Chapter-1, Question No. 5 (page no.35)Skim through Appendix A on Microsoft Project 2003. Review information about Project 2003 from Microsoft’s Web site (
www.microsoft.com/project). Also, visit The Project Management Center (
www.infogoal.com/pmc) and visit two other sites for project management software providers. Write a two-page paper answering the following questions:
a) What function does project management software provide that you cannot do easily using other tools such as a spreadsheet ora database?
b) How do the three different tools you reviewed compare, based on cost of the tool, key features, and other relevant criteria?
c) How can Organizations justify investing in enterprise project management soft ware?
Answer:
It is well known that Project management software has become an important tool for various organizations. The ease with which the task can be performed with the use of such tool is much more as compared to other tools such as a spreadsheet or a database. As the needs of the organizations to handle sophisticated projects became higher, the development of such tools has become a helpful tool in getting the job done.
Project management software helps organizations plan and manage project on an enterprise level. The Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solution is an example of project management software. The Microsoft project 2003 assists in project management by helping users manage different aspects of all nine project management knowledge areas. It is the clear market leader among hundreds of project management softwares available in the market today.
Some of the features provided by the project management software, Microsoft project 2003, are as follows:
-New ability to manage proposed and committed resources.
-New shared workspace for storing non-project files (including check-in and versioning)
-Backward and forward compatibility so users of previous and future versions of project can easily share files.
-New online help for up-to-date information and assistance via the web.
-New Euro currency converter toolbar.
-Improved ability to create one-page printouts of project plans easily.
-New calendar and tracking setup wizards.
-Improved Project Guide, which is an interactive Help tool.
-No more requirement that a developer hard-code paths for files used in customizing the Project Guide.
-Enhanced developer tools for integration with Microsoft Office.
The other tool used for is dotProject which is a open source web-based project management software. Thousands of users, from software start ups, to construction companies, to colleges, to large organizations have successfully used this software to manage projects. An extended community provides hosting, support and extensions.
dotProject provides the following features:
· Easy to use, straight forward user interface
· User Permissions and Security Management
· Client/ Company management
· Project management
· Project Planning
· Project Control
· Target budgets
· Planned Durations and Actual Time Spent
· Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
· Task dependency
· Graphic Display: Gantt Charts and Project Color Coding
White Cloud is an advanced and integrated project management solution, specialised for agile software development teams. White Cloud delivers functionality required to bring complex software projects to successful completion. It is a technically advanced and capability-rich team-environment to cost-effectively handle the critical demands of software development management projects. White Cloud provides various integrated functionality such as Project and Task Management, scheduling, Timesheet System, Product and Deliverables management, Defect, Risk, Issues and Change Control, Document version Control, Todo-Lists, Fully Customisable User Interface, flexible reporting System.
The main thing that the organization should understand before choosing the management software is the available features provided, user interface, capability, flexibility, reasonable cost, etc. If the product seems to be fulfilling the requirements of the management team, then there will be higher chances for the organization to take advantage from the product.
References:
White Cloud Systems, 10 September 2007,
www.infogoal.comMicrosoft project 2003, 8 September 2007,
www.microsoft.com/projectChapter-2, Question No. 5 (Page no.66)Write a one-to two page summary of an article about the importance of top management support for successful information technology projects.
Answer:
Top management commitment is the factor that determines the tipping point between potential success and failure when developing and implementing business continuity management projects and systems. A project can lead to a success only if the entire processes to be carried out are managed properly. If a project is successfully developed, implemented and executed, the main reason behind it is obviously the top management support.
Sandesh Sheth, Business Continuity Consultant, Enterprise Risk Management Consulting Group, Satyam Computer Services Limited, describes the ten things that indicate the existence of top management support.
