Syllabus, Fall 1998

MIS 7540

Software Project Management

Spring 1998

Instructor: Steve Gordon

Office: Babson Hall 319

Office hrs: T/R 10:00-11:00am, M 5:00-6:00pm

Office phone: 239-4571

Home phone: 527-7687

Fax: 239-6416

Overview

As information technology (IT) consumes an increasing proportion of worldwide corporate capital, today's line managers and general managers are becoming more involved in IT projects. Many companies now require that a business manager sponsor every technology project. Others have gone further, requiring business managers, not technology gurus, to lead IT projects. You should expect in the course of your management career to participant in or lead an IT project team. This course focuses on what you need to know to be effective in this role. After taking this course, you will know how to manage large projects; how technology projects, and specifically software development projects, differ from other projects; and what are the tasks of those who design and implement new software applications. You will, in addition, have some first-hand experience with the tools and techniques information systems professionals use for software design and development.

Although the emphasis of this course will be on large projects and large organizations, we will also address the processes that managers in a smaller organization needs to follow in order to bring an IT project to a successful conclusion.

Objectives

This course operates on the premise that general managers need a thorough understanding of project management, software design, and software development to participate in information technology projects. By the end of the course, you should achieve:

· Proficiency in IT project management. You will understand the lifecycle of projects and the processes associated with project management. You will know how to estimate the cost and time to complete a software project. You will be able to use project management software tools.

· Understanding of software design methodologies. You will understand how information professionals identify business needs, design complex software systems, create specifications, and evaluate vendors. You will be familiar with a variety of traditional and object-oriented design methodologies. You will be able to use computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools.

· Understanding of the software development process. You will understand how software is developed and maintained. You will be able to develop small programs of your own using Visual Basic.

Textbooks and Materials

E.M. Bennatan, On Time, Within Budget, John Wiley & Sons, 1995.

Michael Ekedahl and William Newman, New Perspectives on Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 for Windows - Introductory, Course Technology, 1998.

Course Pack of readings and cases.

Four (4) 3.5" diskettes, formatted for IBM-PC or compatible computers.

Grading

You will be graded on the quality of your preparation for class and your performance on three mini-projects. The table below shows how these factors will be weighted to compute your grade.

Performance Indicator Weighting

Class preparation 34%

Mini-projects (3 @22%) 66%

Class Preparation

A relatively small percentage of class time will be allocated to reviewing or explaining reading material that has been assigned. Most class time will be dedicated to discussing the readings and cases and practicing the techniques you will be learning. Discussion questions for each class are attached to the syllabus to guide your reading and preparation. You should plan to spend about four to five hours per week on readings and discussion questions.

Readings are found in the texts and case pack, and at the MIS7540 Web site:

http://faculty.babson.edu/gordon/mis7540/mis7540.htm Tutorial readings from the Visual Basic text are hands-on readings, and must be done at a computer, such as those in the Horn and Olin labs, that provides access to Visual Basic.

Mini-Projects

Three mini-projects are due as shown in the attached session agenda. These are field-based exercises, preferably using projects at the company where you work, that demonstrate your comprehension of the course material. Plan to spend approximately twelve hours on each project. Directions for each mini-project will be distributed in class and posted at the MIS7540 web site.

Class Agendas and Assignment Planning

The attached list describes class agendas and will give you a picture of the distribution of assignments and exams throughout the term. This schedule may be subject to change as the term progresses, but it accurately describes the scope and content of the course.

