Preface                                            x
Guided tour                                        xii
Technology to enhance learning and teaching        xiv
Acknowledgements                                   xvii
    Introduction to software project management    1   (20)
      Introduction                                 1   (1)
      Why is software project management           2   (1)
      important?
      What is a project?                           2   (2)
      Software projects versus other types of      4   (1)
      project
      Contract management and technical project    5   (1)
      management
      Activities covered by software project       5   (3)
      management
      Plans, methods and methodologies             8   (1)
      Some ways of categorizing software           9   (2)
      projects
      Stakeholders                                 11  (1)
      Setting objectives                           11  (2)
      The business case                            13  (1)
      Project success and failure                  14  (1)
      What is management?                          15  (1)
      Management control                           16  (2)
      Conclusion                                   18  (1)
        Annex 1 Contents list for a project plan   18  (1)
      Further exercises                            19  (2)
    Project evaluation and programme management    21  (28)
      Introduction                                 21  (1)
      A business case                              22  (2)
      Project portfolio management                 24  (2)
      Evaluation of individual projects            26  (2)
      Cost-benefit evaluation techniques           28  (6)
      Risk evaluation                              34  (4)
      Programme management                         38  (1)
      Managing the allocation of resources         39  (1)
      within programmes
      Strategic programme management               40  (1)
      Creating a programme                         40  (3)
      Aids to programme management                 43  (2)
      Some reservations about programme            45  (1)
      management
      Benefits management                          45  (2)
      Conclusion                                   47  (1)
      Further exercises                            48  (1)
    An overview of project planning                49  (24)
      Introduction to Step Wise project planning   49  (4)
      Step 0: Select project                       53  (1)
      Step 1: Identify project scope and           53  (2)
      objectives
      Step 2: Identify project infrastructure      55  (3)
      Step 3: Analyse project characteristics      58  (2)
      Step 4: Identify project products and        60  (5)
      activities
      Step 5: Estimate effort for each activity    65  (2)
      Step 6: Identify activity risks              67  (1)
      Step 7: Allocate resources                   68  (1)
      Step 8: Review/publicize plan                69  (1)
      Steps 9 and 10: Execute plan/lower levels    70  (1)
      of planning
      Conclusion                                   71  (1)
      Further exercises                            71  (2)
    Selection of an appropriate project approach   73  (30)
      Introduction                                 73  (1)
      Build or buy?                                74  (2)
      Choosing methodologies and technologies      76  (5)
      Choice of process models                     81  (1)
      Structure versus speed of delivery           81  (1)
      The waterfall model                          82  (2)
      The spiral model                             84  (1)
      Software prototyping                         84  (2)
      Other ways of categorizing prototypes        86  (2)
      Incremental delivery                         88  (4)
      Agile methods                                92  (1)
      Atern/Dynamic Systems Development Method     93  (2)
      Extreme programming (XP)                     95  (4)
      Managing iterative processes                 99  (1)
      Selecting the most appropriate process       100 (1)
      model
      Conclusion                                   101 (1)
      Further exercises                            101 (2)
    Software effort estimation                     103 (26)
      Introduction                                 103 (2)
      Where are estimates done?                    105 (2)
      Problems with over- and underestimates       107 (1)
      The basis for software estimating            108 (1)
      Software effort estimation techniques        108 (1)
      Bottom-up estimating                         109 (2)
      The top-down approach and parametric         111 (1)
      models
      Expert judgement                             112 (1)
      Estimating by analogy                        113 (1)
      Albrecht function point analysis             114 (3)
      Function points Mark II                      117 (2)
      COSMIC full function points                  119 (1)
      COCOMO 13: a parametric productivity model   120 (5)
      Conclusion                                   125 (1)
      Further exercises                            126 (3)
    Activity planning                              129 (33)
      Introduction                                 129 (1)
      The objectives of activity planning          130 (1)
      When to plan                                 131 (1)
      Project schedules                            131 (2)
      Projects and activities                      133 (5)
      Sequencing and scheduling activities         138 (1)
      Network planning models                      139 (1)
      Formulating a network model                  140 (4)
      Adding the time dimension                    144 (2)
      The forward pass                             146 (1)
