Quality Software Project Management

• Authors: Robert T. Futrell;Linda I. Shafer;Donald F. Shafer
• Venue: Quality Software Project Management
• Year: 2001

From the Book:Preface Quality Software Project Management was written by and for software practitioners who need a hands-on guide to the non-deterministic but leading-edge task of managing software development projects. The book takes its overall outline from the successful Software Project Management (SWPM) certification program at The University of Texas at Austin's Software Quality Institute, a division of the College of Engineering's Center for Lifelong Engineering Education (CLEE). Software project managers and their development teams play a critical role in the success of modern businesses, be they high-tech or otherwise. These professionals and their knowledge of sound management practices and thorough software development, enhancement, and maintenance processes, can determine organizational success or failure. The trend toward increased software quality is responsible for the promulgation of new standards to certify that development processes meet certain benchmarks. Certifications to standards are becoming more common as buyers demand tighter quality controls. Software project managers must be keenly aware of standards such as those published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), as well as continually evolving practices, guided in part by the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM), and by a new emphasis on the management of small projects. It is in recognition of these trends that UT's College of Engineering and its Software Quality Institute (SQI) created the SWPM certificate program in 1993. Since then, hundreds of software project managers have graduated from the program. Thosemanagers are currently applying "best practices" to overcome the limitations of a tight labor force and to meet the rapidly changing needs of their customers and organizations in today's highly competitive marketplace. This book is a consolidation of teachings from that certification program as it has evolved over the years. In addition to knowledge of the principles of software engineering, software project managers must incorporate skills for managing people, products, and process into their daily routine. For this reason, Quality Software Project Management is grounded in two interlaced bodies of knowledge developed by internationally recognized organizations: the Project Management Institute (PMI?) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ). SQI instructors, many of whom are certified software (CSQE) and project management professionals (PMP?), refine knowledge identified by those two organizations and contribute decades of their own industry experience with the most up-to-date practices. Quality, applicability, timeliness, portability, and profitability are all main areas of focus, both for the SWPM certificate program and for this book, on which it is based. Software engineering principles and quality goals are necessary but not sufficient for the needs of today's marketplace. Shorter cycle times, completed with fewer resources, are also in demand. Products must be carefully targeted toward the specific functional requirements of increasingly sophisticated customers. Software developers and managers dealing with these challenging and often conflicting goals, must be highly skilled in planning, coordinating, and managing software projects. They must know how to tailor best practices to their current projects and to take advantage of their organization's past experience when constructing project plans. Establishing the proper metrics to monitor project performance is essential, as is having necessary multi-disciplinary team leadership skills. Furthermore, software project management must view the project "big picture" as it relates to their profession and to their career advancement. Quality Software Project Management has evolved from the strong belief of the authors, and based on their experience, that with a defined process, quality software can be developed in a repeatable fashion. Figure 1 shows that methods, tools, and technology interrelate in complex and constant ways and require the process in order to achieve balance. These three entities are at the heart of quality, software, and project management, and will therefore be used throughout the text. A method is defined as a manner, means, or process for accomplishing something. A tool is defined as an implement or machine used to do work or perform a task. Technology is defined as the application of scientific knowledge in industry or business.The experience of the authors is that the knowledge in this guide, applied by practitioners, along with the effective use of methods, tools, and techniques encapsulated in 34 competencies, will result in quality software. "Quality" incorporates the necessary functionality as well as other factors such as reliability, usability, etc. Figure 2 represents how ideas are turned into products through iterations of such use. While based on the SWPM course materials, this book is not simply a recitation of them. The specific combined experience of these authors (almost 100 years worth) permeates the work and attempts to blend the thoughts of about 30 instructors into "one voice." A composite case study has been developed containing most of the common types of problems encountered in software projects. The project scenario reflects today's increasingly common need for rapid "Internet time" software development. Using the Guide as a Course Text If you are participating in either the online or the classroom presentation of The University of Texas at Austin Software Quality Institute's Software Project Management certification program, this will be your main text. If you are a professor or instructor of software engineering, this text will suffice for a semester-long course in software engineering plus project management. The bodies of knowledge for project management, software engineering, and software quality, recognized by several professional societies (IEEE, SEI, PMI, ASQ) are presented. If you are a student of project management and software engineering, please feel confident that real industry veterans have authored this text.