Traditionally, project development includes five elements: control systems and four stages.
Project control systems
Project control is that element of a project that keeps it on-track, on-time, and within budget. Project control begins early in the project with planning and ends late in the project with post-implementation review, having a thorough involvement of each step in the process. Each project should be assessed for the appropriate level of control needed: too much control is too time consuming, too little control is too costly. If control is not implemented correctly, the cost to the business should be clarified in terms of errors, fixes, and additional audit fees.
Control systems are needed for cost, risk, quality, communication, time, change, procurement, and human resources. In addition, auditors should consider how important the projects are to the financial statements, how reliant the stakeholders are on controls, and how many controls exist. Auditors should review the development process and procedures for how they are implemented. The process of development and the quality of the final product may also be assessed if needed or requested.
Businesses sometimes use formal systems development processes. These help assure that systems are developed successfully. A formal process is more effective in creating strong controls, and auditors should review this process to confirm that it is well designed and is followed in practice. A good formal systems development plan outlines:
* A strategy to align development with the organization’s broader objectives
* Standards for new systems
* Project management policies for timing and budgeting
* Procedures describing the process
Project development stages
Regardless of the methodology used, the project development process will have the same major stages: initiation, development, production or execution, and closing/maintenance.
Initiation
The initiation stage determines the nature and scope of the development. If this stage is not performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business’s needs. The key project controls needed here is an understanding of the business environment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation should be made to fix them.
The initiation stage should include a cohesive plan that encompasses the following areas:
* Study analyzing the business needs in measurable goals.
* Review of the current operations.
* Conceptual design of the operation of the final product.
* Equipment requirement.
* Financial analysis of the costs and benefits including a budget.
* Select stake holders, including users, and support personnel for the project.
* Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedule.
Planning and design
After the initiation stage, the system is designed. Occasionally, a small prototype of the final product is built and tested. Testing is generally performed by a combination of testers and end users, and can occur after the prototype is built or concurrently. Controls should be in place that ensure that the final product will meet the specifications of the project charter. The results of the design stage should include a product design that:
* Satisfies the project sponsor, end user, and business requirements.
* Functions as it was intended.
* Can be produced within quality standards.
* Can be produced within time and budget constraints.
Closing and Maintenance
Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof. Administrative activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons learned.
Maintenance is an ongoing process, and it includes:
* Continuing support of end users
* Correction of errors
* Updates of the software over time
In this stage, auditors should pay attention to how effectively and quickly user problems are resolved.
Over the course of any construction project, the work scope changes. Change is a normal and expected part of the construction process. Changes can be the result of necessary design modifications, differing site conditions, material availability, contractor-requested changes, value engineering and impacts from third parties, to name a few. Beyond executing the change in the field, the change normally needs to be documented to show what was actually constructed. Hence, the owner usually requires a final record to show all changes or, more specifically, any change that modifies the tangible portions of the finished work. The record is made on the contract documents – usually, but not necessarily limited to, the design drawings. The end product of this effort is what the industry terms as-built drawings, or more simply, “asbuilts.” The requirement for providing them is a norm in construction contracts.
project management training 
project management
Monday, May 28, 2007
Project Systems
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Software/Web Project Management
Software/Web Project Management is a sub-discipline of Project management in which software projects are planned, monitored and controlled.
Project Planning
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.
Project Monitoring and Control
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.
Software requirements
Requirements analysis is a term used to describe all the tasks that go into the instigation, scoping and definition of a new or altered computer system. Requirements analysis is an important part of the software engineering process; whereby business analysts or software developer identify the needs or requirements of a client; having identified these requirements they are then in a position to design a solution.
Risk Management
Risk Management is the process of measuring, or assessing risk and then developing strategies to manage the risk. In general, the strategies employed include transferring the risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, and accepting some or all of the consequences of a particular risk. Traditional risk management, which is discussed here, focuses on risks stemming from physical or legal causes (e.g. natural disasters or fires, accidents, death, and lawsuits).
Software Process
A software development process is concerned primarily with the production aspect of software development, as opposed to the technical aspect. These processes exist primarily for supporting the management of software development, and are generally skewed toward addressing business concerns.
