Bob Hughes University of Brighton 1

New developments in IS/IT project management -towards a 3rd edition

Bob Hughes

School of Information Management, University of Brighton

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Project management - flavour of the month?

Down-sizing

Delayering

Loss of organisationalintelligence

Loss of ability toimplement change

CHANGINGWORLD

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Traditional careerprogression

programmer

systemsanalyst

project manager

In many bureaucratic organisations, all projects were IT projects

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A different view of PM

Out-sourcing

Supplier side(technical management)

Customer side(contract management)

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Some consequences

■ Growth in interest in PM■ Professional bodies

– Association for Project Management (UK)

– Project Management Institute (US)– developing bodies of knowledge (BOK)

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More consequences

■ Qualifications– PMI, APM, ISEB, BCS Diploma, NVQ/SVQ,

Institute of Management

■ New kids on the block– DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development

Method) project manager examination– ISEB Programme and Project Support

Office qualification

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More consequences■ ‘Standards’

– PRINCE 2 - CCTA, APM etc.,– BS 6079 - British Standards Institution

– ISO 10006– ISO 12207

■ Backdoor approach to getting some structure back - Programme Management and Project Support Office

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Programme management

Programme brief

‘Vision statement’

‘Blueprint’ projects

Project portfolio

Benefits managementsuccess = good development + good operation

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PRINCE2 versus BS6079

PRINCE ■ procedures■ neologisms■ products■ project delivers

products

BS6079■ techniques (e.g.

NPV, EVA)■ traditional

terminology■ activities■ ‘project’ includes

operation

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Earned value analysisPhase

Module DesignEst

DesignActual

CodeEst

CodeActual

TestEst

TestAct.

A 10 15 20 20 10 n/a

B 10 10 15 17 12 n/a

C 20 late 31 late 18 n/a

EV

Est. tots2040

3566 40

%EV = 55/146* 100 i.e 37.7%

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New paradigms: DSDMthe nine characteristics■ active user involvement■ development team empowerment■ frequent product delivery■ business fitness is key■ iterative/incremental development

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DSDM characteristics - contd.■ All changes reversible■ requirement set at high level only■ testing integrated throughout life-cycle■ collaboration between stakeholders

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project management implications of DSDM

■ control on products and requirements■ time-boxing: fixed time-scales - contrast

with critical chain■ need to manage and motivate user

involvement■ MORE management needed not less

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Grady Booch

■ Projects can be driven primarily by– calendar– requirements

– documentation– quality– architecture

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DSDM and the Booch taxonomy■ RAD/DSDM seems to be essentially

– calendar driven i.e. ‘characterized by an obsessive focus on schedule’

■ Risks with calendar driven approach– chaotic development methods– lack of ‘business sustainability’ (e.g.

scaleability, extensibility etc.)

– long-term stress and demotivation

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DSDM and Booch contd.

■ RAD/DSDM also seems to be requirements driven - ‘rigid focus on the system’s outwardly observable behaviour’

■ Risks– lack of motivation to deal with sustainabilty– architecture: large number of independent

functional components

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Requirements vs architecture drivenSystem functions

Common infrastructureCommon infrastructure

System functions

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Booch’s five habits of good OO projects

■ ruthless focus on providing essential minimum requirements

■ focus on results■ effective use of OO modelling■ strong architectural vision■ well-managed iterative/incremental

development life cycle

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Effect of alternative paradigmsRAD/DSDM - iterations - how do we control them?Still need management milestones

Hide it withinprocess

Or make each iterationa project

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Note also

■ Effect on metrics - different units of software

■ Reuse - being decoupled from OO

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The dispersed project - Situational factors e.g.■ common/different organizations■ central/dispersed authority■ criticality■ motivation■ common culture■ ease of communication■ language■ shared resources incl. data

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Freedom/constraint cycle FREEDOM

CONSTRAINT

orientation

trust building

goal setting

commitment

implementation

highperformance

renewal

Same tim

e/place

Same tim

e

Diff

eren

t tim

e/pl

ace

Same

time

/pla

ce

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Future developments?■ Synergies with CSCW?■ Limits to project management?

experiments projects routines

analogies case-basedreasoning

parametricmodels