MIS 7540 Session Agenda

Session	Date	Description	Readings & Cases	Projects Due
1	Jan 26	Introduction and course overview
2	Feb 2	The Systems Development Life Cycle SDLC components SDLC pathways Managing the development process The Capability Maturity Model TQM issues	Gordon & Gordon Bennatan, Chs. 1 & 4 Web readings
3	Feb 9	Process Management Process management tools Process management speaker and demo	Bennatan, Ch. 2 Web readings
4	Feb 16	Process Design Data flow diagrams The IDEF0 model Process design CASE tools Data Design Entity-Relationship diagrams Data design CASE tools Design lab	M&S: Chapts 8, 11-15 Web readings
5	Feb 23	Object-Oriented Design Object concepts Object modeling Object design CASE tools Object design speaker	Web readings
6	Mar 2	Project Management Project planning Tasks and precedence relationships Resource planning Team development and leadership Project management tools M/S Project lab	Bennatan, Chs. 5, 6, and 10 Riverview Case Web readings	Design project due
7	Mar 9	Estimating and Tracking General estimation principles COCOMO Function Point Analysis Hardware and network resource estimation Risk Management Risk assessment Risk reduction	Bennatan, Ch. 11 Travelers Case Web readings
8	Mar 23	Software Development under Contract Contractor evaluation and selection Contract monitoring Client/Server Development Client/Server Concepts Issues in client/server development	Bennatan, Chs. 3 & 7 Web readings
9	Mar 30	Software Development in Visual Basic Introduction to Programming Concepts Introduction to Visual Basic (VB) Using VB variables and functions Basic debugging VB Lab	E&N: Tutorial #1 Do this on the computer	Project management project due
10	Apr 6	Software Development in Visual Basic Creating programs, forms, and controls Using conditions in VB Using arrays in VB String variables VB Lab	E&N: Tutorials 2 and 3 Do this on the computer
11	Apr 13	Software Development in Visual Basic Printing from VB Repetition in VB Creating menus in VB VB Lab	E&N: Tutorials 4 and 5 Do this on the computer
12	Apr 20	Configuration Management Devel, test, and production environments Change control Version control Configuration management tools Testing Types of testing Test development Testing tools	Bennatan, Ch. 8 Web readings	Development project due
13	Apr 27	Year 2000 Projects Y2K tools and techniques Conclusion Review and summary Course evaluations	Metropolitan Transit Authority Case Web readings

*Key: E&N=Ekedahl and Newman textbook (Visual Basic).

Web Readings and Discussion Questions
NOTICE: These readings, activities, and discussion questions may be changed during the course of the term. Class participants will be notified of changes by electronic mail. All changes will be posted to the MIS7540 web site.

Readings for Session #2

Required: Mark C. Paulk, The Rational Planning of (Software) Projects (Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 1995): ftp://ftp.sei.cmu.edu/pub/cmm/Misc/rational.planning.pdf. Requires Adobe Acrobat reader.

Required: Capability Maturity Model for Software, Version 1.1 (CMU/SEI-93-TR-024,ADA 2634034). Pittsburgh, PA: Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 1993. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/93.reports/pdf/tr24.93.pdf. A copy is on reserve in the library. Requires Adobe Acrobat reader.

Required: The Benson case: http://faculty.babson.edu/gordon/mis7540/benson.htm.

Optional: Maturity Profile Report, October, 1997, Pittsburgh, PA: Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University http://www.sei.cmu.edu/technology/measurement/1997oct.pdf. Requires Adobe Acrobat reader.

Options: http://www.asq.org/abtquality/qualsite/qualsite.html. Links to quality related sites from the American Society for Quality.

Activity for Session #2: If you currently employed, assess the maturity of your organization according to the CMM model. If not, use Babson or your previous employer for this assessment. You will probably need to talk to technical peopleat the organization you are assessing.

Discussion questions for Session #2:

How are software projects different from other types of projects? How are they similar?
What are the implications of these similarities and differences for software project managers and other project participants?
What questions did you ask to assess the maturity of the organization you selected for the activity for this session? Who did you ask? What did you learn? If you are currently a project participant, what are the implications for you?
What SDLC pathway would you recommend for the Benson case? Why?

