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Software project management is the process of planning and leading software projects. [1] It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the software industry grew very quickly, as computer companies quickly recognized the relatively low cost of software production compared to hardware production and circuitry. To manage new development efforts, companies applied the established project management methods, but project schedules slipped during test runs, especially when confusion occurred in the gray zone between the user specifications and the delivered software. To be able to avoid these problems, software project management methods focused on matching user requirements to delivered products, in a method known now as the waterfall model.
As the industry has matured, analysis of software project management failures has shown that the following are the most common causes: [2] [3] [4]
The first five items in the list above show the difficulties articulating the needs of the client in such a way that proper resources can deliver the proper project goals. Specific software project management tools are useful and often necessary, but the true art in software project management is applying the correct method and then using tools to support the method. Without a method, tools are worthless. Since the 1960s, several proprietary software project management methods have been developed by software manufacturers for their own use, while computer consulting firms have also developed similar methods for their clients. Today software project management methods are still evolving, but the current trend leads away from the waterfall model to a more cyclic project delivery model that imitates a software development process.
A software development process is concerned primarily with the production aspect of software development, as opposed to the technical aspect, such as software tools. These processes exist primarily for supporting the management of software development, and are generally skewed toward addressing business concerns. Many software development processes can be run in a similar way to general project management processes. Examples are:
The purpose of project planning is to identify the scope of the project, estimate the work involved, and create a project schedule. Project planning begins with requirements that define the software to be developed. The project plan is then developed to describe the tasks that will lead to completion. The project execution is the process of completing the tasks defined in the project plan.
The purpose of project monitoring and control is to keep the team and management up to date on the project's progress. If the project deviates from the plan, then the project manager can take action to correct the problem. Project monitoring and control involves status meetings to gather status from the team. When changes need to be made, change control is used to keep the products up to date.
This section possibly contains
original research. (November 2018) |
In computing, the term "issue" is a unit of work to accomplish an improvement in a system. [6] An issue could be a bug, a requested feature, task, missing documentation, and so forth.
For example, OpenOffice.org used to call their modified version of Bugzilla IssueZilla. As of September 2010 [update], they call their system Issue Tracker.[ needs update]
Issues are often categorized in terms of severity levels. Different companies have different definitions of severities, but some of the most common ones are:
In some implementations of software development processes, issues are investigated by quality assurance analysts a system is verified for correctness, and then assigned back to a member of the development team to resolve the identified issue. They can also be identified by system users during the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phase.
Issues can be recorded and communicated using Issue or Defect Tracking Systems. In the absence of a formal Issue or Defect Tracking system, it is commonplace to simply use any form of written communication such as emails or instant messages to communicate the existence of a found issue.
As a subdiscipline of project management, some regard the management of software development akin to the management of manufacturing, which can be performed by someone with management skills, but no programming skills. John C. Reynolds rebuts this view, and argues that software development is entirely design work, and compares a manager who cannot program to the managing editor of a newspaper who cannot write. [7]
This article has multiple issues. Please help
improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page. (
Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
IEEE software life cycle |
---|
Software project management is the process of planning and leading software projects. [1] It is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are planned, implemented, monitored and controlled.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the software industry grew very quickly, as computer companies quickly recognized the relatively low cost of software production compared to hardware production and circuitry. To manage new development efforts, companies applied the established project management methods, but project schedules slipped during test runs, especially when confusion occurred in the gray zone between the user specifications and the delivered software. To be able to avoid these problems, software project management methods focused on matching user requirements to delivered products, in a method known now as the waterfall model.
As the industry has matured, analysis of software project management failures has shown that the following are the most common causes: [2] [3] [4]
The first five items in the list above show the difficulties articulating the needs of the client in such a way that proper resources can deliver the proper project goals. Specific software project management tools are useful and often necessary, but the true art in software project management is applying the correct method and then using tools to support the method. Without a method, tools are worthless. Since the 1960s, several proprietary software project management methods have been developed by software manufacturers for their own use, while computer consulting firms have also developed similar methods for their clients. Today software project management methods are still evolving, but the current trend leads away from the waterfall model to a more cyclic project delivery model that imitates a software development process.
A software development process is concerned primarily with the production aspect of software development, as opposed to the technical aspect, such as software tools. These processes exist primarily for supporting the management of software development, and are generally skewed toward addressing business concerns. Many software development processes can be run in a similar way to general project management processes. Examples are:
The purpose of project planning is to identify the scope of the project, estimate the work involved, and create a project schedule. Project planning begins with requirements that define the software to be developed. The project plan is then developed to describe the tasks that will lead to completion. The project execution is the process of completing the tasks defined in the project plan.
The purpose of project monitoring and control is to keep the team and management up to date on the project's progress. If the project deviates from the plan, then the project manager can take action to correct the problem. Project monitoring and control involves status meetings to gather status from the team. When changes need to be made, change control is used to keep the products up to date.
This section possibly contains
original research. (November 2018) |
In computing, the term "issue" is a unit of work to accomplish an improvement in a system. [6] An issue could be a bug, a requested feature, task, missing documentation, and so forth.
For example, OpenOffice.org used to call their modified version of Bugzilla IssueZilla. As of September 2010 [update], they call their system Issue Tracker.[ needs update]
Issues are often categorized in terms of severity levels. Different companies have different definitions of severities, but some of the most common ones are:
In some implementations of software development processes, issues are investigated by quality assurance analysts a system is verified for correctness, and then assigned back to a member of the development team to resolve the identified issue. They can also be identified by system users during the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phase.
Issues can be recorded and communicated using Issue or Defect Tracking Systems. In the absence of a formal Issue or Defect Tracking system, it is commonplace to simply use any form of written communication such as emails or instant messages to communicate the existence of a found issue.
As a subdiscipline of project management, some regard the management of software development akin to the management of manufacturing, which can be performed by someone with management skills, but no programming skills. John C. Reynolds rebuts this view, and argues that software development is entirely design work, and compares a manager who cannot program to the managing editor of a newspaper who cannot write. [7]