Evaluation and Project Management

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Management of Computer System Performance

• Chapter 13
• Evaluation and Project Management

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Evaluation and Project Management

• Agenda
• Project Planning
• Understanding Cost Components
• Estimating the Project
• Project Control
• Objective
• Students should be able to show the approaches
  applied in evaluation and project management .

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Understanding Cost Components

• Costs are usually divided into two elements.
  Direct and Indirect.
• Specific allocations are a function of Accounting
  Practices and may differ.
• Direct Costs-Labor, Materials, Facilities,
  Services and Supervision
• Indirect Costs-Administration, Fringe, GA, Sr.
  Management. Etc.

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Projects Project Management

• The following are some basic characteristics of a
  Project.
• Specific objectives defines concisely what you
  are trying to do and what you will deliver.in
  detail. This will be to solve some problem or
  set of problems.
• Schedule define specifically the duration of
  the effort
• Budget Identify what is the budget and all
  variables that will affect it.
• It should also include what you can and cannot
  control.
• Resources Identify who will do the work and
  commitments that those resources will be
  available.
• One-time rather than ongoing

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Who are the Project Players?

• The Sponsor The individual who has requested
  that the project be undertaken. They usually get
  or provide the funding and face the executives.
• (Remember the golden rule he who has the gold,
  rules)
• The Stakeholders Those who are affected by the
  project and its implementation,
• The Project Manager The individual responsible
  for the management of the project.
• Project Team The grunts. Individuals tasked to
  perform the work identified in the project plan.
• Bystanders Those who provide unwanted advice.

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Characteristics of a Project

• Sequence or phases of activities
• Unique (Non-repetitive)
• Simple and/or Complex
• Inter-related activities
• Specific Goal
• Specific Time-frame
• Specified Budget
• Defined Specifications

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Project Stages
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Leading Contributors to Project Success

• Formal guidelines
• Accountable sponsors
• Project management skills
• Measurement systems
• Formal priorities
• Regular communication
• Clear tracking
• Automated tools

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Why Projects Fail

• Lack of Scope Control
• Poor requirements Definition
• Schedule/Cost overruns

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Time Charge Numbers

• Project time accounting is begun before
  requirements development begins.
• In every project in most companies, each has its
  own budget.
• Control and protect that budget.
• The most efficient way to do this is through the
  use if real time accounting data. As people
  charge the account, identify who and what they
  are doing.
• As projects grow or become more complex, this
  becomes a problem.

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Importance of Estimates

• Estimates are created using the following three
  variables.
• Effort or Labor - This ensures that appropriate
  resources are provided to the project.
• Time - Establishes an expectation to allow team
  members to budget their time. This is also used
  to calculate cost elements such as cost of
  capital and carrying costs.
• Cost - Enables benefits to be weighed against
  costs. This is used as one of the key components
  of project valuation.

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Identifying Estimating Issues

• Supportive data in the form of time and cost
  standards.
• The Basis of Estimate is a useful tool.
• Reasonability based on experience
• Definition of resource requirements for each
  activity
• Influencing factors other than time and cost
• Contingency plan estimates

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IT Project Management - WBS

• Examples
• Goal e-business site
• Function 1-Storyboards
• 1.1 Create layout Template
• 1.2 Select Color Scheme
• 1.3 Identify threads
• Function 2 Site System Design
• 2.1 Identify Static Pages
• 2.2 Identify Dynamic Pages
• 2.3 Identify Dynamic content templates
• Function 3 -

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Importance of Scheduling

• Role of project schedule
• Coordinate tasks with non-project activities.
• Acquiring or committing capital
• Coordinate a projects task activities.
• Assign resources over time.
• Identify schedule and resource issues.
• Identify potential problems.

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Planning Tools and Techniques

• Gantt Chart Popularized by Henry Gantt in the
  early 1900s.
• Simple to construct,
• Communicates resources and tasks well.
• PERT Chart Program Evaluation and Review
  Technique - Invented by US Navy in 1958,
• More complex to construct,
• Clearly shows relationships between tasks,
• Show a more complete picture of the project.

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Schedule Components

• Planned start and expected finish dates for all
  phases
• Major milestones and/or key events
• Related reports
• Dependencies and the sequence of activities
• There are three ways to present information
  visually. These are
• The Calendar
• The Gantt chart
• The PERT/CPM (Arrow) chart

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Calendar
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Gantt
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Gantt Chart - Types of Task Relationships
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PERT/CPM (Arrow)
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The Critical Path

• For any presentation of a project schedule, the
  one element that requires clear and concise
  definition is the Critical Path.
• The Critical Path is a sequence of activities
  that drive the completion date.
• Late critical path activity equals late project
  completion.
• Identify critical path activities early and
  monitor closely.
• Create prevention and contingency plans.
• Monitor activities that could enter the critical
  path.

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Project Schedule Critical Path

• The critical path is a sequence of Tasks (WBS
  elements) that drive the completion date.
• Most critical path element have little, if any,
  slack time. It must be completed sequentially
  and on schedule.
• If the critical Task path element is late, the
  project will be late.

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Project Schedule Critical Path

• The management of a projects critical path is
  critical. It is strongly suggested that you, as
  the Project Manager
• Identify critical path activities early and
  monitor closely.
• Create prevention and contingency plans.
• Monitor activities that could enter the critical
  path.

