ASPE Technology Training Information: Software Project Management

Course details

Successful software projects require more than just good technical work. Project success hinges on your ability to manage all of the myriad details that must be coordinated in order to make the technical work pay off.

First, you need a good basis for making commitments that your team can actually deliver on. The most common complaint of senior management and customers is that we fail to deliver what we promised on time and within budget. Good project management techniques provide the basis for making reasonable commitments about what we can deliver. And when we are pushed to over-commit, they give us the data we need to negotiate expectations so that the project scope actually matches our constraints. You then need solid but agile processes that will help you to keep the work on track week-to-week. You need mechanisms for:

Assuring that all of the pieces are in place, and no important details are missed
Coordinating your team's work with other groups
Ensuring each team member knows what he or she should be doing each day
Understanding how well the work is tracking against your plans
Identifying trouble spots before they become crises
Recovering project momentum when things go wrong
Controlling project scope-creep
Mitigating the risks to your project
Communicating project status to the various stakeholders
Re-negotiating expectations before problems make the project miss its targets

This course draws from the best in software project management practices, including:

The PMBOK® Guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge)
The CMMI® (Capability Maturity Model Integration) from the SEI
The Agile software development methods, including Extreme Programming

These practices will arm you with effective and efficient methods for ensuring your project’s success.

In Class Workshops and Group Exercises:
In-class exercises will give you the opportunity to explore how you can use the practices covered in this course to make your current software project successful. You will have the opportunity to discuss with your fellow students the problems you have experienced on your projects and explore ways to avoid them in the future. And, you will work with them to apply those practices to the course case study.

Specifically, you will:

Identify project management issues
Define the scope of a project
Identify the resources required for a project
Establish a project budget and schedule
Plan for verification and validation activities
Define a communications and stakeholder involvement plan
Develop a procurement plan
Identify appropriate measurement and analysis activities
Evaluate project risks

Immediate Benefits of Attending This Class:

Efficiently establish useful project plans
Manage Project Execution
Assure that all vital activities are on track
Monitor progress and understand project status
Take corrective action to bring your project back under control
Control changes to your project
Establish and manage your project's scope
Identify all of the resources you will need (human and others)
Enumerate the knowledge and skills required for your project
Manage your team members well
Coordinate with other groups to avoid surprises
Identify and accurately estimate all project activities
Develop an achievable schedule
Enumerate all project costs
Develop a realistic budget
Monitor and control your budget and schedule
Plan for all necessary verification and validation (V&V) activities
Assure that verification and validation activities (V&V) are effective
Take corrective action when quality levels fall short
Plan for communication of relevant information to all stakeholders
Identify stakeholders who will be actively involved in the project
Report status and hold reviews as needed
Manage relationships with suppliers
Measure project attributes that will provide the information you need
Identify, analyze and prioritize project risks
Mitigate risks with appropriate plans
Ensure your project’s success