CHAPTER 3 Project management for IT professionals includes planning, scheduling, monitoring and controlling, and reporting on information system

development. Project management techniques can be used throughout SDLC. System developers can initiate a formal project as early as the preliminary investigation stage, or later on, as analysis, design, and implementation activities occur. aNy change in one leg of the triangle will affect the other two legs. Project triangle where the three legs are cost, scope, and time. Project manager, or project leader, USUally is a senior systems analyst or an IT department manager if the project is large. Project coordinator handles administrative responsibilities for the team and negotiates with users who might have conflicting requirements or want changes that would require additional time or expense. Project managers typically perform four activities, or functions: planning, scheduling, monitoring, and reporting. Project planning includes identifying all project tasks and estimating the completion time and cost of each. Project scheduling involves the creation of a specific timetable, usually in the form of charts that show tasks, task dependencies, and critical tasks that might delay the project. Sched uling also involves select ing and staffing t he proj ect t eam a nd assigning specific t asks to team members. Project scheduli ng uses Gantt charts and PERT/CPM charts, Project monitoring requires guid ing, supervising, a nd coordinat ing the project team's workload. The project manager must monitor the progress, evaluate the results, and take corrective action when necessary to control t he project and stay on target.

Project reporting includes regular progress reports t o management, users, and the project team itself. STEP I: CREATE A WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE A work breakdown structure (WBS) involves brea king a project down into a series of smaller tasks. Gantt charts were developed al most 100 yea rs ago by Henry L. Gantt, a mechanical engineer and management consultant. His goal was to design a chart that could show planned and actual progress on a project. A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that represents a set of tasks. The posit ion of the bar shows the planned starting and ending time of each task, and the length of the bar indicates its duration. On the horizontal axis, time ca n be shown as elapsed time from a fixed starting point, or as actual calendar dates. A Gantt chart also can simplify a complex project by combining several activities into a task group that contains subsidiary tasks. This allows a complex project to be viewed as a set of integrated modules. Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) was developed by the U.S.Navy to manage very complex projects, such as the construction of nuclear submarines. Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed by private industry to meet similar project management needs. PERT is a bottom-up technique because it analyzes a large, complex project as a series of individual tasks An example of a PERT chart, which Microsoft calls a network diagram. Although a Gantt chart offers a valuable snapshot view of the project, PERT charts are more useful for scheduling, monitoring, and controlling the actual work. With a PERT chart, a project manager can convert task start and finish times to actual dates by laying out the entire project on a calendar. A task, or activity, is any work that has a beginning and an end and requires theuse of company resources such as people, time, or money. Examples of tasks include conducting interviews, designing a report, selecting software, waiting for the delivery of equipment, or training users. Tasks are basic units of work that the project manager plans, schedules, and monitors - so they should be relatively small and

manageable. An event, or milestone, is a recognizable reference point that you can use to monitor progress. The first step in creating a WBS is to list all the tasks. A person-day represents the work that one person can complete in one day. The project manager first makes three time estimates for each task: an optimistic, or best-case estimate (B), a probable-case estimate (P), and a pessimistic,or worst-case estimate (W). weight is an importance value, to each estimate. (B+4P+W) 6 When developing duration estimates, project managers consider four factors: o Project size o Human resources o Experience with similar projects o Constraints STEP 2: IDENTIFY TASK PATTERNS Tasks in a work breakdown structure must be arranged in a logical sequence called a task pattern. Each rectangular box, called a task box The task name should be brief and descriptive, but it does not have to be unique in the project. The task ID can be a number or code that provides unique identification. The duration is the amount of time it will take to complete a task. The start day/date is the time that a task is scheduled to begin. The finish day/date is the time that a task is scheduled to be completed. DEPENDENT TASKS When tasks must be completed one after another When several tasks can start at the same time, each is called a concurrent task. Often, two or more concurrent tasks depend on a single prior task, which is called a predecessor task. In this situation, each concurrent task is called a successor task. STEP 3: CALCULATE THE CRITICAL PATH Critical path is a series of tasks which, if delayed, would affect the completion date of the overall project. Slack time is the amount of t ime that the task could be late without pushing back the completion date of the entire project.