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Project Schedules

• Role of project schedule
• Coordinate tasks with non-project related
  activities.
• Coordinate a projects task activities.
• Assign resources over time.
• Identify schedule and resource issues.
• Identify potential problems.
• Planned start and expected finish dates for all
  phases.
• Major milestones and/or key events.
• Related reports.
• Dependencies and the sequence of activities.

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Creating a Bottom-Up Budget

• This, as the title implies, requires that each
  element within the Project be priced.
• Determine how, at what rate, and when monetary
  resources will be applied to a project. This is
  a cost of capital approach and is critical to the
  management of the budget.
• Demonstrate whether you can meet the top-down
  budget developed during the scope phase.

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Risk and Variance

• The difference between the initial project budget
  and the actual spending on the project is
  variance.
• Causes of budget variance
• Accuracy of estimates this is usually the
  biggest issue. Errors are made when getting
  aggressive to win the job.
• Inflation Lately, this has been in check.
  Labor inflation is a potential problem.
• Availability of resources Try to get a
  WebSphere Programmer.
• Use of overtime and Seasonal fluctuations in
  prices if not accounted, can trash a budget.

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Project PlanningKeys to Failure

• Unplanned Schedule Delays are a major factor in
  project failures.
• Many Project Managers fail to allow for any slack
  in any portion of the schedule, essentially
  placing everything on the critical path. This is
  sure to result in conflicts.
• Pre-mature Estimates - too precise with out the
• Project Schedule Not Adjusted as Scope Changes
• Failure to recognize Schedule Dependencies
• Project Falls prone to the Mythical Man-month
  theory - Brooks

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Risk Management

• All Projects must have a risk management process
  in place. This must include risk mitigation.
• This approach is to identify critical paths
  through the projects life and to identify
  various issues associated with each path.
• Issues are weighted and those with the greatest
  probability of occurrence are mitigated with
  alternative plans. 

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IT Project Risk Management

• Risk is inherent in every project.
• Risk is a fundamental ingredient of opportunity.
• It is inherent in every project.
• It is the possibility, not the certainty, of
  bearing a loss that must be addressed.
• Loss could be anything from diminished quality of
  an end product to increased cost, missed
  deadlines, or project failure.

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IT Project Risk Management

• Risk is neither intrinsically good nor bad.
• Risk is not something to avoid, especially
  because is inherent in every project. It is to be
  mitigated.
• Most risk mitigation methodologies consider risk
  as the basis for opportunity.
• The manner in which the risk is mitigated may be
  the professional differentiator between your
  project solution and that of your competitor.
• As such, risk in itself, risk is neither
  essentially good nor bad.

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IT Project Risk Management

• Risk is not something to fear, but something to
  manage.
• Successful teams deal with risk by recognizing
  and minimizing uncertainty
• They do this by proactively and aggressively
  addressing each identified risk area and
  developing a mitigation for it..

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IT Project Risk Management

• Assess risks continuously throughout the project
  life cycle. Successful risk management is more
  than just identifying risk factors at the start
  of the project
• Risk must be addressed and a constant assessment
  of risk throughout the life of the project must
  be undertaken.
• New risks are revealed during the life of a
  project and work continues
• Previously identified risks change. They become
  either
• more or less probable or more or less severe.

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IT Project Risk Management

• Ongoing risk management of a project introduces a
  degree of resilience to change.
• Proactive risk management involves identifying
  risks ahead of time and preventing them through
  reduction, transference, or avoidance.
• Reduce the risk. Risk reduction tries
• to minimize the likelihood that a risk will occur
  or,
• to minimize the impact if the risk does occur.
• Ex architecting a system with strong system
  security so that the risk of data loss or
  corruption is reduced.
• Ex. minimizing the impact of a risk is installing
  an uninterruptible power supply to your
  hardware.     

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IT Project Risk Management

• Transfer the Risk. (this does not refer to giving
  it to the new PM when you leave.)
• Risk transference reduces overall risk by
  ensuring that it is handled by the most competent
  party.
• Ex when a company contracts with a third-party
  firm to deploy software, the customer determines
  that contracting with an outside entity will
  result in fewer and less severe risks than if the
  customers own people were to do it.
• A company may also transfer a risk by
  transferring the consequences.
• Ex. A company may have offsite data backup and
  storage.
• Ex A company might choose to have an
  application-hosting provider host its critical
  functionality in a more secure or proven
  environment.

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IT Project Risk Management

• Avoid the risk.
• Risk avoidance tries to eliminate the risk by
  doing something less risky. Selecting an
  alternative.
• In the worst case this may involve canceling a
  project, but in other cases it could involve
  sacrificing some functional requirements to allow
  adoption of a packaged solution or avoiding
  unproven technology.
• Ex instead of creating open Internet access for
  a Web-based application, the company might choose
  to build a virtual private network to provide
  greater security.
• Note Canceling a project, from a business
  perspective may, be the correct solution.

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The IT Risk Management Process

• The process for Risk Management addresses the
  following elements
• Identify risks and quantify potential damages.
• Determine and document risks likely to affect the
  project.
• Perform on a regular basis.
• Use strategies to reduce potential impact.
• Address both internal and external risks.
• This is done from both a Top down and Bottoms up
  perspective.

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Risk and Budget Contingency

• Management reserve
• Budget to accommodate risks
• Manage to achieve the expected value
• Allocate time and money at expected value
• This is easier said than done. Maintaining a
  management reserve is usually difficult. It is
  one of the first things to go when a contract is
  bid competitively. For internal projects, there
  remains hope.

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• Question ?

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Homework