Software Project Management Kit For Dummies

You've probably heard all the media hype concerning e-Commerce and s ware start-ups. You know - tales of overnight billionaire success stories. You may be wondering how you can work on a software project so you can cash in on your stock options and get rich, too.
However, the alarming reality is that about one-half of the estimated 300,000 software projects in the United States will fail due to poor planning, inexperienced project managers, or inept project teams.
If you are a new or experienced project manager, or team member of a new software project, but you don't have the tools, or know where to begin, don't worry, be happy! (Woo hoo hoo hoo... Everybody sing along!) With the Software Project Management Kit For Dummies as your toolkit and your handy reference, you will find step-by-step instructions that will show you how to create successful software projects that stand the best chance of staying on schedule and under budget.

Who Should Read This Book

Software Project Management Kit For Dummies is a toolkit for anyone who manages or participates as a member of any software project team. Effectively managing software projects is a team sport, which depends on the expertise and effort of every player big or small. As project manager, you get to be the team coach, deciding who plays where and calling the shots.
Typical software project teams include everyone in the software development cycle. Start-up entrepreneurs, project managers and sponsors, marketing mangers, functional architects, database administrators, systems analysts, developers, engineers, software quality assurance engineers, technical writers, customer-support engineers, and students all have a part in the mix.

About This Book

Whether you are managing or participating on a small, medium, or large software project, Software Project Management Kit For Dummies is for you. It doesn't matter if you are developing Internet/intranet applications, client server monsters, or performing legacy conversions, Software Project
Management Kit For Dummies is for you. If you are developing a large mainframe application or cranking out a top-notch video game, Software Project Management Kit For Dummies is for you. Even if you are working on developing the greatest chicken soup recipe ever, Software Project Management. Well, on second thought, maybe you need a different For Dummies book.
Software Project Management Kit For Dummies is organized into a number of stand-alone modules, so you don't have to begin reading from, page one to the end. You are free to pick and choose the modules that are appropriate for the software project tasks you happen to be working on at a given moment.
For example, suppose you are trying to find out how to manage the testing effort of your software project. To locate this information, you could search the topics and page references either in the table of contents or in the index.
Inside the back cover of this book, you will find a CD-ROM. It includes a wealth of templates that you and your project team are fret to customize for your specific software project. Also on the CD-ROM you will find several project management software tools including: Microsoft Project 98, Soffront help desk, defect, knowledge base TRACK suite, and Marotz's Cost Xpert and Strategy Xpert software project cost schedule estimating tools.

How This Book Is Organized

With the exception of The Part of Tens, the parts of this book follow the sequence of the seven phases of the software project life cycle, as detailed in Chapter 1. However, you don't need to read the book from cover to cover in order to use this kit successfully.
Each chapter covers an aspect of software project management and provides an opportunity to create your project plan, schedule, and crucial project documents using the templates and toolkit contained on the CD-ROM.

Part I : Defining Your Software Project

In this part, you and your project team will start out with a high-level overview of the seven phases of the software development process in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2 you learn, hands-on, the steps of defining requirements involved for conceiving and justifying a new software project. By getting involved from the product's inception, you will be especially prepared to lead your development team through the remaining project phases for a successful software project. Chapter 3 walks your project team through a variety of analysis phase meetings, including the project kickoff, project brainstorming, and WBS meetings.

Part II : Building and Tracking in Microsoft Project

Your effort as a project manager of a new software project can be simplified by using project management software tools, such as Microsoft Project. In Chapter 4, you get off to a great start by effectively using Microsoft Project to, begin building your software project plan. Here you learn about summary tasks, and Gantt charts, project schedules, and task durations. Chapter 5 shows you how to use proven software estimation methodologies and software tools. By the end of this chapter, you will accurately estimate your project parameters, enabling you to, assign the optimal amount of resources, and even humans, to, your project with a reasonable degree of certainty. In Chapter 6 you use Microsoft Project to, assist you in optimizing your project plan through modifying scope, adjusting schedules, and reallocating resources.

Part III : Making your Software Happen

It's not enough to gather and analyze the requirements for your software project. Your project team also needs to design and build the software and documentation in order to deliver a fully functional product to your customers. Chapter 7 covers the design phase, where your project team will participate in several meetings to design your software product's data model, functional architecture, information flow model, prototype sales demo, and documentation. Here is where you develop both functional specifications and detailed design specifications. Chapter 8 details the development phase, which involves the development or production of your software, involving a very similar process in the manufacturing of any other product.

Part IV : Testing 1, 2, 3...

After your software and documentation are designed and built, they still need to be fully tested. Your project team also needs a mechanism in place for handling project change and risks. Chapter 9 will show your team, step-by-step, how to, develop a comprehensive Software Quality Assurance strategy. You find out about test plans, test cases, test automations, bug tracking, configuration management, metrics reporting, and change control. Chapter 10 helps you manage changes that creep into your project through the effective development and implementation of a Change/Risk Management plan.

Part V: Releases, Support, and Implementation

Another big challenge in bringing your newborn software product from mere vaporware to alpha, beta, and finally a generally available release, is successfully build configurations, implementations, and a 24x7 world-class support package. In Chapter 11, you learn what it takes to put together your final software product and to support that product. Chapter 12 covers the implementation phase - the final phase of the development cycle. Here you learn what happens after you create a product and need to adapt it for specific customers.

Part VI : The Part of Tens

This part summarizes key concepts, as well as providing an executive summary of the big issues project managers and project teams will encounter during your software project adventure. Chapter 13 provides ten tips for effective project management.

Part VII : Appendices

There are two appendixes included in the Software Project Management Kit For Dummies for your reading enjoyment. Appendix A is a glossary of important software development and project management terms. Appendix B gives you the full scoop on how to install and use the wealth of templates and tools contained on CD-ROM.