Readings for Session #3 Required: From Coopers & Lybrand: SUMMIT: http://www.uk.coopers.com/managementconsulting/summit/index.html
(Follow process management links at least two levels deep).
From Platinum Technology: Process Continuum: http://www.platinum.com/products/appdev/ppcpr.htm
(Follow product information links. You may need to fill out a form to see the white papers, but they are available on the web).
Discussion questions for Session #3:

What are the pros and cons of creating a process library to institutionalize an organization's software development processes?
What are the pros and cons of using a commercial process library?
What should be the role of a process librarian?
How can an institution maximize the adoption and use of its process library?
Does a process library diminish creativity and process flexibility?

Readings for Session #4 Required: http://roger.babson.edu/osborn/doit/readings/dfdcvr.htm. Teaching note on dataflow diagrams, by Professor Osborn.

Required: http://roger.babson.edu/osborn/doit/readings/erdcvr.htm. Teaching note on entity-relationship diagrams, by Professor Osborn.

Required: http://ccs.mit.edu/ccswp198/. Thomas W. Malone, Kevin Crowston, Jintae Lee, Brian Pentland, Chrysanthos Dellarocas, George Wyner, John Quimby, Charley Osborne, Abraham Bernstein, Tools for inventing organizations: Toward a handbook of organizational processes (Center for Coordination Science, MIT: 1997).

Required: The Benson case: http://faculty.babson.edu/gordon/mis7540/benson.htm.

Optional: Links to CASE tools:

http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/Software-Engineering/toolcat.html

http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk:80/sst/casepages/tools.html (shareware and freeware stuff)

http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Computers/Software/Programming_Tools/Computer_Aided_Software_Engineering__CASE_/

Optional: Wanda J. Orlikowski, CASE Tools as Organizational Change: Investigating Incremental and Radical Changes in Systems Development, Management Information Systems Quarterly 17, No. 3, September, 1993: http://www.misq.org/archivist/vol/no17/issue3/vol17n3art5wandao.html.

Optional: Read about the IDEF0 and IDEF1X standards: http://www.idef.com/

Optional activity for Session #4: Download a case tool from the Web and use it to create a dataflow diagram and an ER diagram. Many vendors provide somewhat crippled or time-limited products that you can use to create a hypothetical data flow or ER diagram. Alternatively, use a tool that your organization supports to create these diagrams.

Activity for Session #4: Create a data flow diagram for the Benson case. Create an ER diagram for the Benson case. You may use freehand drawing, Visio, or a case tool you downloaded from the Web (see optional activity for this session). Make a copy of at least part of each diagram on a transparency overhead.

Discussion questions for session #4: Be prepared to share and discuss your data flow and ER diagrams.

Readings for Session #5 Required: http://www.cba.uh.edu/inetcrse/disc4370-sp/d4370ood.htm. Lecture notes on object-oriented development by Shafique Pappa.

Required: http://www.ics.uci.edu/~ziv/ooad/classes/tsld001.htm. A series of slides that describes what objects and object classes are. This link takes you through the text of the slides. For some of the slides, you may want to view the graphics as well. Skim these. It's not too important for you to understand them completely.

Required: http://www.soft-design.com/softinfo/objects.html. This is a short but sweet overview of object-oriented languages. It tries not to be too technical, and where it is you can skip over it.

Required: http://wwwtrese.cs.utwente.nl/Docs/Methodologies/. This is a great overview of a variety of different methodologies. Emphasize breadth over depth in exploring these links.

Activity for Session #5: Download and use an object oriented design CASE tool from the Web.

Discussion questions for Session #5:

How do object-oriented design tools differ from data and process design tools?
What are their advantages and disadvantages?

Readings for Session #6 Required: http://www.pmi.org/mem_prod/venalpha.htm. Follow links to some of the vendors and examine the features of their products.

Required: http://www.datamation.com/PlugIn/issues/1997/november/11disas.html. IT fiascoes ... and how to avoid them, Datamation, November, 1997.

