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 project’s 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 timeQuality factors Inadequate functionality in adopting newer techniquesActual 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 project’s

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 checkpointsRegular Tied to specific events such as the production of a report.

1.4) Taking snapshotsManager 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 dataGather information about partially completed activities.Difficult to make the forecasts accurately.

2.1) Partial completion reportingOrganizations use standard accounting systems with weekly

timesheets to charge staff time to individual jobs.

2.2) Risk reportingReporting 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 targetAmber – not on target but recoverableRed – not on target and difficult to recoverReview 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 progressA 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 ValueThe 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 technique2) 50/50 technique3) 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 budgetMonitoring earned valueSchedule varianceCost variancePerformance 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 controlb) 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 costsSPI = Earned value/ Planned valueGreater value – work is completed better than plannedLesser 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 TargetProjects 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 ControlChange 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 librarian’s 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 proceduresMakes the final decision on the status and the priority of the

change based on the change report.

8.3) Changes in scope of a systemChanges 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) IntroductionThe acquisition and supply process are depicted for pre-

contract and post-contract.Five major processes are,

1) Acquisition 2) Supply3) Operation4) Maintenance5) Development

9.2) The supply process

The supplier process activities will need to undertake in response to the request of supplier.

InitiationPreparation of a responseContractPlanningExecution and controlReview and evaluationDelivery and completion

10) Types of ContractThe 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 contractsThe price is fixed when the contracts is signed.There will be no changes in the contract terms.

Advantages,1) Known customer expenditure2) Supplier motivation

Disadvantages,1) Higher prices to allow for contingency2) Difficulties in modifying requirements3) Upward pressure on the cost of changes4) Threat to system quality

10.2) Time and materials contractsEstimates the overall cost based on the customer’s

requirements and it is not based on the final payment.

Advantages,Ease of changing requirementsLack of price pressure

Disadvantages,Customer liabilityLack of incentives for supplier

10.3) Fixed price per unit delivered contractsContract 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 understandingComparabilityEmerging functionalitySupplier efficiencyLife cycle range

Disadvantages,Difficulties with software size measurementChanging 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 analysisPreparation of an requirement document IntroductionDescription of the existing systemCurrent environment of the systemCustomer’s future plansSystem requirements based on either mandatory or desirableDeadlines have to be definedAdditional information requires from the potential suppliers.

11.2) Evaluation planPreparing a plan to evaluate the submitted proposals.Evaluating the desirable requirementsValidating the quality of the software systemCost 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 requirementsDefining the scope of the system Instruction to the bidders

Instruction to the biddersList of the software productsTechnical constraints

11.4) Evaluation of proposalsEvaluation has to be done in a planned mannerQuestioning supplier representativesVisiting the site of the development processConducting practical testsReduces risk of requirements.

12) Typical Terms of a Contract

The contents of a typical terms of contract are,DefinitionsForm of agreementGoods and services to be suppliedOwnership of the softwareEnvironmentCustomer commitmentsAcceptance procedures

StandardsProject and quality managementTimetablePrice and payment methodMiscellaneous 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 approval2) Negotiating successfully3) Project deliverables4) Managing change5) Decision making6) Legal obligations7) 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.