Unit IV Presentation
Unit 4 (Monitoring and Control)
1) Creating Framework
Exercising control over a project and ensuring that targets
are met is a matter of regular monitoring.
Finding out what is happening and comparing it with
current targets.
The projects starts its execution, the project must be
carefully monitored to ensure the projects progress.
Expected outcomes are compared with the actual ones.
Project control is a continuous process of monitoring the
progress of the project plan and is also includes re-planning of
activities.
Revising the planning strategy is due to,
Delay in completion of the project within the target time
Quality factors
Inadequate functionality in adopting newer techniques
Actual estimation
1.1) Responsibility
The overall responsibility for ensuring satisfactory progress
on a project is often the role of the project steering
committee or project board.
Categories of reporting are classified as,
Formal and
Informal.
Formal regular types can be oral or written.
Standard oral communication of minutes are kept where as
written type gets the reporting issues in a separate written
format.
Formal ad hoc are mostly received information of different
levels towards the end of the project and generate written
reports.
Informal, oral and ad hoc provides early warning to the
system and must be backed up by formal reporting
procedures.
1.2) Assessing progress
The basis of information collected and collated at regular
intervals or when specific events occur.
Information will be objective and tangible.
The information can however, measure the projects
objectives in determining whether the project can produce
deliverables or not.
Single activity will not yield a deliverable work product but
a group of activities can achieve the specified tangible
product.
The development of the project measures the progress
assessment.
It is carried out by the team members who are associated
with the project activities.
1.3) Setting checkpoints
Regular
Tied to specific events such as the production of a report.
1.4) Taking snapshots
Manager needs to receive information about progress will
depend upon the size and degree of risk of the project.
Progress reviews will generally take place at particular
points during the life of a project it is known as review
points or control points.
2) Collecting the data
Gather information about partially completed activities.
Difficult to make the forecasts accurately.
2.1) Partial completion reporting
Organizations use standard accounting systems with weekly
timesheets to charge staff time to individual jobs.
2.2) Risk reporting
Reporting is to avoid asking for estimated completion dates.
Traffic-light methods.
Steps are,
Identify the first level elements for assessment
Break the first level elements in to second level elements
Asses the second level elements and mark the colors.
Traffic-light methods,
Green on target
Amber not on target but recoverable
Red not on target and difficult to recover
Review all second level elements to reach the first level
assessments.
Review both first and the second level assessments to
produce an overall assessments.
Focus on non achievement factors.
Assessment forms can be used to evaluate the overall status
of the project.
Critical activities denoted by red color.
3) Visualizing progress
A manager needs some way of presenting that data to
greatest effect.
Some methods of presenting picture are,
Gantt chart tracking project progress
It is the simple and the oldest form of representing the
progress of the project.
It consists of activity bar that indicates the scheduled
activity dates and the duration along with the activity
floats.
Slip chart visual indication of activities that are not
progressing to schedule.
An alternative view of Gantt chart by providing a visual
indication of those activities which are not on schedule.
The more bend in the greater the variation in the project
plan.
If the slip line deviates more towards the non achievement
of project objectives then it has to be reconsidered
Additional slip lines can be included at regular intervals.
Ball charts way of showing or not targets have been
met or not.
It is represented in the form of circles that indicate the
start and the end point completion of activities.
Circles of the ball chart mostly contain only two dates the
original and the revised one.
An activity is denoted by a red circle and green color
denotes that the activity is ahead of its schedule.
Slippage in the project completion date but it is overcome
by the timeline charts.
The Timeline recording and displaying the way in
which targets have changed.
The chart represents the planned time along the horizontal
axis and the actual time along the vertical axis.
A line down the horizontal axis represents the scheduled
activity completion dates and the slip in the line indicates
a delay in the respective activities.
It is used to calculate the duration of execution of the
project.
4) Cost monitoring
It provides an indication of the effort.
It provides a simple method of comparing actual and
planned expenditure.
The more cost is incurred to complete the activities to keep
the project on schedule.
The chart does a comparison between the actual and the
planned expenditure.
Cost charts become much more useful to calculate the future
costs.
5) Earned Value
The total value credited to a project at any point is known as
the earned value.
The assigned value is the original budgeted cost value and
termed as a planned value or budgeted cost of work
schedule.
Common methods used in assigning an earned value are,
1) 0/100 technique
2) 50/50 technique
3) Milestone technique
0/100 technique is suitable for longer duration cost
estimation.
Earned value denotes the total value credited to a project at
any point and it is termed as budgeted cost of work
performed(BCWP).
Budgeted cost of work performed(BCWP).
The baseline budget
Monitoring earned value
Schedule variance
Cost variance
Performance ratios.
5.1) Baseline Budgets
To setup an earned value analysis, the first step is to create a
baseline budget.
Common ways of measuring earned value in software
development process is persons hours or work days.
The 0/100 technique can be used to get the creditability of
earned value.
5.2) Monitoring Earned value
The earned value analysis is to monitor the project progress.
Monitoring process indicates the completion of tasks and
includes the activity start and milestone achievement of the
project.
The actual cost is calculated by the actual cost of each task
and is also called as actual cost of work performed.
Types of variance are,
1) Schedule variance difference between the earned
value and the planned value indicates the degree of the
completed work .
2) Cost variance difference between the earned value
and the actual cost of a completed work results in cost
variance.
a) Positive cost variance project under control
b) Negative cost variance actual cost incurred is much
more than the planned one.
5.3) performance ratios
Performance ratios defines two index values namely cost
performance index and schedule performance index.
Formulas,
CPI = Earned value/Actual costs
SPI = Earned value/ Planned value
Greater value work is completed better than planned
Lesser value work is more costlier than planned.