Top management is the main thing behind the initiation of the business continuity project. The need of business continuity initiation has been felt by almost all of the top management which is usually a case of ‘top-down force’ rather than a ‘bottom-up pull’. The top management ensures organization wide commitment for the project and the availability of resources by issuing a project charter, which is a formal authorization for a project to start. An introductory briefing by top management personnel is important to get the organization-wide visibility that a business continuity project needs. Top management validates the Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs), and also challenges the RTOs and RPOs obtained, if necessary. A RTO is the period of time within which systems, applications, or functions must be recovered after an outage (e.g. one business day). RPO is the targeted point in time to which systems and data must be recovered after an outage as determined by the business unit. The selection of business continuity and backup strategy is an important factor that determines a top management. The top management makes the final decision on the business continuity strategy and the backup strategy based on the RTOs and the RPOs, respectively. An active participation of the top management during emergency procedures helps to create awareness on what the objective is and also to know how the employees are responding to such situations. It is also important for the top management representative to acknowledge about the importance of disaster recovery during the exercises. This also signifies the importance that is attached to the business continuity project. Top management representatives should attend business continuity and disaster recovery related conferences, forums, etc. which expose them to industry best practices and also enable discussions with other participants in the same industry.
A top management should be able to explain about business continuity management system, the return back on the investment and its components within the attention span of a spectator is the hallmark of management commitment to understanding the essence of business continuity. The top management should also know either the representatives assigned by them is really capable of performing the same tasks as the reporting manager or not. The top management representative is considered as the successor to the top management and this process is validated through succession planning exercise.
Reference:
Sheth, Sandesh, 12 september 2007,
http://www.continuitycentral.comSandesh Sheth is a Business Continuity Consultant, a Six Sigma Black Belt and a Certified Information Systems Auditor and Project Management Professional presently working for State Judiciary Information Systems in the US. He has been developing and implementing business continuity management systems for organizations worldwide for the past six years. He represents the Enterprise Risk Management Consulting Group of Satyam Computer Services Limited. Sandesh can be reached on
sandesh.sheth@yahoo.comChapter 3: Question no. 1(Page no.111)Study the WBS and Gantt charts provided in Figures 3-3 and 3-4. Enter the WBS into Project 2003, indenting tasks as shown to create the WBS hierarchy. Then enter durations and dependencies to try to reproduce the Gantt chart. Check your work with the files available on the companion web site for this text.
Figure: Gantt Chart
Figure: WBS
Chapter-4, Question No. 1 (Page no. 160)
Write a two-page paper based on the opening case. Answer the following questions:
a. What do you think the real problem was in this case?
b. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or Why not?
c. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or Why not?
d. What could Nick have done to be a better project manager?
e. What should top management have done to help Nick?
Opening CaseNick Carson recently became the project manager of a critical biotech project for his company in Silicon Valley. This project involved creating the hardware and software for a DNA-sequencing instrument used in assembling and analysing the human genome. Each instrument sold for approximately $20000, and various clients would purchase several instruments. One hundred instruments running twenty-four hours per day could decipher the entire human genome in les than two years. The biotech project was the company’s largest project, and it has tremendous potential for future growth and revenues. Unfortunately, there were problems managing this large project. It had been underway forb three years and had already gone through three different project managers. Nick had been the lead software developer on the project before top management made him the project manager. Top management told him to do whatever it took to deliver the first version of the software for the DNA-sequencing instrument in four months and a production version in nine months. Negotiations for a potential corporate buyout with a larger company influenced top management’s sense of urgency to complete the project.
Nick was highly energetic and intelligent and had the technical background to make the project a success. He delved into the technical problems and found some critical flaws that were keeping the DNA-sequencing instrument from working. He was having difficulty, however, in his new role as project manager. Although nick and his team got he product out on time, top management was upset because Nick did not focus on managing all aspects of the project. He never provided top management with accurate schedules or detailed plans of what was happening on the project. Instead of performing the work of project manager, Nick had taken on the role of software integrator and troubleshooter. Nick, however, did not understand top management’s problem- he delivered the product, didn’t he? Didn’t they realize how valuable he was?
Answer:
A successful project is the one in which it is ensured that all the elements of a project come together at the right time. Project integration management involves coordinating all of the other project management knowledge areas throughout a project’s life cycle.