Optional, but strongly recommended: Project Management Institute, The Project Management Framework, 1996: http://www.pmi.org/publictn/pmboktoc.htm. Read Chapters 1-3, 6, and 9. A copy is on reserve in the library. Web access requires Adobe Acrobat reader and site registration.

Optional: http://www.hmssoftware.ca/pmres.html. A directory of web sites of special interest to project management practitioners from HMS Software.

Optional: http://www.projectmanagement.com/main.htm. Microsofts MS Project web site.

Optional: http://pscinfo.pscni.nasa.gov/online/msfc/project_mgmt/100_Rules.html. 100 rules for NASA project managers.

Discussion questions for the Riverview Case:

What is your analysis of the implementation to date?
What are the implications of each alternative?
What decision would you make?
How would you go about implementing your decision?
What changes would you make to prevent future problems?

Readings for Session #7 Required: What are Function Points? http://www.spr.com/library/0funcmet.htm. Be sure to examine the programming language table.

Required: http://www.SoftstarSystems.com/overview.htm. Overview of COCOMO.

Optional: Download and run the KnowledgePLAN demo at http://www.spr.com/html/knowledgeplan.htm.

Optional: Download and use a copy of COSTAR. Apply it to the Benson case.

Optional: http://www.bannister.com/ifpug/home/docs/ifpughome.html. The International Function Point Users Group home page, and related links.

Discussion questions for Travelers Case:

By distributing data and permitting updates both locally and centrally – and doing so with an unfamiliar software language – the development team undertook a project that is about as difficult as it gets technologically. What were the alternatives?
Travelers' workers' compensation system development effort relied upon immature technologies that offered capabilities not available elsewhere. Doug LaBoda believes that this will put Travelers ahead of the competition and that they will be able to build on that advantage by adapting to changes in the environment while competitors are working to catch up. An alternative view would be that it is cheaper and faster to wait until the technologies are more mature before developing business systems. From both a business and technology perspective, what are the risks associated with using new technologies.? How would you determine whether the benefits justify the risks? What considerations, besides return on project investment, are relevant?
How did Travelers manage the risks of this system project? Ion other words, what are the critical success factors in undertaking a system that involves development in an unstable environment?

Mike Costigan encouraged national roll-out of a system that was not yet working. Assess that strategy.

Readings for Session #8 Required: K: /faculty/gordon/mis7540/cs.doc. What is client/server? From Gordon and Gordon, Information Systems: A Management Approach, The Dryden Press, forthcoming.

Required: http://www.datamation.com/PlugIn/issues/1997/november/11outlit.html. Tipping the scales your way, Datamation, November 1997.

Required: http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?WIN19970801S0014. Martin Heller and Amy Helen Johnson, Top Tools for Team Programming -- No single vendor's enterprise development suite shines, but one of them will meet your needs, Windows Internet Magazine, August 1, 1997.

Required: http://www.sentrytech.com/sm028f_am.htm. Shared Risk Shared Reward, by Colleen Frye, Software Magazine, February, 1998.

Required: http://www.cio.com/archive/041597_lump.html. Lump it and Like it, by Christopher Koch, CIO, April 15, 1997.

Required: http://www.cio.com/archive/090196_offshore.html. Offshore Development: Shipping out, by Lynda Radosevich, CIO, September 1, 1996.

Required: http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?IWK19970421S0032. Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, Ikon Writes Off $25M In Costs On SAP Pilot -- Company cites bad fit with software, plus its own errors, InformationWeek, April 21, 1997.

Discussion questions for session #8:

How do the activities associated with outsourced development differ from the activities associated with internal development efforts? In a task breakdown structure for both types of development, what tasks would be included in one and not the other? Be prepared to identify and discuss these. Understandably, the differences in process depend on the nature of the project. If it helps, use the Acme Trucking example on page 43 of the text to provide a context for answering this question.
This question is harder. Is development of client/server systems fundamentally different from development of single-tiered systems? If so, how? What, if any, are the implications for project management, planning, staffing, design, implementation (roll-out), testing, and maintenance?
Prepare the IKON reading for class discussion? Who is to blame for what happened? How would you have handled the project if your were Kearns? Gadra? Yoder?