6) Prioritizing Monitoring
Levels of monitoring are,
Critical path activities activities in the critical path are
delayed in project completion date.
Activities with no free float activities can have a
serious effect on the resource schedule.
Activities with less than a specified float activities
must be monitored very closely.
High risk activities risks are identified
Activities using critical resources activities are very
expensive and require high level of monitoring.
7) Getting Project Back to Target
Projects are subjected to delays and unexpected events.
Two main strategies are,
Shorten the critical path it is determine by the overall
duration of the project.
The resource used must be effectively allocated to all
the activities so that no resources are idle at any point
of time.
Swapping of critical and non-critical activities can also
be used to shorten the time limit and bring the project
back to target.
Disadvantage It produce more paths while shortening
which can become critical.
Reconsider the precedence requirements activities can
be sub divided into component and that can start
immediately.
The project can be brought back to target by defining
constraints to certain activities that effect the other
activities for its completion.
Constraints would have a major impact on the quality
factors, the risk involved which can cause a delay in carrying
out the activities.
8) Change Control
Change control implies the authority to approve and rank
the changes.
It combines the automated tool with human to provide a
mechanism for control of change.
It is evaluated to assess the technical aspect of configuration
items and the budget.
8.1) Configuration librarians role
Identification of configuration items are subjected to change
control.
Project documentation and software products must be
maintained in central repository.
A formal set of procedures have to be setup to have control
over changes.
8.2) Change control procedures
Makes the final decision on the status and the priority of the
change based on the change report.
8.3) Changes in scope of a system
Changes done leads to changes in the size of the system.
Changes can be either from management or from user.
The changes made should not make the system to be
inconsistent by effecting the estimating factors.
9) Managing Contracts
9.1) Introduction
The acquisition and supply process are depicted for pre-
contract and post-contract.
Five major processes are,
1) Acquisition
2) Supply
3) Operation
4) Maintenance
5) Development
9.2) The supply process
The supplier process activities will need to undertake in
response to the request of supplier.
Initiation
Preparation of a response
Contract
Planning
Execution and control
Review and evaluation
Delivery and completion
10) Types of Contract
The external resources required could be in the form of
services.
Completed software package are classified as,
Bespoke system Kind of system is developed for an
individual that is created from scratch.
Off the shelf denotes what the user buys as it as and
called as shrink wrapped software.
Customized off the shelf represents a basic core
system that is modified based on the requirements
of the client.
10.1) Fixed price contracts
The price is fixed when the contracts is signed.
There will be no changes in the contract terms.
Advantages,
1) Known customer expenditure
2) Supplier motivation
Disadvantages,
1) Higher prices to allow for contingency
2) Difficulties in modifying requirements
3) Upward pressure on the cost of changes
4) Threat to system quality
10.2) Time and materials contracts
Estimates the overall cost based on the customers
requirements and it is not based on the final payment.
Advantages,
Ease of changing requirements
Lack of price pressure
Disadvantages,
Customer liability
Lack of incentives for supplier
10.3) Fixed price per unit delivered contracts
Contract is based on function point counting.
Size of the system which includes LOC, a price per unit is
also quoted.
Scope grows during the development process.
Advantages,
Customer understanding
Comparability
Emerging functionality
Supplier efficiency
Life cycle range
Disadvantages,
Difficulties with software size measurement
Changing requirements
Based on the approach used in contractor selection the
contracts can be classified as,
1) Open tendering process
2) Restricted tendering process
3) Negotiated procedure
10.4) Open tendering process evaluation process can be
time consuming and also expensive in open tendering
process.
10.5) Restricted tendering process bids can be made only
by suppliers who have been invited by the customer.
10.6) Negotiated procedure the restricted tendering process
fails because of the defects which lead to additional
payment towards the completion of the project.
11) Stages in Contract Placement
11.1) Requirements analysis
Preparation of an requirement document
Introduction
Description of the existing system
Current environment of the system
Customers future plans
System requirements based on either mandatory or desirable
Deadlines have to be defined
Additional information requires from the potential suppliers.
11.2) Evaluation plan
Preparing a plan to evaluate the submitted proposals.
Evaluating the desirable requirements
Validating the quality of the software system
Cost incurred for the life time of the proposed system.
11.3) Invitation to tender
Invitation to tender is not an offer itself but an invitation for
prospective suppliers to make an offer.
System requirements
Defining the scope of the system
Instruction to the bidders
Instruction to the bidders
List of the software products
Technical constraints
11.4) Evaluation of proposals
Evaluation has to be done in a planned manner
Questioning supplier representatives
Visiting the site of the development process
Conducting practical tests
Reduces risk of requirements.
12) Typical Terms of a Contract
The contents of a typical terms of contract are,
Definitions
Form of agreement
Goods and services to be supplied
Ownership of the software
Environment
Customer commitments
Acceptance procedures
Standards
Project and quality management
Timetable
Price and payment method
Miscellaneous legal requirements.
13) Contract management
It monitors the conversation between the supplier and the
customer while the concentrated work is being carried out.
Customer can make changes to the future direction of the
project and make decisions.
The entire project will require representative of the supplier
and the customer to interact with each other at different
points in the development process.
Activities involved in contract management includes,
1) Identifying customer approval
2) Negotiating successfully
3) Project deliverables
4) Managing change
5) Decision making
6) Legal obligations
7) Business laws.
14) Acceptance
Customer has to undergo acceptance testing towards the end
of the process.
Every contract would have defined a time limit for the
acceptance testing and the result has to be produced before
the time expires.
All the payment to the supplier depends on the acceptance
testing.
Every bug that is raised must be fixed within the period of
warranty.