A structured walk-through is a review of a project team member's work by other members of the team. Structured walk-throughs take place throughout the SDLC and are called design reviews, code reviews, or testing reviews, depending on The phase in which they occur. By monitoring and controlling the work, the project manager tries to anticipate problems, avoid them or minimize their impact, identify potential solutions, and select the best way to solve the problem. Microsoft Project is a full-featured program that holds the dominant share of the market. Gantt chart consists of horizontal bars, connected with arrows that indicate task dependencies. Network Diagram you will see the project tasks, dependencies, and a start and finish date for each task. It displays the same information as the Gantt chart, including task dependencies, but use task boxes to include much more detail. Calendar view is a good way to manage day-to-day activity. This view shows the tasks, similar to a PERT chart, as an overlay on the actual calendar. Because the critical path is highlighted in red, it is easy for a project manager to determine priorities at any point in time. A risk is an event that could affect the project negatively. Risk management is the process of identif ing, analyzing, anticipating, and monitoring risks to minimize their impact on the project. The first step in risk management is to develop a specific plan A risk management plan includes a review of the project's scope, stakeholders, budget, schedule, and any other internal or external factors that might affect the project. Risk identification lists each risk and assesses the likelihood that it could affect the project. Qualitative risk analysis evaluates each risk by estimating the probability that it will occur and the degreeof impact. The purpose of quantitative risk analysis is to understand the actual impact in terms of doll ars, time, project scope, or quality. Quantitative risk analysis can involve a modeling process called what-if analysis, which allows a project manager to vary one or more element(s) in a model to measure the effect on other elements. A risk response plan is a proactive effort to anticipate a risk and describe an action plan to deal with it.

Probability, which represents the likelihood that the risk will happen, expressed as a percentage Impact indicates the degree of adverse effect should the risk occur, on a Scale of 1 to 10 Cost indicates the potential financial impact of the risk Category, which specifies the risk type Description, which specifies the Nature of the risk Mitigation plan, which identifies plans to control or limit the risk Contingency plan, which specifies actions to be taken if the risk occurs Trigger identifies a condition that would initiate contingency plan projects without clear scope definitions are risky because they tend to expand gradually, without specific authorization, in a processcalled project creep CHAPTER 4 The systems analysis phase includes the four main activities :requirements modeling, data and process modeling, object modeling, and consideration of development strategies. requirements modeling, which involves factfinding to describe the current system and identification of the requirements for the new system, such as outputs, inputs, processes, performance, and security. Outputs refer to electronic or printed information produced by the system. Inputs refer to necessary data that enters the system, either manually or in an automated manner. Processes refer to the logical rules that are applied to transform the data into meaningful information. Performance refers to system characteristics such as speed, volume, capacity, availability, and reliability. Security refers to hardware, software,and procedural controls that safeguard and protect the system and its data from internal or external threats. While structured analysis treats processes and data as separate components, object-oriented analysis (0-0) combines data and the processes that act on the data into things called objects. These objects represent actual people,things, transactions, and events that affect the system. Development Strategies, you will consider various development options and prepare for the transition to the systems design phase of the SDLC. The deliverable,or end product, of the systems analysis phase is a system requirements

document, which is an overall design for the new system. Analytical skills enable you to identify a problem, evaluate the key elements, and develop a useful solution. Interpersonal skills are especially valuable to a systems analyst who must work with people at all organizational levels, balance conflicting needs of users, and communicate effectively. joint application development (JAD), which is a user-oriented technique for factfinding and requirements modeling. rapid application development (RAD) resembles a condensed version of the entire SDLC, with users involved every step of the way. While JAD typically focuses only on fact-finding and requirements determination, RAD provides a fast-track approach to a full spectrum of system development tasks, including planning, design, construction, and implementation. agile methods represent a recent trend that stresses intense interaction between system developers and users Joint application development UAD) is a popular fact-finding technique that brings users into the development process as active participants. Rapid application development (RAD) is a teambased technique that speeds up information systems development and produces a functioning information system.model, the end product of RAD is the new information system. The RAD model consists of four phases : requirements planning, user design, construction, and cutover, The requirements planning phase combines elements of the systems planning and systems analysis phases of the SDLC. user design phase, users interact with systems analysts and develop models and prototypes that represent all system processes, outputs, and inputs. The construction phase focuses on program and application development tasks similar to the SDLC. The cutover phase resembles the final tasks in the SDLC implementation phase, including data conversion, testing, changeover to the new system, and user training. Modeling involves graphical methods and nontechnical language that represent the system at various stages of development. Functional decomposition diagram (FDD) is a top-down representation of a functi on or process.