There are no readings or discussion questions for Sessions #9 through #11

Readings for Session #12

Required: http://www.rational.com/support/techpapers/to20/. The software change-management process, Rational Software Corporation.

Required: http://www.mks.com/solution/si/2134.htm. Robert Bamford and William J. Deibler II, Configuration Management and ISO 9001 (Software Systems Quality Consulting, via Mortice Kern Systems, Inc. This reading defines configuration management and relates it to ISO9001 standards for quality.

Required: http://gdbdoc.gdb.org/dev/qa/qual_s6.html. A description of the types and phases of testing, from the Genome Database Project.

Optional: http://www.ondaweb.com/sti. Links from the Software Testing Institute.

Optional: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/users/andre/configuration_management.html#papers. Configuration Management Yellow Pages, Maintained by André van der Hoek, and sponsored by the Software Engineering Research Laboratory of the University of Colorado.

Optional: http://www.charm.net/~dmg/qatest/index.html. Links from the Software QA/Test Resource Center. Read FAQ1 and FAQ2.

Activity for session #12: Prepare Exercises 1, 2, 4, and 5 on page 138 of the Bennatan text for class discussion. Think about how you would respond to Exercise #6.

Readings for Session #13 Required: Tim Wilson, Y2K Problem Grows Urgent In '98, InternetWeek, Section: News & Analysis, January 12, 1998: http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?INW19980112S0016

Required: Thomas Hoffman, Poll finds only 20% of firms have Y2K plans firmly in place, @Computerworld, Year 2000 News Story, 12/18/97 12:29:47 PM: http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/All/971218poll1B472

Optional: Links to Year 2000 articles, vendors, etc.: http://www.year2000.com/y2knews.html

Optional: Links to Year 2000 issues, Auditnet: http://users.aol.com/auditnet/y2kaudit.htm

Optional: Year 2000 articles from Datamation: http://www.datamation.com/PlugIn/workbench/yr2000/year.htm

Discussion questions for the MTA case:

In February, 1997, what items would you expect to be at the top of MTA Chairman E. Virgil Conway's key concerns for the MTA? What key challenges lie ahead for the MTA?
How effective and thorough have MTA headquarters and the five agencies been in assessing the nature and scope of their Year 2000 software problems? Which organizational unit (MTA HQ or one of the agencies) has done the best job of analyzing the problem? Which has done the worst job?
How might the choice of field-expansion versus a program logic approach to Year 2000 conversion have implications for the project plan? Consider, for example, whether this choice might affect the relative allotment of time for conversion versus testing, or the use of internal employees versus external contractors.
Lou Marcoccia left New York City Transit feeling "very good" about the prospects for successful completion of the Year 2000 project. Is he justified in feeling this way? What advice would you offer his successor, Dan Heidt?
On page 1, Chuck Conn notes that the MTA Data Center would soon be outsourced. Why would this make him uneasy about the Year 2000 initiative?
The All-Agency Year 2000 Work Group includes a few accountants and lawyers (not mentioned in the case). What role should accountants and lawyers play in Year 2000 initiatives such as this?
What advice would you offer Chuck Conn, Moshe Fuchs, and the MTA Board of Directors?
On January 1, 2000, would you be willing to ride the New York City subway or the Long Island Rail Road? Or the Metro-North commuter rail? Why or why not? (This could be a one-page written assignment.)

This page was last modified on 3/6/98. It is maintained by Prof. Steven Gordon at Babson College. Comments should be sent to gordon@babson.edu.

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Performance Indicator	Weighting
Class preparation	34%
Mini-projects (3 @22%)	66%