Chapter 2
Create a list of potential risks that could affect the outcome of a project.
- Scope creep - Poor design - Overly optimistic estimates
List three techniques to reduce conflict.
1. Make team aware of organizational importance of their project 2. Clearly define plans for the project 3. Develop a schedule ahead of time
What are the problems associated with conventional WBSs?
1. Too focused on the DESIGN of the info system being developed 2. Too many levels or too few levels of detail in early development 3. Difficult to compare across projects (since they are project-specific)
Compare and contrast the Gantt chart with the network diagram.
A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that shows the same task information as the project WBS but in a graphical way. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words, and the Gantt chart can communicate the high-level status of a project much faster and easier than the WBS. Network diagram lays out the project tasks in a flowchart
Describe a risky project in terms of technical feasibility. Describe a project that would not be considered risky
A risky project would be when a company wants to move into a realm for which that have no experience, there needs to be subject matter experts staffed in order to make the project progress in the right direction. A project without risk would be a upgrade of an existing project that has had success to bring it into the forward in technology.
What belongs in the project binder? How is the project binder organized?
All project deliverable, all internal communication, and all project documentation should be placed in the project binder. The sections of the project binder should follow the phases of the life cycle, and each deliverable produced during the project should be placed in its appropriate place.
What are the best ways to motivate a team? What are the worst ways?
Best: - "20% time rule" - employees should spend 20% of time on an idea they believe in - Small awards given peer to peer (rather than manager to employee) - The team should be referred to as "we," not "they" - Open door policy Worst: - Monetary awards or bonuses
Some companies hire consulting fi rms to develop the initial project plans and manage the project but use their own analysts and programmers to develop the system. Why do you think some companies do this?
Consulting Frms have the past experience they offer to a project; they have estimates and methodologies that have been developed and honed over time and applied to hundreds of projects.
Describe three types of standards and provide examples of each.
Documentation standards: - Date and project name should be in header on all documents Coding standards: - Proper indentation should be used (code should look "clean") Procedural standards: - Hold meeting at same time every Friday
What is an evolutionary WBS? How does it address the problems associated with a conventional WBS?
Evolutionary WBS - WBs which allows the development of an iterative workplan They address problems of traditional WBS because they: 1. Are standard across all projects 2. Are created in an incremental and iterative manner 3. Enable the comparison of current projects to earlier projects
Describe two special issues that may be important to list on a system request.
Examples of special issues that may be important to include are: environmental factors that should be considered (e.g., new governmental reporting requirements); competitive factors (e.g., IS-enabled systems introduced or anticipated by competitors); externally imposed deadlines that cannot be altered (e.g., completion by the start of the next fiscal year); mandated technologies.
Describe the differences between a technical lead and a functional lead. How are they similar?
Functional lead - Manages analysts Technical lead - Manages programmers and technical staff Similar in that they are both team leads, different in what type of skills/staff they manage
List two tangible benefi ts and two operational costs for a system. How would you determine the values that should be assigned to each item?
How would you determine the values that should be assigned to each item? Reductions in Staff, Operational Team Salaries - you can look at the team cost versus the amount of money that the team brings in, there may be a need to reduce the staff based of the finances that they are bringing in. Reductions in IT Costs and Hardware Repairs - based off of the amount of money that is being used for upkeep and maintenance of the IT hardware there may be a need to upgrade to new versions in order to reduce the cost to maintain the older hardware.
What are the steps for assessing economic feasibility? Describe each step.
Identifying Costs and Benefits - List the tangible costs and benefits for the project. Include both one-time and recurring costs. Assigning Values to Costs and BeneFts - Work with business users and IT professionals to create numbers for each of the costs and benefits. Even intangibles should be valued if at all possible. Determining Cash Flow - Project what the costs and benefits will be over a period of time, usually three to Five years. Apply a growth rate to the numbers, if necessary. Determining Net Present Value (NPV) - Calculate what the value of future costs and benefits are if measured by today's standards. You will need to select a rate of growth to apply the NPV formula. Determining Return on Investment (ROI) - Calculate how much money the organization will receive in return for the investment it will make using the ROI formula. Determining the Break-Even Point - ±ind the Frst year in which the system has greater beneFts than costs. Apply the breakeven formula using Fgures from that year. This will help you understand how long it will take before the system creates real value for the organization. Graphing the Break-Even Point - Plot the yearly costs and beneFts on a line graph. The point at which the lines cross is the break-even point
List two intangible benefits. Describe how these benefits can be quantified
Increased Brand Recognition - you could poll people to see if they know what your brand is. Improved Customer Service - have a customer service survey for people to take to show improvement.
Why should the system request be created by a business person as opposed to an IS professional?
