assignment-1 task-1

Q 1 ) Search the Internet for the terms project management, project management careers, project portfolio management, and information technology project management. Write down the number of hits that you received for each of these phrases. Find at least three Web sites that provide interesting information on one of the topics. In a one- to two-page paper, summarize key information about these three Web sites as well as the Project management Institute’s Web site (www.pmi.org).

Ans ) The number of hits I received for the following terms are as below
73,000,000 for project management cereers. (0.12 seconds)
693,000,000 for project management . (0.13 seconds
49,200,000 for project portfolio management . (0.22 seconds)
369,000,000 for information technology project management . (0.17 seconds)

The three Web sites thet provide useful information about Project management are as below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management

According to this Web site it’s the discipline of organizing and managing resources ( e. g.
people) so that the project is completed within the defined scope, quality, time and cost
constraints.

There are many challenges in project management and the first and foremost one is to
ensure that the project is delivered within defined constraints and the second challenge
is to allocate optimized and integration of inputs to meet pre-defined objectives.

http://www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm

In this Web site it describes that the project management is a carefully planned and
organized effort to accomplish one-time effort like a computer system. It includes a plan
defining project goals and objectives the tasks and the goals to be achieved and the budjets
and timelines of completion.

www.tpacc.com/knowledge_base_dictionary.htm

This describes Project management as an action of managing a project and involves many
activities like scheduling and communication and uses many tools to measure the progress
of financial outcome.


Q 2) Summarize the three-sphere model of systems management in your own words Then use your own experience or interview someone who recently completed an information technology project and list several business, technology, and organizational issues addressed during the project. Which issues were most important to the project and why?
Ans ) The three spheres of systems management are business ,organization and technology
issues
The business issues concentrate on the costs of the project on various stakeholders
as well as the company which is undertaking the project . It also concentrate on the financial
sense weather the project is feasible or not and weather the company should develop it in-
house or purchase it off-the-shelf. Various issues like the cost of supporting the system and also the maintenance of the system. This issues also concentrate on the impact of the project on present and future customers of the company.
The organizational issues are the most important and also most difficult issues to work on and plays an important role in managing projects. The people in the organization and other people involved in the project called the stakeholders should come to an definite understanding and work together and spend enough time with the project managers for the project to go on smoothly and meet the requirements and deadlines of the project. The project managers should work according to the political context and culture of the organization.
The technology issues concentrate on the kind of the technology should be adopted and weather it is accepted with the stakeholders and that technology adopted is familiar with the team members or they are need to be trained. Is the present hardware and software is compatible with the technology or they are to be changed. And the way they impact internet access and LAN.
My experience of completing an information technology project has the business issues like making the survey about the feasibility of the new project execution. We arranged weekly meetings with all the stakeholders about the future course of the task.
In my experience I find organizational issues are the most important ones during the project as these issues keep tracking on the various key issues of the project like the technology adopted, selecting and training the team and selecting the hardware and software requirements that support the new system.

Q 3) Write a one- to two-page summary of an article about the importance of top management support for successful information technology projects.
Ans ) The top management are the key stakeholders of the project. They need to give their project managers full support and commitment to successfully lead the project without which the projects fail.
The support of the top management is very important in the project as the top management provides adequate resources to the project managers and is important for the project to go on smoothly.
The top management supports the project managers to cope up with the political issues that arise in the organization. The top management helps and encourage cooperation among the team members to work cooperatively.
Project managers should get support from the top management whenever any unexpected problems arise during the project or if there is any need for any additional hardware and software requirements halfway through the project.
Top managers should train the project managers from time to time and arrange timely management classes and train them to be efficient managers and develop leadership skills to become good leaders to lead the project team efficiently.


Q 4 ) Write a two page paper based on the opening case. Answer the following questions:
a. What do u think the real problem was in the case?
b. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or why not?
c. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or why not?
d. What could Nick have done to be a better project manager?
e. What should top management have done to help Nick?
Ans ) a) The real problem with this case is that Nick has to once again start preparing the new schedule according to the given time frame and to deliver the project without compromising on any of the prospects of the project.

b) This case does not present any realistic scenario because of the least timeframe given to the new project manager by the top management because of which there could be some compromise on the project outcome.

c) Nick Carson is not a good project manager because he did not focus on all aspects of the project. He also failed to provide accurate schedules and also detailed plans on the happenings of the project. He was performing other jobs leaving aside the work of project manager. Without concerning and understanding the problem of top management he delivered the project.

d) To be a better project manager Nick should have scheduled the project properly and also should have arranged kick-off meetings as many times as possible and know the problem of top management clearly and if possible get the additional resources so that not to comprise on any of the aspects of the projects.

e) The top management should first have a kick-off meeting with all the stakeholders and analyze the present status of the project and the future time frame needed to complete the project without compromising on any of the aspects of the project. Also provide the project team with additional resources needed for the project to be completed successfully in the given time.


