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CHAPTER 2 – THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONTEXT Systems Thinking – describes the holistic view of carrying out projects within the context of the organization. What is a Systems Approach? Systems Approach – emerged in the 1950’s to describe a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems that includes using a systems philosophy, systems analysis, and systems management. Systems Philosophy – an overall model for thinking about things as systems. Systems are sets of interacting components working within an environment to fulfil some purpose. Systems Analysis – a problem-solving approach that requires defining the scope of the system, dividing it into its components, and then identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs. Once completed, the systems analyst then examines alternative solutions for improving the current situation. Systems Management – addresses the business, technological, and organizational issues associated with creating, maintaining, and making changes to a system. The Three-Sphere Model for Systems Management

Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

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Page 1: Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

CHAPTER 2 – THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONTEXT

Systems Thinking – describes the holistic view of carrying out projects within the context of the organization.

What is a Systems Approach?Systems Approach – emerged in the 1950’s to describe a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems that includes using a systems philosophy, systems analysis, and systems management.

Systems Philosophy – an overall model for thinking about things as systems. Systems are sets of interacting components working within an environment to fulfil some purpose.

Systems Analysis – a problem-solving approach that requires defining the scope of the system, dividing it into its components, and then identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs. Once completed, the systems analyst then examines alternative solutions for improving the current situation.

Systems Management – addresses the business, technological, and organizational issues associated with creating, maintaining, and making changes to a system.

The Three-Sphere Model for Systems Management

Business

TechnologyOrganization

Page 2: Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

The Four Frames of Organizations1. Structural frame – deals with how the organization is structured and focuses on

different groups’ roles and responsibilities in order to meet the goals and policies set by top management.

2. Human resources (HR) frame – focuses on producing harmony between the needs of the organization and the needs of the people.

3. Political frame – addresses organizational and personal politics. Politics in organizations take the form of competition among groups or individuals for power and leadership.

4. Symbolic frame – focuses on symbols and meanings.

Organizational Structures Functional – the hierarchy most people think of when picturing an organizational

structure. Project – staffs have a variety of skill needed to complete the projects within their

programs. People are hired specifically to work on particular projects. Matrix – middle ground between functional and project structures.

Organizational Culture- A set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize the functioning of

an organization.

10 Characteristics of organizational culture according to Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy Judge:

1. Member Identity2. Group Emphasis3. People Focus4. Unit Integration5. Control6. Risk Tolerance7. Reward criteria8. Conflict Tolerance9. Means-ends orientation10. Open-systems focus

Page 3: Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

Sample of deliverables for each phases

PROJECT PHASES AND THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

A Project life cycle is a collection of project phases.o It defines what work will be performed in each phases, and what deliverables

will be produced and when, who is involved in each phases and how management will control and approve work produced in each phases.

A Deliverable is a product or service, such as technical report, a training session, a piece of hardware, or a segment of software code.

In early phases of a project life cycle;o Resources needs are usually lowest o Level of uncertainty is highest

In the middle phases of the project;o The certainty of completing a project improves,o More information is known about the project requirements and objectives;o And more resources are usually needed than the initial or final phase.

The final phase of a project o Focuses on ensuring the project requirements where meto And assures that the project sponsor or the client approves its completion.

Project phases vary by the project or industry, but some general phases are often called:o Concepto Developmento Implementationo Close-out

The first two traditional phases (Concept & Development) focus on the plan and are often referred to project feasibility.

o Is your project feasible enough? The last two phases (Implementation & Close-out) focus on delivering the actual work

and are often referred to as project acquisition.

Example:

Project Feasibility Project AcquisitionConcept Development Implementation Close-outBusiness Care Project Management

PlanLast work packages Completed work

Preliminary cost estimate

Budgetary cost estimate

Definitive cost estimates

Lessons Learned

2-level WBS 3+ level WBS Performance Report Customer Acceptance

Page 4: Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

Project Life Cycles

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

- It is a framework for describing the phases involved in developing information systems.

- Also known as Predictive Life Cycle, meaning that the scope of projects can be clearly articulated and the schedule and costs can be accurately predicted.

Some popular models of an SDLC includes:

Waterfall life cycle model o Has well-defined, linear stage of system analysis, design, construction, testing

and support.o The requirements will remain stable after they are defined.

Spiral life cycle modelo Was developed based on experience with various refinements of the waterfall

model as applied to large government software projects.o Most software is developed using an iterative approach rather than a linear

approach. Incremental build model

o Provides progressive development of operational software, with each release providing added capabilities.

Prototyping life cycle modelo Used for developing software prototypes to clarify user requirements for

operational software.o It requires heavy user involvement, and developers use a model to generate

functional requirements and physical design specification simultaneouslyo Developers can throw away or keep prototypes, depending on the projects

Rapid Application Development (RAD) life cycle modelo Uses an approach in which developers work with an evolving prototype.o This also requires heavy user involvement and helps to produce system without

sacrificing its quality.o Example of this are Computer-Aided Software Engineering or CASE, Joint

Requirements Planning or JRT and Joint Application Design or JAD to facilitate prototyping and code generation.

Adaptive Software Development (ASD)

- Assumes that software development follows an adaptive approach because the requirements cannot be clearly expressed early in the life cycle

Page 5: Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

- Is also used to provide mode freedom that the perspective approaches. Meaning the needs are discovered in a more free-form approach.

- Agile Software Development has become popular to describe new approaches that focus on close collaboration between programming teams and business experts

The Importance of Project Phases and Management Reviews

- A project should successfully pass through each of the project phases in order to continue to the next phase.

- A management review should occur at the end of each project phases, and more frequent management inputs are often needed.

- These management review and inputs are important for keeping projects on track and determining if projects should be continued, redirected or terminated.

THE CONTEXT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS

Nature of Information Technology Projects

It is diverse. Project Managers need to consider several factors due to the unique context of

information technology projects. The diverse nature of these projects and the wide range of business areas and

technologies involved make information technology projects especially challenging to manage.

Leading projects team members with a wide variety of specialized skills and understanding rapidly changing technology are also important considerations.

RECENT TRENDS AFFECTING INFORMATION TECHNILOGY PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Globalization

Sharing or of information globally through blogging, podcasts and open-source software.

It is important for project managers to address several issues when working on global projects. Several key issues includes the following

o Communicationso Trustso Common Work Practiceso Tools

Page 6: Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

Outsourcing

It is when an organization acquires goods and/or sources from an outside sources Offshoring is sometimes used to describe outsourcing from another country

o It is a natural outgrowth of globalization It reduce costs of finding resources by this trend Project managers should become more familiar with negotiating contracts and many

other issues, including working on and managing teams.

Virtual Teams

Needed in globalization and outsourcing It is a group of individuals who work across time and space using communication

technology (e.g Skype, IBM Sametime and etc).

Advantages

Increases competiveness and responsiveness by having a team of workers available 24/7.

Lowering cost because many virtual workers do not require office space or support beyond their home offices.

Providing more expertise and flexibility by having team members from across the globe working anytime day or night.

Increasing the work/life balance for team members by eliminating fixed office hours and the need to travel to work.

Disadvantages

Isolating team members who may not adjust well to working in a virtual environment.

Increasing the potential for communications problems since team members cannot use body language or other communications to understand each other and build relationship and trust.

Reducing the ability for team members to network and transfer information informally.

Increasing the dependence on technology to accomplish work.

Page 7: Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle

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