Project Management Concepts Quiz

Modern Systems Analysis and Design - Chapter 5

• Chapter 5 focuses on initiating and planning systems development projects.
• Learning objectives include describing project initiation and planning steps, explaining Project Scope Statement and Baseline Project Plan contents, listing and describing feasibility methods, and differentiating tangible/intangible, one-time/recurring benefits and costs.
• Additional objectives include performing cost-benefit analysis, evaluating technical risks in systems development projects, and describing structured walkthrough activities and roles.
• Key questions for considering the division between Project Initiation and Planning (PIP) and analysis include: What must be considered when making the PIP decision? How much effort should be expended on PIP? Who is responsible for PIP? Why is PIP challenging?
• The initiation and planning process is a crucial part of the systems development life cycle.
• Project Initiation and Planning (PIP) focuses on activities that help organize a team for project planning.
• Key activities in project initiation include establishing a project initiation team, building relationships with customers, creating a project initiation plan, establishing management procedures, defining the project management environment/workbook, and developing a project charter.
• The project charter is a key deliverable of project initiation. It’s a short document for stakeholders (internal and external) providing a high-level project overview to ensure understanding.
• Elements of project planning include describing scope, alternatives, feasibility, dividing the project into tasks, estimating resource requirements, creating a resource plan, developing a preliminary schedule, and creating a communication plan. Also included are determining standards/procedures, identifying/assessing risk, producing a preliminary budget, developing a statement of work, and setting the baseline project plan.
• A deliverable of the PIP phase is the Baseline Project Plan (BPP). It details scope, benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements. The Project Scope Statement (PSS) documents the project deliverables and high-level work required.
• Assessing project feasibility has various aspects: economic, technical, operational, scheduling, legal/contractual, and political.
• Economic feasibility involves cost-benefit analysis, considering tangible and intangible costs/benefits (one-time/recurring) and the time value of money.
• Tangible benefits are measurable in dollars (e.g., reduced personnel expenses, lower transaction costs, higher profit margins).
• Intangible benefits are not easily measured in dollars (e.g., improved employee morale, reduced waste.)
• Tangible costs are measurable in dollars (e.g., hardware costs, labor costs, operational costs).
• Intangible costs are not easily measured in dollars (e.g., loss of customer goodwill, reduced employee morale, operational inefficiency).
• One-time costs are associated with project start-up and development (e.g., new hardware/software purchases, user training).
• Recurring costs are ongoing costs related to the system's use and evolution (e.g., application software maintenance, incremental data storage).
• The concept of "Time Value of Money (TVM)" is crucial for cost benefit analysis. This concept considers the idea that money today is worth more than the equivalent amount tomorrow. This is calculated by Present Value (PV)
• Factors in determining scope include the organizational units affected, current systems that interact with the new system, people impacted by new system, and the potential system capabilities.
• Analyzing technical feasibility involves assessing project size, project structure, familiarity of the development group with the application/technology area and the user group’s familiarity with similar systems.
• Potential project risks include inaccurate project cost/duration estimates, failure to achieve adequate system performance, and failure to integrate the new system with existing systems.
• Managing risks involves adjusting project plans, assigning specialized team members, and monitoring potential risks.
• Four primary technical risk factors for projects are project size, project structure, experience of the development group in the area of application/technology, and experience of the user group.
• Steps for reviewing the baseline project plan using structured walk-throughs include utilizing roles like a coordinator, presenter, user, secretary, standard-bearer, and maintenance oracle. Structured walkthroughs aim to ensure the proposed system fulfills organizational standards and that all relevant parties understand it.