Project Management Overview – Information Systems Paper (200 Level Course)

Project Management Overview – Information Systems Paper (200 Level Course)

1. Project Management is process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the development of a product. Its goal is to deliver the product on budget on time.
2. A task is an ongoing part of a project while an event is a single point in time. A Project is broken into tasks
3. The larger a project the more resources are needed and the more complex it will be. It is not linear but almost quadratic due to the scheduling and communication
interfaces that are required between all the resources.

4. Sequential tasks have to happen in order. Concurrent tasks can happen at the same time.
5. A Gantt chart shows progress of tasks on a horizontal time line put cannot show the dependency of tasks to one another like a PERT/CPM chart can through its use of the network diagram style. PERT charts also display Critical Path and Slack Time in a project.
6. Terms
a. (B+4P+W)/6
b. Best case estimate- if all goes right, the shortest duration a task will take
c. Probable case estimate – real world, the average duration a task will take
d. Worst case estimate- if all goes wrong, the longest duration a task will take
7. Calculations
a. EF- is the earliest time a task can be completed in with all needed resources. It is calculated as the task duration added to the ES of the task
b. ES- is the earliest a task can begin with all needed resources. Earliest Start is calculated as the EF of the preceding task.
c. LS- is the latest time a task can begin with all needed resources. The Latest Start is calculated by subtracting the tasks duration from the task’s LF.
d. LF- is the latest time a task can be completed in with all needed resources. The Latest Finish is the Latest Start of the preceding task.
8. Critical Path indicates the tasks that if not completed on time will delay the entire project. The project manager has to make sure these tasks are completed and calculate slack time if needed to make sure that resources are available and allocated correctly. If not the project will fall behind.
9. Project reporting is accomplished through status meetings, status reports, and milestones.
10. Software change control is the process to manage and control requests for change and the implementations of those requests. Change control has four typical steps:
1. Complete the change request form
2. Take initial action on the requested change
3. Analyze the impact to the current system of the change requested
4. Take action on the request by accepting, deferring, or rejecting the request