It is important to have a clear understanding of how system will improve business. Companies have now realized that identifying business value and understanding the risks associated with the project are necessary to avoid any potential risks involved. Usually the system originates with a businessperson as he understands the need for the system or system improvement in the business unit and will have a much better idea of the value of the proposed system or improvement and therefore is in a better position to create a meaningful system request In fact, the ideal situation is for both IT people (i.e., the experts in systems) and the business people (i.e., the experts in business) to work closely to find ways for technology to support business needs. In this way, organizations can leverage the exciting technologies that are available while ensuring that projects are based upon real business objectives, such as increasing sales, improving customer service, and decreasing operating expenses.
What is stakeholder analysis? Discuss three stakeholders that would be relevant for most projects
Stakeholder analysis second way to assess organizational feasibility Project champion, system users, and organizational management
What is the difference between intangible value and tangible value? Give three examples of each.
Tangible Value: Tangible value can be quantified and measured easily. Tangible value represents the benefits from the systems that are quantifiable and measurable. Example: (a) increased sales (b) reduced operating costs (c) reduced interest costs etc... Intangible Value: An intangible value results from an intuitive belief that the system provides important, but hard-to-measure benefits to the organization. Intangible value represents benefits that are real, but are difficult to quantify and measure.
Describe three technical skills and three interpersonal skills that are very important to have on any project.
Technical Skills: - Programming - Understanding of technology at hand - Internet/networking Interpersonal Skills: - Verbal and written communication - Team management - Leadership
Describe the three techniques for feasibility analysis.
Technical feasibility looks at the capability of the organization to successfully develop the proposed system. Included in this assessment are the project size, the types of technologies to be used in the project, and the amount of prior experience with that technology and the business application. Economic feasibility addresses the economic justification of the project. Here, we attempt to determine if the value of the project‟s benefits justifies investing in the project‟s estimated costs. Organizational feasibility evaluates whether the system is likely to be accepted and used by the organization. Included in this assessment will be the strength of the sponsor‟s and management‟s support for the project and the enthusiasm or resistance of the users for the project.
What process do we use to estimate systems development based on use cases?
The Unified Process
What is the purpose of an approval committee? Who is usually on this committee?
The approval committee generally serves as the decision making body regarding business investments in information systems projects. This approval committee could be a company steering committee that meets regularly to make information systems decisions, a senior executive who has control of organizational resources, or any other decision-making body that governs the use of business investments. This committee generally has a broad organizational representation, and therefore can avoid allocating resources that will serve only narrow organizational interests. The approval committee commonly has project oversight responsibilities as well as monitoring project performance after the project has been accepted.
What is the break-even point for the project? How is it calculated?
The break-even point is determined by looking at the cash flow over time and identifying the year in which the beneFts are larger than the costs. Take the Yearly NVP (for the first year which had positive cash flow) - Cumulative NVP and divide it by the Yearly NVP (for the first year which had positive cash flow)
Why do many projects end up having unreasonable deadlines? How should a project manager react to unreasonable demands?
The deadlines are not being managed by people who understand the process involved. The project manager needs to speak with the stake holders and convince them to provide a reasonable timely manner.
What are the purposes of the system request and the feasibility analysis? How are they used in the project selection process?
The purpose of the system request is to initiate a systems project. The system request pulls together preliminary ideas on the reason for the system and its expected value to the organization. The feasibility analysis represents a more detailed investigation into the proposed system outlined in the system request. The system analyst and the project sponsor work together to more fully develop the objectives of the system and to understand its potential costs and benefits to the organization. The system request and the feasibility analysis are the key inputs used by the approval committee in determining if the proposed system has enough merit to move into the analysis phase
Name two ways to identify the tasks that need to be accomplished over the course of a project.
They tend to be focused on the design of the information system being developed. They tend to force too many levels of detail very early on in the systems development process for large projects or they tend to allow too few levels of detail for small projects. Because they are project speciFc, they are very difFcult to compare across projects.
What are the trade-off s that project managers must manage?
Trade-offs are situations in which the organization must give up something in return for something else to keep its portfolio well balanced.
What is a use-case point? For what is it used?
Use-case points are based on unique features of use cases and object orientation. From a practical point of view, to estimate effort using use-case points, the use cases and the use-case diagram must have been created.
Explain the net present value and return on investment for a cost-benefit analysis. Why would these calculations be used?
Why would these calculations be used? Net present value (NPV) is used to compare the present value of future cash flows with the investment outlay required to implement the project. Return on investment (ROI) is a calculation listed somewhere on the spreadsheet that measures the amount of money an organization receives in return for the money it spends
What is an iterative workplan?
Workplan where, as each iteration through the development process is completed, additional iterations and tasks are added
Give three examples of business needs for a system.
a) Maintain or improve the competitive position b) Perform a business function more efficiently c) Take advantage of a new business opportunity
What is timeboxing, and why is it used?
method where meeting a deadline is placed above delivering functionality It is used in situations where the company has little patience with projects that have long development times
What is scope creep, and how can it be managed?
when new requirements are added to the project after the original project scope was already defined It can be managed with iterative and incremental development
