, goal
Deadline, budget
Assumptions, moral/ethical or legal issues
• Feasibility:
– Business issues: cost savings, new services, strategic advantage, etc.
– Technical issues: updating obsolete technology, feasibility of deadline,
etc.
– Alternatives identification and analysis
• Scope
– Functional requirements
– Context diagram: external entities, external systems, data exchange
media, system boundary
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1999
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IT Project Pre-Implementation Steps
(cont’d)
• Technical Environment
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Hardware platform(s)
Development tool(s)
Security
Performance/time constraints
• Standards
– Required technical skills
– Quality standards
– Documentation
• Deliverables
– Product breakdown model: physical products that the project will
deliver
– Less tangible outcomes, e.g. increased productivity
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1999
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IT Project Pre-Implementation Steps
(cont’d)
• Determining tasks to perform:
– Construct tasks - deliverables matrix
• Determine skills, personnel required
– Construct skills - tasks matrix and skills - job title matrix
• Make preliminary time estimates
– Based on work breakdown structure: individual tasks and sub-tasks
– Don’t worry about individual assignments and specific durations
How do we know that a project is successful?
• It meets requirements
• It is delivered on time
• It is delivered within budget
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1999
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Generic Project Management Phases
• Create a realistic project
schedule
• Manage the project and
adjust to changes
• Communicate results and
progress
• Evaluate project
performance upon
completion
• Project management
software is crucial
Create project
schedule
Manage the
schedule
Track
progress
Adjust
the plan
Communicate
progress
Communicate
schedule changes
(Adapted from Microsoft Project98 Step by Step, Catapault Press, 1997)
Project management software must be used throughout the
project to be useful!
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1999
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Project Management Tools
• Gantt chart:
– list of project task
category/task
durations
– task predecessors,
successors
– task completion status
• Project Calendar:
– relates task durations
to elapsed time
– represents days off,
holidays
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1999
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Project Management Tools (cont’d)
• PERT Chart
– network view of
tasks
– used to identify
critical tasks
– used to identify
critical path
• Resource Usage
Chart
– total work time by
task and by day
– Task Usage Chart
shows work time by
task
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1999
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