business process model (BPM) describes one or more business processes, such as handling an airline reservation, filling a product order, or updating a customer account. During requirements modeling, analysts often create models that use a standard language called business process modeling notation (BPMN). BPMN includes various shapes and symbols to represent events, processes, and workflows. using BPMN terminology, the overall diagram is called a pool, and the designated customer areas are called swim lanes. data flow diagrams (DFDs) to show how the system stores, processes, and transforms data. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a widely used method of visualizing and documenting software systems design. usc case diagram visually represents the interacti on between users and the information system. In a use case diagram, the user becomes an actor, with a specific role that describes how he or she interacts with the system. Sequence diagram shows the timing of interactions between objects as they occur. system requirement is a characteristic or feature that must be included in an information system to satisfy business requirements and be acceptable to users. Scalability refers to a system's ability to handle increased business volume and transactions in the future. Microsoft has developed a method for measuring total costs and benefits, called Rapid Economic Justification (REJ) . According to Microsoft, REJ is a framework to analyze and optimize IT investments. Fact-finding involves answers to five familiar questions: who, what, where, when, and how. In the 1980s, John Zachman observed how industries such as architecture and construction handled complex projects, and he suggested that the same ideas could be applied to information systems development. His concept, the Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture, is a model that asks the traditional fact-finding questions in a systems development context An interview is a planned meeting during which you obtain information from another person.

In an informal structure, some people have more influence or knowledge than appears on an organization chart. leading questions that suggest or favor a particular reply. Open-ended questions encourage spontaneous and unstructured responses. Closed-ended questions limit or restrict the response. Range-of-response questions are closed-ended Questions that ask the person to evaluate something by providing limited answers to specific responses or on a numeric scale. Hawthorne Effect The purpose of the study was to determine how various changes in the work environment would affect employee productivity. A questionnaire, OR survey, is a document contain ing a number of standard questions that can be sent to many individuals. examples of actual documents using a process called sampling. Research also can involve a visit to a physical location, called a site visit, where the objective is to observe a system in use at another location. brainstorming, which refers to a small group discussion of a specific problem, opportunity, or issue. In structured brainstorming, each participant speaks when it is his or her turn, or passes. In unstructured brainstorming, anyone can speak at any t ime. Productivity software includes word processing, spreadsheet, database management, presentati on graphics, and collaboration software programs. Collaboration software is the latest weapon in the struggle to boost productivity. Microsoft Visio is a popular graphic modeling tool that can produce a wide range of charts and diagrams. Visio includes a library of templates, .stencils, and shapes. A personal information manager (PIM) includes a personal calendar, a to-do list with priorities and the capability to check off completed items, and powerful contact management features Structured analysis is a popular, traditional technique that describes the system in terms of data and the processes that act on that data. Object modeling is a methodology that combines data and processes into things called objects that represent actual people, things, transactions, and events. CHAPTER 5

A data flow diagram (DFD) uses various symbols to show how the system transforms input data into useful information. A process receives input data and produces output that has a different content, form, or both. the business logic,also call ed business rules, that transform the data and produce the required results . The symbol for a process is a rectangle with rounded corners. In DFDs, a process symbol can be referred to as a black box, because the inputs,outputs, and general funct ions of the process arc known, but the underlying details and logic of the process are hidden. A data flow is a path for data to move from one part of the information system to another. The symbol for a data flow is a line with a single or double arrow-head. Because it has no input, the process is called a spontaneous generation process. black hole process, which is a process that has input, but produces no output. hole. A gray hole is a process that has at least one input and one output, but the input obviously is insufficient to generate the output shown. A data store is used in a DFD to represent data that the system stores because one or more processes need to use the data at a later time. data store is a flat rectangle that is open on the right side and closed on the left side. The symbol for an entity is a rectangle, which may be shaded to make it look three-dimensional. DFD entities also are called terminators because they are data origins or final destinations. Systems analysts call an entity that supplies data to the system a source, and an entity that receives data from the system a sink Step I: Draw a Context Diagram A context diagram is a top-level view of an information system that shows the system's boundaries and scope. Ste p 2: Draw a Diagram 0 DFD Diagram 0 zooms inon the system and shows major internal processes, data flows, and data stores.. A diverging data flow is a data flow in which the same data travels to two or more different locations. the higher-level diagram is called the parent diagram, and the lower-level diagram is referred to as the child diagram. A functional primitive is a process that consists of a single function that is not exploded further. Step 3: Draw the Lower-Level Diagr-ams

