SW Project Management Project Schedule and Budget

							   SW Project Management
   Project Schedule and Budget

           INFO 420
           Glenn Booker
INFO 420        Chapter 7        1
Grand finale
   Developing the project schedule and
    budget is the grand finale of the project
    planning process – our ultimate goal
      We  just defined the tasks and estimated their
       duration (effort)
      Now identify the sequence of tasks,
       interdependencies, and staffing needs


INFO 420                  Chapter 7                     2
Project cost management
 The budget is determined from the project
  schedule, the cost assigned to tasks, and
  other indirect costs or resources
 Project cost management includes
      Cost estimating for tasks and their resources
      Cost budgeting for the whole project
      Cost control – define processes


INFO 420                 Chapter 7                     3
Rolling up costs
   Since our tasks were organized into
    phases and deliverables, we can roll up
    (summarize) costs to any level desired
      Cost per deliverable
      Cost per phase
      Cost of the whole project

   The sponsor needs to approve these costs

INFO 420                 Chapter 7            4
Developing project schedule
   A key sanity check is that each of the
    estimates for each task is really
    reasonable according to the experts
    in that activity
      GIGO   applies here, not just to programming!




INFO 420                  Chapter 7                    5
Project schedule tools
   Tools to show a project schedule include
      Gantt chart
      Project network diagram
            Activity On the Node (AON) diagram
            Critical path analysis

            PERT charts

            Precedence diagramming method (PDM)

      Critical   chain project management (CCPM)

INFO 420                    Chapter 7               6
Gantt chart
   The Gantt chart is probably the most
    widely used project management tool
      Time       is the X axis, from days to years
              The current date is readily visible
      Tasks        are on the Y axis
            Bars represent WBS tasks
            Milestones are diamond shapes

            An inset bar can show actual work progress



INFO 420                           Chapter 7              7
     Basic Gantt chart

                                                                                Aug 2009
       Task
ID               Start       Finish     Duration
       Name                                            4    5   6   7   8   9   10   11    12   13   14   15   16       17


1     Task 1    8/4/2009    8/7/2009       4d

2     Task 2    8/5/2009    8/5/2009       1d

3     Task 3    8/6/2009    8/6/2009       1d

4     Task 4    8/7/2009    8/12/2009    3d 4h

5     Task 5    8/12/2009   8/12/2009      0d




     INFO 420                                   Chapter 7                                                           8
Project network diagram
   Project network diagrams are also based
    on the WBS, but also show more info on
    task sequence or dependencies
      Many  also show when tasks must start or stop
       in order not to affect project completion date
      This can help decide resource assignments
       needed for critical tasks


INFO 420                 Chapter 7                  9
Activity On the Node
   Activity On the Node (AON) diagrams
    represent the flow of tasks needed to
    complete the project
      Tasks are nodes (boxes)
      Arrows show the order in which they occur

   The duration of tasks isn’t directly visible
    under AON, only time order

INFO 420                Chapter 7                  10
Activity On the Node
   Tasks can be predecessors, successors,
    or in parallel
      Predecessor   tasks must occur before another
       task
      Successor tasks must occur after another task
      Parallel tasks may occur at the same time as
       another task


INFO 420                  Chapter 7                11
Critical path analysis
   Given an AON, critical path analysis
    determines which activities are directly
    connected to achieving the project
    schedule
      They   are the critical path, which can change
   Analytically, find the duration of each path
    through the AON diagram

INFO 420                   Chapter 7                    12
Critical path analysis
   The path with the longest duration is the
    critical path (and the project duration)
      Ifany tasks on the critical path are delayed,
       the overall project completion will be delayed
      Tasks not on the critical path may have a
       non-zero amount of slack or float, which is
       the amount of duration they can slip without
       affecting the project

INFO 420                  Chapter 7                     13
Critical path analysis
   A manager might add resources to tasks
    on the critical path, if that will actually help
    finish them sooner
      This    technique can be called expediting or
           crashing the project
   Fast tracking the project is done by
    making tasks parallel that weren’t


INFO 420                     Chapter 7                 14
PERT charts
   PERT is the program evaluation and
    review technique, developed in the 50’s
      Often   seen with CPM, or critical path method
   A PERT chart also uses the AON graphic
    notation, but uses a different approach for
    estimation



INFO 420                   Chapter 7                    15
Styles of PERT nodes

     Early Start    Duration   Early Finish                  Task Name

                                                      Scheduled       Scheduled
                   Task Name
                                                        Start           Finish

      Late Start     Slack     Late Finish            Actual Start   Actual Finish




INFO 420                                  Chapter 7                                  16
PERT charts
   For each task, estimate the lowest
    (optimistic), most likely, and highest
    (pessimistic) durations, then use
      estimate   = (low + high + 4*likely)/6
   The critical path analysis can be done
    based on these estimates



INFO 420                    Chapter 7           17
Precedence diagramming method

   The precedence diagramming method
    (PDM) adds to AON by showing the key
    sequence relationships
      Finish  to start (most common, sequential)
      Start to start
      Finish to finish
      Start to finish



INFO 420                 Chapter 7                  18
  PDM node relationships
                                                                              Task C
                Task A                      Task B




                         Finish-to-start

                                                                          Task D




                              Task E                                      Start-to-start




                           Task F
                                                                 Task G                     Task H



From Fig. 7.5            Finish-to-finish
                                                                          Start-to-finish
  INFO 420                                           Chapter 7                                       19
PDM
   PDM can also show lead and lag times for
    activities
      Lead   time is an amount of time a task can
       start before the end of its predecessor
      Lag time is the amount of time a task must
       start after the end of its predecessor
              Hence lag time = negative lead time



INFO 420                         Chapter 7           20
Critical chain project management

   Critical chain project management (CCPM) is a
    newcomer (Goldratt, 1997)
   It assumes that all estimates are inflated
   We still finish projects late because
      We  wait until the last minute (student syndrome)
      Projects fill the time available (Parkinson’s law)
      Resource contention




INFO 420                     Chapter 7                      21
CCPM
   CCPM takes that buffer from each task,
    and puts in in larger blocks where needed
      How?    Estimate tasks so that you only have
       a 50% chance of completing them on time
      Then take half of the difference in task time,
       and put that into a buffer at the end of the
       project


INFO 420                  Chapter 7                     22
CCPM
   Yes, you have to estimate each task twice
      Once     normally, and once for 50% chance
           completion
   CCPM also accounts for resource limits,
    by identifying the resources for each task
    and buffers for each type of resource



INFO 420                    Chapter 7               23
PM software tools
   There are several project management
    software tools for developing and
    managing schedules
      MicrosoftProject is the de facto standard
      Planner and OpenWorkBench are open
       source tools
   Ok, so Project doesn’t have much
    competition…

INFO 420                 Chapter 7                 24
PM software tools
 Often projects are planned in detail only a
  few months in the future, a rolling wave
  approach
 There’s an outline of the rest of the
  project, particularly for planning long lead
  time items



INFO 420             Chapter 7                   25
Project budget
   The budget is straightforward to develop,
    once the schedule has been determined
      Determine    the type of resource(s) needed for
       each task, and how many of them are needed
       for its duration (0.1, 2.5, whatever)
      Find the cost of each resource type ($/hr),
       and multiply that by how many and the
       duration = cost per task

INFO 420                  Chapter 7                  26
Project budget
 Check for overuse of resources – often not
  recommended to use 155% of a person’s
  time
 To find the cost of each resource*, assess
  their typical annual salary**, divide by
  2000 (hours per work year), and multiply
  by 2.5 (to account for overhead expenses)
* This is a heuristic. ** You could look for salary surveys.

INFO 420                             Chapter 7                 27
Project budget
   So if a software engineer averages
    $60k/year, their hourly rate is about $30/hr
      Actually,    a normal work year is 40*52 = 2080
           hours, but we’re just getting a rough estimate
   Multiply by 2.5 to get a labor rate of $75/hr
      This    is the ‘true cost’ in the text



INFO 420                      Chapter 7                 28
Other costs
   Labor is the biggest cost on most projects,
    but other costs should be considered
      Indirect  costs – are admin assistants,
       facilities, insurance, etc. paid by the project,
       or from overhead?
      Sunk costs – from previous bad projects
      Learning curve – might be covered by
       prototypes

INFO 420                   Chapter 7                      29
Other costs
      Reserves    – most projects keep back a 10-
       15% reserve from the total actual budget, in
       anticipation of some cost overruns
      Project-specific hardware and software – plan
       for infrastructure costs (servers, network
       equipment, software) which aren’t part of
       normal office & facility environment
      Travel, e.g. to the customer?


INFO 420                 Chapter 7                 30
Resource allocation
 Again, make sure that individuals aren’t
  scheduled for over 100% of their time
 Also consider resource leveling
      Are there times when people are needed,
       then not, then needed again?
      What will those people do in the middle?




INFO 420                Chapter 7                 31
Baseline plan
 Once all these issues have been identified
  and agreed upon, you have the baseline
  project schedule, which feeds the project
  plan
 All measurements of ‘planned versus
  actuals’ hinge upon this plan!



INFO 420            Chapter 7              32