May 15, 2009 10:10 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
change management,
project aspect,
project location,
project management,
project manager,
Project Plan,
project progress,
project role,
project schedule,
project scope,
project study,
Software ProjectScope defined and decided upon initially by vendor and customer mutually has a large impact on timeline, progress and success of a project. A change in scope at a later stage may call for a big impact on project schedule and progress. Let us see the roles of vendor and customer respectively in this...
May 13, 2009 9:35 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project achievements,
project customer,
Project Lifecycle,
project management,
project manager,
project milestones,
project sign-off,
project stages,
project stakeholders,
project vendor,
Software ProjectSign-off at various stages has a significant importance during project lifecycle. Everyday sign-off can be a headache for customer, no sign-off can cause headache for vendor, so there has to be a balance of sign-offs of milestones, achievements and stages of project so that the sanctity of...
May 11, 2009 10:12 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business critical change,
business requirements,
Business Rules,
business study,
change management,
customer management,
customer requirements,
project cycle,
Project Development,
project implementation,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
software development,
software implementation,
Software Project,
software requirementsChange management is a subset of project management. In any software project change is to be managed during the whole cycle of development and implementation. Requirements once specified by customer at the business requirements study phase does not mean that there will be no change in requirements...
May 8, 2009 10:09 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
change management,
manpower management,
project guidelines,
Project Lifecycle,
project management,
project stages,
Risk Management,
risk mitigation,
Risk Plan,
Software ProjectAlthough it can not be avoided in real life scenario and that is why there is a risk plan and risk management to avoid such circumstances. But still a lot can be done to atleast minimize the risk and thereby mitigation.
Vendor - Management has to ensure the bare minimum changes (preferably NO...
May 6, 2009 9:59 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
best practices,
project management,
project management practices,
project manager,
project standards,
quality management,
Software ProjectProject initiation starts with the marriage of vendor and customer to produce the desired software product. The desire comes from customer, with a promise from vendor to deliver the desired product. The time and investment (in terms of people, equipments, and expenses) calls for a superior quality...
May 4, 2009 9:40 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project approach,
project completion,
project failure,
project management,
project metrics,
project organization,
project overrun,
Project Plan,
project progress,
project revenue,
project sign-off,
project time,
Software ProjectProject management is a joint effort of vendor and customer teams. Project Organization members have to play their respective roles timely and religiously to get the best of the results. Both have to go hand in hand right from the start of the project till end and even beyond. The relationship does...
April 29, 2009 10:18 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project manager,
project overrun,
Software ProjectProject overrun is not unknown for any software organization. Every organization who has tasted it would acknowledge that it is always painful – in terms of time, cost and resources. Ultimately when the other two factors are also converted to cost, it comes to a voluminous figure. Nobody wants...
April 27, 2009 10:06 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
domestic project,
overseas project,
project implementation,
project management,
project manager,
project monitoring,
project organization,
project overrun,
Project Plan,
Project Planning,
software implementation,
Software ProjectA classic scenario happened in an organization recently as told to me by a project manager of that organization engaged in software development and implementations.
It is related to project overrun.
A new project started with a set of requirements from a customer for development and...
April 24, 2009 10:06 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
customer engagement,
management involvement,
project closure,
project cost,
project management,
project momentum,
project organization,
Project Plan,
Project Planning,
project sign-off,
project time,
project training,
project velocity,
Software ProjectProject overrun is simply a project crossing its boundaries set by the organization. These boundaries may vary from organization to organization depending on how they blindly or how over-extensively (both extremes) they want to look at it.
5 ways to control project overrun could be:
1....
April 22, 2009 9:51 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
customer requirements,
project acceptance,
project closure,
project cost,
project management,
project manpower management,
project organization,
project overrun,
Project Plan,
Project Planning,
project timeframe,
project timeline,
Software Project,
software requirementsAll projects are prone to overrun. An overrun acceptance is directly proportional to an organization’s fault absorption capacity. Accordingly the definition of overrun is framed to demonstrate an overrun project as rightly completed project.
5 myths about Project Overrun could be:
5....
April 20, 2009 10:05 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business need,
business study,
implementation phase,
implementation plan,
implementation process,
post implementation,
process owner,
project closure,
project failure,
project implementation,
project lead,
project management,
project manager,
project ownership,
project sign-off,
project success,
project team,
reconciliation,
Risk Management,
Risk Plan,
software training,
transaction entry,
UATThe customer project manager has to take the lead and ownership of product as soon as it is launched at customer site for implementation. The UAT, training and implementation process can only be effective in case customer project team gets fully involved into each and every activity of the...
April 17, 2009 10:03 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
implementation plan,
project implementation,
project lead,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
Risk Management,
Risk Plan,
software implementationThe vendor project manager has to work as a consultant to the customer project manager rather than taking the full command at customer site during implementation phase. From vendor side, it is the responsibility of the project manager to highlight the risks (in terms of user’s availability,...
April 16, 2009 9:40 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
implementation plan,
project closure,
project lead,
project management,
project manager,
project team,
software acceptance,
software implementation,
Software ProjectProject managers (the customer end and the vendor end) have to work hand in hand during the implementation stage of a software project happening at customer site. The key responsibility of both the project managers working on the project is to ensure successful implementation and project...
April 13, 2009 10:01 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project implementation,
Project Lifecycle,
project management,
project manager,
software development,
software implementation,
Software Project,
software testingNo project manager can claim there was not a single problem in any of his projects. But then he is to tackle them. To tackle them he should be aware of them. To be aware of them, he has to have an ability to foresee them than to overlook them. The earlier he envisages those problems, the more time...