Leveling is the process of drawing a series of increasingly detailed diagrams, until all functional primit ives are identified. Balancing maintains consistency among a set of D FDs by ensuring that input and output data fl ows align properly. Leveling also is call ed exploding, partitioning, or decomposing. A data dictionary,or data repository, is a central storehouse of information about the system's data. A data element, also called a data item or field, is the smallest piece of data that has meaning within an information system. Data elements are combined into records, also called data structures. A record is a meaningful combination of related data elements that is included in a data flow or retained in a data store. Data element name or label. The data element's standard name, which should be meaningful to users. Any name(s) other than the standard data element name; this alternate name is called an alias. Type refers to whether the data element contains numeric, alphabetic, or character values. Length is the maximum number of characters fo r an alphabetic or character data element or the maximum number of digits and number of decimal Positions fo r a numeric data element. The default value is the value for the data element if a value otherwise is not entered for it. domain, which is the set of values permitted for the data element; these values either can be specifically listed or referenced in a table, or can be selected from a specified range of values. Source. The specification for the origination point for the data element's values. The source could be a specific form, a department or outside organization, another information system, or the result of a calculation. Security. Identification for the individual or department that has access or update privileges for each data element. Data flow name or label. The data flow name as it appears on the DFDs. Description. Describes the data flow and its purpose. Alternate name(s). Aliases for the DFD data flow name(s). Origin. The DFD beginning, or source, for the data flow; the origin can be a process, a data store, or an entity. Destination. The DFD ending point(s) for the data flow; the destination can be a process, a data store,

or an entity. Record. Each data flow represents a group of related data elements called a record or data structure. In most data dictionaries, records are defined separately from the data flows and data stores. Volume and frequency. Describes the expected number of occurrences for the data flow per unit of time. The foll owing are typical characteristics of a process: Process name or label. The process name as it appears on the DFDs. Description. A brief statement of the process's purpose. Process number. A reference number that identifies the process and indicates relationships among various levels in the system . Process description. This section includes the input and output data flows . For functional primitives, the process description also documents the processing steps and business logic. Typical characteristics of an entity include the following: Entity name. The entity name as it appears on the DFDs. Description. Describe the entity and its purpose. Alternate name( s) . Any ali ases for the entity name. Input data flows. The standard DFD names for the input data flows to the entity. Output data flows. The standard DFD names for the data flows leaving the entity. A record is a data structure that contains a set of related data elements that are stored and processed together. Typica l characteristics of a record include the following: Record or data structure name. The record name as it appears in the related data flow and data store entries in the data dictionary. Definition or description. A brief definition of the record. Alternate name( s) . Any aliases for the record name. Attributes. A list of all the data elements included in the record.

The data dictionary serves as a central storehouse of documentation fo r an information system. A data dictionary is created when the system is developed, and is updated constantly as the system is implemented, operated, and maintained. A process description documents the details of a functional primitive, and represents a specific set of processing steps and business logic. 0-0 analysis combines data and the processes that act on the data into things called objects, that similar objects can be grouped together into classes, and that 0 -0 processes are called methods. Modular design is based on combinations of three logical structures, sometimes called control structures, which serve as building blocks for the process. The three structures are called sequence, selection,and iteration. A rectangle represents a step or process, a diamond shape represents a condition or decision, and the logic follows the lines in the direction i ndica ted by the arrows. Sequence. The completion of steps in sequential order, one after another, Selection. The completion of one of two or more process steps based on the results of a test or condition. Iteration. The completion of a process step that is repeated until a specific condition changes, also is called looping Structured English is a subset of standard English that describes logical processes clearly and accurately. A decision table is a logical st ructure that shows every combination of condit ions and outcomes. A decision tree is a graphical representat ion of the conditions, actions, and rules found in a decision table. A physical model shows how the system's requirements are implemented. four-model approach, which means that they develop a physical model of the current system, a logical model of the current system, a logical model of the new system, and a physical model of the new system