Q 5 ) Read one of the suggested readings or find an article related to project scope management .Write a one page summary of the article ,its key conclusions, and your opinion.

Ans ) This is very important for project management. It defines and controls what work should be included and not included in the project. It is the amalgamation of all the projects products and the various requirements of the projects.
Project scope management contains processes such as:
i) Scope planning: It involves defining of the scope and verifying it and also controlling it. It involves how to create and define a WBS
ii) Scope definition: It is the developing of the scope statement for the project that will assist in any project decisions.
iii) Creating the WBS: It is dividing the project deliverables in to smaller manageable components so that it could be easier for the project team to develop the project.
iv) Scope verification: It is formalizing the acceptance of the project scope or the project deliverables.
v) Scope control: It is controlling the changes to the project scope.

The project scope management is very important because the processes in this management will definitely occur atleast once and even more than once at any stage depending on the needs of the project. And according to my opinion the scope management is most important thing in any project for its successful completion not compromising on its quality.


Q 6 ) Read one of the suggested readings or search the internet for an interesting article about software development life cycles, including agile software development. Also, find two informative Web sites related to this subject. What do these sources say about project management? Write a one- to two –page summary of your findings.
Ans ) This plays a very important role in the development of the any project. It is used by analysts for the development of the system and includes training, requirements and validation ,analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_Development_Life_Cycle).
It is also known as application development. Using the SDLC a high quality system is achieved that meets the time constraints and the cost estimates and meets the customer expectations and also works effectively and efficiently in the current scenario of information technology. And maintaining the SDLC is cheaper and also is cost-effective to enhance.
SDLC is a systematic approach for problem solving and composed of several phases
(http://codebetter.com/blogs/raymond.lewallen/archive/2005/07/13/129114.aspx) and multiple steps in each phase.
The phases of SDLC are as follows:
i) Planning phase: It is like establishing the plans like defining the system, defining the scope, developing the project plan and also monitoring and managing it.
ii) Analyses phase: Analyses consists of the thinking of the system incorporating everything asked by the management.
iii) Design phase: This consists of producing one or more models thinking of what the system would look like and a document is produced depicting the description of the system but not in specific.
iii) Development phase: It is the execution of the design phase to realize a physical system and building the system architecture and database.
iv) Testing phase: It consists of testing the system and debugging the outcomes.
v) Deployment phase: The systems are deployed and is used by the actual workforce.
vi) Maintenance: Supporting the system to keep up with the changes in the organization.


Q 7) Find someone who works as a project manager or is a member of a project team. Prepare several interview questions, and then ask them your questions in person, via the phone, or via the internet. Write a one- to two- page summary of your findings.

Ans) The following questions are been asked to the project leader of this project

i ) What is the objective to start this project?
This particular project is developed keeping in sight the prospective growth we can achieve by adding more customers to the company while retaining the present ones by providing the better services to our customers.

ii ) How much does this project cost u?
This project costed us a very hefty amount but seeing the good prospects of this project and the expected gains in the future we decided to go ahead with the project. We expect the system paying for itself within one year. And on the long run this could generate profitable revenues by satisfying all the customers.

iii ) How did you initially proceed with the project?
As a start I had an initial meeting with the top management and also with all the other stakeholders and decide about what actually is the project and what are the expectations of the top management and the prospective resources and the budget of the project. And also selected the project team. Then we have many kick-off meetings with the stakeholders every week as the project was progressing ahead to have the valuable suggestions from the stakeholders.
iv ) Was the project finished in the initial budget estimate or it exceeded that estimate. Was it feasible.
The project has definitely exceeded the initial budget estimate. But we were wary of the result and had a definite backup to tackle this out come . But we expect this project pay for itself in one year and expecting more revenues in the long run of its existence.