As described in the Opening Case, the biotech project was the company’s largest project, it had been underway for three years and had already gone through three different project managers. Nick Carson, who has been the lead software developer on the project, has now been assigned as the project manager and also the management has made him to deliver the first version of the software. From this, we can see that the company is totally in the lack of a Top management support and a proper vision. It is difficult to achieve a goal if a management fails to understand the scope, make proper decisions and take the correct path. Just a temporary outcome is not the basis on which a company can measure its success, but the main thing is the track it is on to the future endeavours. The decision of the management to assign Nick Carson as the project manager as well as the Top management loosing its patience for the product is the main problem in this case. The Top management should always know the capability of its staffs and decide whether a person is suitable for a particular task or not.
In my personal view, I don’t think the case present a realistic scenario. As it is stated that the project was a critical biotech project in Silicon Valley involved in creating the hardware and software for a DNA-sequencing instrument used in assembling and analysing the human genome, the decision made by the Top management in assigning the Project Manager seems really weak, which is very hard to believe in such a so-called large project. Also, such a giant project always takes in account a very strict and scheduled path to get to the target.
Also, it is clear in the case that Nick Carson, project manager, was not an appropriate person for the post. He lacked the quality of a good project manager, because of the fact that he had no proper scheduling, planning and communicating with the top management. He should have reported about all the tasks that were done and to be done to the top management, which he failed to do. Any of the problems that is in presence could have been solved at that particular time with the help of top management, or at least they could have given him some alternative steps to cope with the problem. A Good project manager should always take proper steps to handle the set of tasks at a particular time. If one of the steps gets neglected, it is no doubt that the entire project will loose the track, and hence, the project will never be a successful one. Thus, it can also be said that Nick did not have the Managerial skills as well as did not perform the job functions of project management. The project management job functions that should have been performed by Nick are as follows:
-Define scope of project
-Identify stakeholders, decision-makers, and escalation procedures
-Develop detailed task list
-Estimate Time requirements
-Develop initial project management flowchart
-Identify required resources and budget
-Evaluate project requirements
-Identify and evaluate risks
-Prepare contingency plan
-Identify interdependencies
-Identify and track critical milestones
-Participate in project phase review
-Secure needed resources
-Manage and change control process
-Report project status
Even though, some of the steps seemed to have followed in the project, the main steps were not taken into account, which caused the project task to move out of balance.
The Top Management always has an important role in directing the project, no matter how skilled the successive staffs are. It should always act as an navigator to the project processes. If the main processes involved in Project integration management would have been followed by the Top Management while carrying out the project, there would be a chance to get success in the project, and, Nick could have proved himself as a Good project Manager. The steps that should have been followed are:
-Develop the project charter
-Develop the preliminary project scope statement
-Direct and manage project execution
-Monitor and control the project work
-Perform integrated change control
-Close the project
Hence, this opening case is a very suitable example which shows that a project can never be a successful one if it does not keep track of the important steps that should be followed during the long run.
Exercises, Chapter 5, Question No. 1. (Page 195)Use PowerPoint, Visio, or similar software to create a WBS in chart form (similar to an organizational chart-see the sample in figure 5-2).Assume the level 1 categories are initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. Under the executing section, include level 2 categories of analysis, design, prototyping, testing, implementation, and support. Assume the support category includes level 3 items called training, documentation, user support, and enhancements.
Answer:
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the total scope of the project. Because a project includes many people and various deliverables, it will be efficient if the entire tasks are organized and divided into logical arts based on how the work will be performed. The importance of the development of WBS is so crucial that some project management experts believe that work should not be done on a project if it is not included in the WBS.
Following figure shows the WBS for a project, and is drawn using PowerPoint.
Figure: WBS
Chapter 5: Question No. 2. (Page 195)
Create the same WBS described in Exercise 1 using Project 2003, indenting categories appropriately. Use the outline numbering feature to display the outline numbers (click Tools on the menu bar, click Options, and then click Show outline number). For example, your WBS should start with 1.0 Initiating. Do not enter any durations or dependencies. See Appendix A or Project 2003 help for assistance. Print the resulting Gantt chart on one page, being sure to display the entire Task Name Column.
