Project Management Personnel

Presenter: C014046

Introduction

A software project is undertaken when there a need for a system to be enhance, modify or overhaul.

What is a project?

A project can be considered as any series of activities and task that:Has a specific objective to be completed

within certain specifications;Has a defined start and end date;Consume both human and non human

resources (i.e. money, people, equipment …) Kerzer (2013)

A project is a unique venture with a beginning and end conducted by people to meet established goals within parameters of cost, schedule, and quality (P.3)

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service (P. 4)

Pinto (2007)

What is Project management?

Project management involves use of set of techniques and skills to steer a project to success (Pinto, 2007 P. 85)

Project management is the process of planning, scheduling, monitoring, controlling and reporting upon the development of an information system (Shelly and Rosenblatt, 2012)

The main goal of software management is to enable a group of developers to work effectively towards the successful completion of a project.

Mall (2014)

Each software project has an objective and it is the duty of the project personnel (developers) to ensure that it meet the system original objectives

A development team will include users, system analysts, programmers, technical specialist, project manager and other stakeholders.

Development Teams A development team is responsible for

determining the specific objectives of the proposed system objectives;

Each person in a development team has a particular role to play;

Look at it like in building a house, from the architects, future occupants, construction managers, and construction workers, among many others

Each contributes to the success of the project. Zandbergen(2003-2016)

Project Manager An experience member of developers

whose main duty lies in administrative leader of the developers (team);

Responsible for controlling the quality of the system being developed, facilitating communications among team members and provide various resources needed by different developers

Note The managers are likely not to do the programming themselves

Responsibility of a software manager

Responsible for the project success; Building up team morale (invisible); Project proposal writing; Project cost estimation; Project Scheduling; Project staffing; Project monitoring and control Software configuration management

Risk management; Managerial report writing and

presentation; In-facing with clients;

This activities can be divided into 2:Project planning and Project monitoring and control

Project planning

This is undertaken immediately after the feasibility study phase and before the starting of the requirement and specification phase.

Project monitoring and controlling

Project monitoring and controlling are activities undertaken once the development of the software starts.

Skills needed by Project Manager

Decision taking capability; Have knowledge of latest software project

management techniques such as cost estimation, risk management, and configuration management

Good communication skill Ability to get work done Team building

Managerial presentation; and Customer interaction

Skills

technical

business

People skills

System Analysts

Who is a system analysts? A system analyst is a professional with

expertise in analyzing and designing business systems (Zandbergen, 2003-2016);

A system analyst are service provider who are required to work closely with users for the purpose of defining, developing and implementing computer based system (Green, 1989)

System analyst a person who plans, analyzes, and implements information systems.

He/she May work internally within a company’s IT department, or be hired by a company as an independent consultant (Shelly and Rosenblatt (2012), 30-33)

System analyst has a curial role in understanding how the previous system works in order to design a new system;

Communication between the system analyst and the user is very key (executive overview, 1989);

The achievement of the project largely depends on the understanding of the stakeholders and working together;

Lack of communication can lead to failure in the project like poorly developed system, dysfunctional system and negative user satisfaction which can be costly (Green, 1989);

Role of a system analyst:Facilitator Change agent Liaison and Technical resource person (Executive

overview, 1989)

A system analyst is also called Business Analyst;Business System AnalystSystem Analyst Requirement Analyst

The main responsibility of a system analyst is to capture and document the requirement needed to implement a solution to meet the user’s need and satisfaction

System analyst researches problems, plans solutions, recommends software and system, at least at the functional level and coordinates development to meet business and other requirements (Chaudhary, 2015)

The academic and personal qualifications of a system analyst include marketing and sales, operational management, model building, and production control.

Roles of a system analyst

Defining system requirement He/she has to understand the requirements

of the users through interviewing, observation, questionnaires, hands on, …

Change agent The system analyst suggests a way forward

through selecting a candidate system that will achieve the goal and objectives which will have minimum resistance

Investigator and monitor Investigates on the existing problem through

information gathered and determine why the present system does not work well and what changes can be used to correct the problem

He/ she monitors the project in relation to time, cost and quality.

Gathering facts, data and opinions of users

Solving problems Motivator

System analyst is central person on the development team. Users focuses on workability of the system, programmers on writing codes, and manager ensures that project is on time and on budget.

System analyst interacts with all the stakeholders in ensuring a design that meets the objectives and satisfy the users.

