Software Project Management in Practice - Softcover

Peter Gordon; Jalote, Pankaj

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0201737213 ISBN 13: 9780201737219

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional, 2002

Synopsis

Delivering high-quality software on time and on budget: it can be done. Pankaj Jalote introduces a set of practices and principles that have been used to successfully execute hundreds of projects -- of all types and sizes. Software Project Management in Practice presents the complete set of processes employed -- and proven effective -- at one of the world's most successful software organizations, Infosys Technologies. These processes, grounded in common sense and supported by simple metrics, can systematically improve the planning and execution of any software project. Since these processes satisfy the requirements of CMM Level 5 -- the industry's most challenging software process standard -- this book's examples illuminate project management as performed by a highly mature development organization. For all project managers and software professionals who may be called upon to manage projects.

About this title

About the Author

Pankaj Jalote is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He was formerly Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland and Vice President of Quality at Infosys Technologies, Ltd., in Bangalore, India. While at Infosys, he was one of the main architects behind Infosys’ move to high-maturity levels of the CMM. He is also the author of CMM in Practice: Processes for Executing Software Projects at Infosys (Addison-Wesley, 2000), in which he discusses the implementation of CMM in an organization.

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From the Back Cover

We often hear about software projects that are late, over budget, or unable to satisfy customer needs. Yet some organizations are able to manage project after project successfully with desired results. In this book, Pankaj Jalote looks at one such organization, Infosys Technologies, a highly regarded high-maturity organization, and details the processes it has in place to manage projects. Revealing exactly how Infosys operates, Jalote provides an excellent case study to guide project managers everywhere. The specific Infosys practices described reflect sound management principles and practices. They are also grounded in common sense, and can be incorporated into any organization’s software development operation easily.

With an actual software project from Infosys used as a running example, the author explains the key aspects of successful project management–from process planning through project monitoring and closure. The practices discussed are also compatible with the widely adopted Capability Maturity Model® (CMM®). In the end, readers will gain a practical framework for systematically improving the planning and execution of any software project.

In-depth coverage of the Infosys software project management process includes:

Requirement change management

Process planning, tailoring, monitoring, and auditing

Effort estimation and scheduling

Quantitative quality management

Risk assessment and control

Measurement and tracking planning

Project team planning

Customer communication

Configuration management

Reviews

Project tracking and closure analysis

Milestone analysis

Activity level analysis using SPC

Defect prevention

The process database

Many guidelines exist for achieving higher software process maturity. This book shows you how by example.

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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The genesis of this book dates back to 1996. For my sabbatical, I joined Infosys as the head of quality, with the charter of improving the processes for project execution. Seeing the problems faced by project managers, I felt that software project management must be the toughest job on the planet. And I thought that delivering high-quality software within budget and on schedule must be an oxymoron.

     The situation, I now realize, is not quite that hopeless. By using sound project management processes, project managers in some organizations are successfully executing projects.

    Infosys, one such global organization, has successfully executed more than 500 projects last year alone. It has about 10,000 employees spread across 25 cities in more than a dozen countries around the globe, and it has been assessed at the highest maturity level (level 5) of the CMM. Its revenues and profits have grown at about 75% per year for the past five years. The level of customer satisfaction can be judged by the fact that despite the company’s huge growth about 85% of its revenue comes from repeat orders from existing customers.

    I have used my experience and knowledge of Infosys processes to identify and describe in this book the key project management practices that have been used to successfully execute project after project. The beauty of these practices is that despite being highly effective, they are not complex; rather, they are grounded in common sense and are supported by simple measurements and analyses.

    In describing project management processes at Infosys, the book offers a unique combination of two value propositions. First, it provides the complete set of processes employed for project management in a highly successful organization. The use of these processes is illustrated with real examples and a running case study. Second, because the processes satisfy the requirements of the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), this book demystifies the way projects are managed in a high-maturity organization, and it provides the benefits that the CMM offers to project management without the need of a detailed understanding of the CMM.

    The book is written primarily for project managers and for professionals who plan to become project managers. By using the methods described in this book they can systematically improve the planning and execution of their projects. It can also be very useful for an organization that wants to reach, but hasn’t yet reached, a high maturity level. If project managers start using the methods described here, they will lay the foundations for high maturity in the organization.

    Because most chapters begin with an overview before describing the details of the Infosys method, this book can also be used as a text in a software project management course. In a general software engineering course, it can serve as a supplementary text, providing a view of how a software project is managed in a business environment.

    Chapter 1 contains a brief introduction to Infosys and the relationship of the CMM and project management. The remainder of the book is divided into two parts. Part I, consisting of Chapters 2 through 9, focuses on project planning and covers topics such as planning infrastructure, process planning, effort and schedule estimation, quality planning, risk management, measurement planning, and configuration management. Part II, consisting of Chapters 10 through 12, focuses on project execution and completion and covers reviews, project monitoring and control, and project closure.

    To the extent possible, each chapter has been kept independent and stand-alone and has been organized as follows. The relevant concepts and background material are given in the first section, followed by a discussion of methods used by Infosys. Next come examples of the use of these methods in real projects and in the case study. Each chapter ends with a summary that lists the key takeaways from the chapter and describes which aspects of CMM are satisfied by the methods discussed in the chapter.

    Although this book draws on my earlier book CMM in Practice (Addison-Wesley, 1999), it has a different focus and substantially different contents. Whereas CMM in Practice considers the entire software process and focuses on implementation of the CMM in an organization, this book focuses exclusively on project management.

    Many people helped to make this book a reality. Because the book has its origins in CMM in Practice, my thanks to all the people who helped in that project. In addition, I would like to again express my gratitude to Infosys and its directors, whose cooperation and help made this book possible. My sincere thanks to members of the quality department at Infosys for providing information whenever needed, and to the many people who shared with me their experiences, which find their way into mini-cases throughout the book (although with the names changed). My special thanks to Naresh Agarwal for his help with the main case study, and to Sanjay Joshi for his help in bringing a sharper focus to the chapters. And finally, my thanks to my wife, Shikha, and my daughters, Sumedha and Sunanda, for bearing with me and my odd hours once again.

    Any comments about the book, or any inaccuracies that might be present (which are entirely my responsibility), can be sent to me at jalote@iitk.ac.in. For information regarding Infosys, visit infy or send mail to public-relations@infy.com.Pankaj Jalote 0201737213P10172001

Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0201737213
• ISBN 13: 9780201737219
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 280