      The backward pass                            146 (2)
      Identifying the critical path                148 (2)
      Activity float                               150 (1)
      Shortening the project duration              150 (1)
      Identifying critical activities              151 (1)
      Activity-on-arrow networks                   151 (9)
      Conclusion                                   160 (1)
      Further exercises                            160 (2)
    Risk management                                162 (30)
      Introduction                                 162 (1)
      Risk                                         163 (2)
      Categories of risk                           165 (1)
      A framework for dealing with risk            166 (1)
      Risk identification                          166 (2)
      Risk assessment                              168 (4)
      Risk planning                                172 (1)
      Risk management                              173 (3)
      Evaluating risks to the schedule             176 (1)
      Applying the PERT technique                  176 (6)
      Monte Carlo simulation                       182 (1)
      Critical chain concepts                      183 (5)
      Conclusion                                   188 (1)
      Further exercises                            188 (4)
    Resource allocation                            192 (20)
      Introduction                                 192 (2)
      The nature of resources                      194 (1)
      Identifying resource requirements            195 (2)
      Scheduling resources                         197 (4)
      Creating critical paths                      201 (1)
      Counting the cost                            202 (1)
      Being specific                               203 (1)
      Publishing the resource schedule             204 (1)
      Cost schedules                               204 (3)
      The scheduling sequence                      207 (2)
      Conclusion                                   209 (1)
      Further exercises                            209 (3)
    Monitoring and control                         212 (24)
      Introduction                                 212 (1)
      Creating the framework                       213 (3)
      Collecting the data                          216 (2)
      Visualizing progress                         218 (4)
      Cost monitoring                              222 (1)
      Earned value analysis                        223 (6)
      Prioritizing monitoring                      229 (1)
      Getting the project back to target           229 (3)
      Change control                               232 (3)
      Conclusion                                   235 (1)
      Further exercises                            235 (1)
    Managing contracts                             236 (18)
      Introduction                                 236 (1)
      Types of contract                            237 (6)
      Stages in contract placement                 243 (4)
      Typical terms of a contract                  247 (3)
      Contract management                          250 (1)
      Acceptance                                   251 (1)
      Conclusion                                   252 (1)
      Further exercises                            252 (2)
    Managing people in software environments       254 (17)
      Introduction                                 254 (2)
      Understanding behaviour                      256 (1)
      Organization behaviour: a background         257 (1)
      Selecting the right person for the job       258 (9)
      Instruction in the best methods              267 (1)
      Motivation                                   267
      The Oldham-Hackman job characteristics       264 (1)
      model
      Stress                                       265 (1)
      Health and safety                            266 (1)
      Some ethical and professional concerns       267 (2)
      Conclusion                                   269 (1)
      Further exercises                            269 (2)
    Working in teams                               271 (22)
      Introduction                                 271 (2)
      Becoming a team                              273 (3)
      Decision making                              276 (5)
      Organizational structures                    281 (2)
      Coordination dependencies                    283 (1)
      Dispersed and virtual teams                  284 (2)
      Communication genres                         286 (2)
      Communication plans                          288 (1)
      Leadership                                   289 (3)
      Conclusion                                   292 (1)
      Further exercises                            292 (1)
    Software quality                               293 (32)
      Introduction                                 293 (1)
      The place of software quality in project     294 (1)
      planning
      The importance of software quality           295 (1)
      Defining software quality                    295 (3)
      ISO 9126                                     298 (6)
      Product versus process quality management    304 (2)
      Quality management systems                   306 (2)
      Process capability models                    308 (6)
      Techniques to help enhance software          314 (5)
      quality
      Testing                                      319 (3)
      Quality plans                                322 (1)
      Conclusion                                   323 (1)
      Further exercises                            323 (2)
Appendix A PRINCE2-an overview                     325 (12)
Appendix B Answer pointers                         337 (38)
Further reading                                    375 (4)
Index                                              379