A system analyst in constructing a building is like the architect who provides a blue print for the house

Programmers

A programmer is a technical specialist responsible for developing specific computer programs that meet the specifications;

He/she is responsible in writing the actual code to produce a working system (Zandbergen)

Programmers generally attempt to fulfill the design specification given to them by a system analyst (Bourgeois, 2014);

A programmer is like a contractor working on a building by following the blue print from the architect

Who is a programmer?

Programming normal takes time in system development because a single system analyst may require different programmers to develop a functioning system;

Bouregeois (2014) suggest that a programmer should understand complex processes and the intricacies of one or more programming languages;

Also, that a programmer should be proficient in mathematics, as mathematical concepts underline most programming code;

A programmer is expected to translate algorithms and technical specifications into code that can be executed on a computer system (Bogue, 2005)

Users

Who is a user? Users are people that will interact with the

system on regular basis; Users can be anyone who will use the

system such as employees, customers; In the house analogy, the users are like

the future occupants. They are those that will be living in the house and so, there need has to be meant, since they are the ones to use the property or own the property;;

Roles of the users

Defining the requirements for a system How the system should work with respect

to the business (Ryan, 1993)

Why users are important in development of an IS

1. To improve system quality by users providing a more accurate and complete assessment of user information requirement

2. Providing expertise about the organization

3. To avoid development of unacceptable or unimportant features

4. Users are involved to improve their understanding of the system;

5. To increase user acceptance of the system;

6. Provide an arena for bargaining and conflict resolution about design issues;

7. Fostering system ownership by users;8. Decreasing user resistance to change 9. Committing users to the system 10. User participation leads to users’

satisfaction (Mckeen, Guimaraes and Wetherbe, 1994)

Category of user’s involvement 1) No involvement: users are unwilling or

not invited to participate 2) Symbolic involvement: user input is

requested but ignored 3) Involvement by weak control: user

have “sign-off” responsibility at each stage of the system development process

4) Involvement by advice: advice is solicited through interview and questionnaires

5) Involvement by doing: a user is in the design team or is the official “liaison” with the information system development group

6) Involvement by strong control: user may pay directly for new development of IS out of their own budgets

(Tait and Vessey, 1988)

Others

Database programmer: a person who focuses on creating and supporting large-scale database systems (Shelly & Rosenblatt, 2012 P 579).

Database administrator: System tester:

Conclusion A project comes as a result of problem or

need for modification in an organization. A project to be a project has a starting and

ending time. The project manager is fully in charge of

the realization of the project The realization of a functioning system

requires all the project team members.

The project team has to work together in order to achieved the stated goals and objectives and no wonder as it is said that team stands for

“Together Everybody Achieves More” The users are vital in the realization and

acceptance of a working system.

Hence, project management personnel are those who are part of the realization of the project. None is more important than the other but each has a specific or dual role to play.

Questions?

Thank you

References

Banerjee, S., & Lin, W. (2006). Essential Entry-Level Skills for Systems Analysts. Journal Of Education For Business, 81(5), 282-286.

Bogue, R. (2005). Cracking the Code: Breaking Down the Software Development Roles. Retrieve on 14, Oct., 2016 from http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/3490871/Cracking-the-Code-Breaking-Down-the-Software-Development-Roles.htm

Bourgeois, D. T. (2014). Information systems for business and beyond. Retrieved on 13th Oct., 2016 from https://bus206.pressbooks.com/chapter/chapter-people/

Executive Overview. (1989). MIS Quarterly, 13(2), 114.

Green, G. I. (1989). Perceived Importance of Systems Analysts' Job Skills, Roles, and Non-Salary Incentives. MIS Quarterly, 13(2), 115-133.

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. (Project Management.) Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Mall, R. (2014). Fundamentals of software engineering. Place of publication not identified: Prentice-Hall Of India.

McKeen, J. D., Guimaraes, T., & Wetherbe, J. C. (1994). The Relationship Between User Participation and User Satisfaction: An Investigation of Four Contingency Factors. MIS Quarterly, 18(4), 427-451.

Pinto, J. K. (2007). Project management: Achieving competitive advantage. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Ryan, H. W. (1993). User-driven systems development. Information Systems Management, 10(3), 66.

Shelly, G. B., & Rosenblatt, H. J. (2012). Analysis and design for systems. Australia: Course Technology Cengage Learning.

Tait, P., & Vessey, I. (1988). The Effect of User Involvement on System Success: A Contingency Approach. MIS Quarterly, 12(1), 91-108.

Zandbergen, P. (2003-2016). Project Roles in Systems Development in Organizations: Development Teams. Retrieved on 13th Oct., 2016. from http://study.com/academy/lesson/project-roles-in-systems-development-in-organizations.html