Figure: Gantt Chart
Exercises, Chapter 6, Question No. 2 (Page240)
Consider Table 6-3, Network Diagram Data for a Small Project. All duration estimates or estimated times are in days; and the network proceeds from Node 1 to Node 9.
Draw an AOA network diagram representing the project. Put the node numbers in circles and draw arrows from node to node, labeling each arrow with the activity letter and estimated time.
Answer:
The activity-on-arrow (AOA) is a network diagramming technique in which activities are represented by arrows and connected at points called nodes to illustrate the sequence of activities. This technique is also known as arrow diagramming method (ADM).
The AOA network diagram representing the project is given below.
Note: .All durations are assumed in days.
Figure : AOA Network Diagram
Identify all of the paths on the network diagram and note how long they are, using Figure 6-8 (Page 220) as a guide for how to represent each path.
Answer:
The paths on the network diagram with their length are as follows:-
Path 1: A-B-E-H-K Length=2+2+2+2+2=8 days
Path 2: A-B-E-I-J-K Length=2+2+2+5+1+2=14 days
Path 3: A-C-F-H-K Length=2+3+3+2+2=12 days
Path 4: A-C-F-I-J-K Length=2+3+3+5+1+2=16 days
Path 5: A-D-G-J-K Length=2+4+6+1+2=15 days
What is the critical path for this project and how long is it?
Answer:
The critical path for this project is Path 4, i.e. A-C-F-I-J-K. The length of this path is 16 days.
What is the shortest possible time it will take to complete this project?
Answer:
The shortest possible time that will take to complete this project is 8 days.
Review the online tutorials for Gantt and PERT charts in the third Suggested Reading by Mark Kelly in this chapter. Write a one-page paper with your answers to the questions in the tutorials .Also include any questions you had in doing the tutorials.
Review of PERTTutorial Question 1: Which tasks are on the critical path of the PERT chart above?
Answer
The critical path of the PERT chart above is the path A-B-D-F-I.
Tutorial Question 2: What is the slack time for tasks C, D and G?
Answer.
The slack time available for task C is 1 day.
There is no slack time available for task D.
The slack time available for task G is 2 days.
Tutorial Question 3: The person working on task C tells the project manager he can’t work until one day after the scheduled starting date. What impact would this have on the completion date of the project? Why?
Answer
This will not effect on the completion of the project because Task C has one day of slack time which it can use in this case.
Tutorial Question 4: Task A will be delayed by 2 days because some equipment has arrived late. If the project manager still wants to finish the project within the original time frame, he will need to shorten the time for one or more of the tasks. What steps can he take to reduce the number of days allocated to a task?
Answer
To finish the project within the original time frame in this situation, the project manager has an option to put more people to work on the project, work more hours in a day or increase the efficiency of work.
Tutorial Question 5: The project manager decides to reduce the time needed for tasks D and F by one day each. How effective will this reduction be in achieving his aim of maintaining the original finish time for the project?
Answer
Reducing tasks D and F each by one day would only shorten the project by one day since after a 2 day reduction, tasks D and F are no longer on the critical path. To further shorten the project time, the project manager would have to shorten tasks on the new critical path A-B-C-E-I.
Review of Gantt Chart
Question 1: What is the first milestone in this project?
Answer: The first milestone in this project is task 7, “Sign Contract” on 30/11/2000.
Question 2: How much ‘slack’ time is there after commencement of the alterations, including weekends?
Answer: The remaining slack time is 3 days in the given chart after the commencement of the alterations including weekends.
Question 3: The supplier of the cable has just informed you that the cable delivered to you is faulty and the replacement cable will not arrive until the end of Monday 18 December. What impact will this have on the end date?
Answer: The end date would be delayed by 3 days because the cabling to start on 14th of December. This makes the installation to start on 19 December and end date will change from 19 December to 22 December.
Question 4: What options would a project manager have if the cable was arriving on 21 December and the due date still had to be met?
Answer: If the cable was arriving on 21 December and the due date still had to be met, then project manager would have to take the following steps:
· Work with full energy to finish it as soon as possible.
Answer:
Now, EMV for above project are listed as:
