Software Application: Information System Elements

Transcription

1 Software Application: Information System Elements Project Scheduling Basics Working With Resources Fine Tuning the Project Managing the Project Project Presentations Project Management in Information Technology (IT) Projects Introduction to IT Projects Rapid Development of IT Projects Life Cycle Planning in IT Projects Time and Cost Estimation and Matrices in IT Projects 1

2 Project Scheduling basics Understanding Project Scheduling Microsoft Project Basics Using Project Tasks Outlining the project Understanding Project Scheduling Define the Goal of the Project Project Management Organizational Structures Determine the tasks to be performed Creating the Work Bread-down Structure (WBS) Identification of Resources Production of Requests for Proposals (RFP) 2

3 Understanding Project Scheduling Responses from the RFP should include Approximate Costs (Budgets) Commencement and Completion Dates (Duration) Risk Analyses, Identifying key tasks and possible contingencies What is a Project? A well defined sequence of events with an identifiable beginning and ending The function of the Project Manager is to guide the Project to the goal, within the constraints of Time, Cost and Quality 3

4 Setting Project Goals Project goals need to be as specific as possible They must be Qualifiable and Quantifiable The Project manager Primary responsibilities are: Coordination Collation Dissemination With respect to Project Information 4

5 Parts of the Project A typical project consists of: Tasks Milestones Resources Project Tasks Defines the Project Scope of the Project Goal These are obtained from the WBS Durations are to be estimated for each task identified Historical, Participative, Intuitive, unknown The relationships among tasks should also be identified 5

6 Project Milestones A milestone marks the completion of a group of related tasks or a phase of the project Used to logically sequence the project Used to note the progress of the project Steps in Defining Project Tasks & Milestones Lists all tasks for the project Determine the dependencies among tasks Simultaneous, Duplication, Constraints Determine if tasks are related Parts of the same process, completion of a phase Identify and specify the Milestones 6

7 Project Resources Resource Type People Equipment Facilities Examples Welders Snipers Names of Specific individuals Welding Units Rifles Helicopters Warehouse Conference Rooms Shooting Range Project Resources Seldom available on a 24/7 basis Availability of resources need to be considered 7

8 Additional Planning Issues Are there budget or cost constraints? Who needs to know the project status and how would they benefit? How flexible are deadlines? What are the consequences of missing the deadlines? Use of Microsoft Project Creating a realistic Project Schedule Provides planning tools to keep track of decisions made Manage the project and adjust to changes Tracking and determining weather the tasks are proceeding as planned and adjusts the schedule automatically, based on changes made Communicate results and progress Contains reports that can be customized to communicate the project information concisely Evaluate Project Performance Collects and stores all information relating to tasks, making it easy to assess the effectiveness of the original plan 8

9 Phases of a Project MS Project Tools The GANTT Chart Tasks represented by a horizontal bar, positioned on a horizontal timescale Lengths of each bar represents the tasks duration Used from quick assessment of the progress of the project Link lines between bars, represents the relationships among the tasks 9

10 The GANTT Chart MS Project Tools The PERT Chart MS Project Tools Focuses on the relationships between tasks rather than on duration Displays the interdependencies between tasks 10

11 MS Project Tools Critical Tasks Those tasks that, if delayed, will result in the delay of the entire project The Critical Path consists of the Critical Tasks Knowing the critical tasks helps in the assignment of resources, priorities and to determine the effect of changes in the project MS Project Basics Opening and Saving Navigating Customizing Reporting 11

12 Opening and Saving After Opening MS Project, one will see a blank file MS Project use similar navigation menus as all MS products Gantt Chart View View Bar Indicators Gantt Chart 12

13 Saving as HTML Specify Save As HTML Select the Folder in which to save the file Save file (The Export Map Appears) Select the name of the MAP to be used in Exporting the data Save file Navigating- Changing Views Icon View Name Calendar Gantt Chart PERT Chart Task Usage View Description Used to show the schedule for a time period Used to enter a schedule or list of tasks Used to Fine-tune work in a flow chart manner Used to see resource work contours 13

14 Navigating- Changing Views Icon View name Tracking Gantt Resource Graph Resource Sheet Resource Usage More Views View Description Used to compare baseline schedule to actual Used to display information on resources Used to edit resource data Shows Cost or work allocation over time List all the available views Customizing MS Project One can hide the View bar to get more space (View View Bar) Adjusting Time Scale 14

15 Customizing MS Project Adjusting Time Scale Major Timescale Use the Zoom In and Zoom Out Buttons to adjust the major and Minor timescales Minor Timescale Setting Up MS Project has 26 Predefined Views and 25 Predefined reports that can be printed Headers and Footers are changed via the Page SetUp Menu Views can be previewed before being printed 15

16 Preview Reports Reports are found under the View Menu If one double clicks the selections.. The various reports appear Reports can then be selected, modified and printed Adding Task Notes Notes contain information about assumptions made, durations and dependencies Steps Select Task Select the Task Notes Button Fill in the necessary information Click Ok 16