Problems in Software/Web Projects
The problems in software projects come from three different viewpoints. There are project managers,developers and customers. The problems faced by project managers if he/she poor in role definition, poor in estimating and planning, lack of decision making skills. Project managers do need to face the schedule, budget and quality constraints. However, the problems faced by developers if he/she is lack of knowledge in application area, lack of standard, lack of up to date documentations, deadline pressure, changes of application requirement. Lastly, the problems faced by customers is the monetary constraints, receive the products out of the actual time that should be deliver.
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The Project Manager
Project management is quite often the province and responsibility of an individual project manager. This individual seldom participates directly in the activities that produce the end result, but rather strives to maintain the progress and productive mutual interaction of various parties in such a way that overall risk of failure is reduced.
A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm he/she is representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality, and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.
In whatever field, a successful project manager must be able to envisage the entire project from start to finish and to have the ability to ensure that this vision is realized.
project management
Project Management activities
Project Management is composed of several different types of activities such as:
1. Planning the work or objectives
2. Analysis & Design of objectives
3. Assessing and controlling risk (or Risk Management)
4. Estimating resources
5. Allocation of resources
6. Organizing the work
7. Acquiring human and material resources
8. Assigning tasks
9. Directing activities
10. Controlling project execution
11. Tracking and Reporting progress
12. Analyzing the results based on the facts achieved
13. Defining the products of the project
14. Forecasting future trends in the project
15. Quality Management
16. Issues Management
17. Issues solving
18. Defect prevention
19. Project Closure meet
20. Communicating to stakeholders
project management
Project Management Process
Project management process is the management process of planning and controlling the performance or execution of a project.
Inputs
* Documented need to act
* Project plan templates
* Lessons learned from previous projects
* Existing project management standards
* External information
* Resources for project planning and project execution
Process
* Project initiation
* Project planning
* Project execution
* Project control
* Project closeout and evaluation
Outputs
* Project products delivered
* Project objectives achieved (as a result of the interplay among project products and the organization or its environment)
* Lessons learned documented
project management
Project Management Definitions
Definitions of Project Management on the Web:
* Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project. A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to achieve a particular aim. Project management knowledge and practices are best described in terms of their component processes. These processes can be placed into five Process Groups: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Closing. ...
* The leadership role which plans, budgets, co-ordinates, monitors and controls the operational contributions of property professionals, and others, in a project involving the development of land in accordance with a client's objectives in terms of quality, cost and time.
* A controlled process of initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project.
* Both a process and set of tools and techniques concerned with defining the project's goal, planning all the work to reach the goal, leading the project and support teams, monitoring progress, and seeing to it that the project is completed in a satisfactory way.
* The application of modern management techniques and systems to the execution of a project from start to finish, to achieve predetermined objectives of scope, quality, time and cost, to the equal satisfaction of those involved.
* Project management is concerned with the overall planning and co-ordination of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting the client's requirements and ensuring completion on time, within cost and to required quality standards. Project management is typically carried out either by a private consultant or an employee of the project client.
* Manages the production of projects with schedules and tasks associated with the project. It often involves detailed expertise in many of the following areas: planning, cost management, contract negotiations/procurement, technical writing (proposals, etc.), research, technical development, information/computer management, business development, corporate/administrative management, time management, and others. ...
* The methods and disciplines used to define goals, plan and monitor tasks and resources, identify and resolve issues, and control costs and budgets for a specific project.
* May be used in a project manufacturing environment for production scheduling or in a variety of one off projects throughout all types of organisation.
* The action of managing a project. It can involves many activities, from scheduling to communication. Project Management in TOC is outcomes based as opposed to activity based, and TPACC software is an ideal tool used to measure the progress toward the financial outcome.
* Approach used to manage work with the constraints of time, cost and performance targets.
* This is managing the resources needed to ensure that a project is finished on time and within budget and to the satisfaction of the end user. Project managers use tools such as PERT and Gantt charts for scheduling all the tasks that need to be completed. They are conscious of managing time, scope and resources for a project. To reduce time to complete a project the manager might decide to employ more workers which would increase costs. ...
* The planning, control and co-ordination of all aspects of a project, and the motivation of all those involved in it, in order to achieve the project objectives.
* Project management is the discipline of defining and achieving targets while optimizing the use of resources (time, money, people, space, etc). Thus, it could be classified into several models: time, cost, scope, and intangibles.
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