April 10, 2009 9:59 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Application development,
application implementation,
application readiness,
post implementation,
project director,
project management,
project manager,
project sponsor,
project vision,
software development,
software implementation,
software project manager,
software testing,
stakeholder,
successful implementationIt is not only the project manager but all stakeholders who get affected by the project over-run or failure. It could happen due to any reasons. One of the major reasons that have emerged is the lack of vision of the project manager, project sponsors, project directors and other stakeholders to...
April 8, 2009 10:18 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
application testing,
impact analysis,
risk,
Risk analysis,
risk assessment,
risk classification,
risk closure,
risk identification,
risk perception,
Risk Plan,
risk plan analysis,
risk plan execution,
Software application,
software development,
software testingA risk is a bigger than its size if it is not identified well in advance. An identified risk is as risky as unidentified if its assessment is not done. Risk assessment is useless if there is no impact analysis. Impact analysis has no worth if its countermeasure is not identified.
Let us...
April 6, 2009 10:29 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
countermeasure,
fool-proofing,
impact analysis,
Project Lifecycle,
risk assessment,
risk identification,
risk impact,
Risk lifecycle,
Risk Management,
risk severity,
SDLC,
Software application,
software project managementSimilar to SDLC (software development lifecycle management), there is RLC or Risk lifecycle management in a software application in which there are different stages involved. The different stages could be risk identification, risk assessment, impact analysis, countermeasure identification,...
April 2, 2009 10:06 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
application availability,
bank application,
high risk,
low risk,
medium risk,
risk,
Risk analysis,
risk impact,
Software application,
software availability,
software requirement,
software usage,
software user volume,
vulnerabilityAny activity is never without risk involved in it. Risk could be classified in different categories like - low, medium or high depending on its impact, software’s requirements and purpose, software usage, and software user volume. Accordingly the risks are identified or rather perceived. Their...
March 30, 2009 9:50 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project manager,
quality program,
software development,
Software programmer,
software programming,
Software Project,
software skillsOnce upon a time there was a programmer, a very good programmer. Good here means skilled, learned, experienced, and serious. He was appointed by an organization for a large project for a job to write quality programs. He was doing it well and was able to prove his point that he is good for the...
March 26, 2009 10:22 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
HARE,
Organization culture,
Organizational discipline,
project manager,
project organization,
project team,
Software Project,
software team,
TORTOISELet me start with the classic story –
This refers to the team of a Project Manager. The team size may vary from project to project and organization to organization, but the story remains the same. Story is quite short and interesting. A Project manager assigns different set of tasks to his...
March 23, 2009 10:30 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
ascending approach,
best result,
brainstorming,
cornerstone,
experience,
innovation,
knowledge,
linchpin,
organizational interest,
product and quality,
product knowledge,
product quality,
project management,
project manager,
Project Plan,
project team,
QA,
QC,
quality,
quality dependence,
quality issue,
quality manager,
quality strength,
recession,
scarcity of business,
smart weapon,
software business,
software organization,
Software Project,
software team,
team culture,
team management,
thinking,
win-win situation,
wisdomDue to recession, there is scarcity of business and projects for software organizations. In such a situation, the projects in hand (and the forthcoming ones) have to be handled very carefully for a win-win situation. To attain that, there are certain smart weapons that a project manager needs to be...
March 20, 2009 10:42 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project management,
project manager,
Software Project,
software team,
team leader,
team managementA new entrant at any level should never be burdened (leave aside “overburdened”), and an ample time should be given to him to prepare himself for the forthcoming project(s). If already there is a load of work, the minimum should fall on the new entrant, rest should be shared among the existing...
March 18, 2009 10:37 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
implementation phase,
Project Initiation phase,
project management,
Software Project,
software team,
Team momentumUsually during the period between first project close-out and next project initiation, most of the team members of project have not much to perform except utilizing their time in non-visible activities. This could include personal web browsing, social sites, pending emails, thinking about...
March 16, 2009 11:07 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Database architectures,
developer,
functional consultant,
module leader,
programmer,
project management,
project manager,
project team project leader,
system designer,
team performance,
technical consultant,
testerAll project managers depend on their teams working on the project and in turn the persons who form the team. Teams could comprise of project leader, module leaders, functional consultants, technical consultants, database architecture, system designers, developers, programmers, testers etc. To keep...
March 13, 2009 10:07 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
1. Software Project Ownership,
business practices,
Business Rules,
implementation,
implementation phase,
Key users,
project close-out,
project initiation,
project management,
project manager,
project milestones,
Project Plan,
requirement freezing,
Software Project,
specifications finalization,
statutory requirements,
UATIn software project there are two key agencies involved – customer and vendor. Both have to own equal responsibility in managing, monitoring and completing it successfully. In my earlier blog I have mentioned 6 mandates for Vendor Organization on Software Project Ownership. Here I would like to...
March 11, 2009 10:15 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
1. Software Supplier Organization,
Project Initiation phase,
Project Lifecycle,
project manager,
project monitoring,
roles and responsibilities,
software development,
Software Project,
Software Project OwnershipOwnership is a big issue in a software project. Customer organization assumes that since they are spending money, it is the sole responsibility of supplying organization to make the project a success. Vendor organization on the other hand assumes otherwise. Who is right? I think both are wrong at...
March 9, 2009 10:28 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
1. organizational self evaluation,
Code repository,
continuous improvement,
customer expectations,
customer feedback,
customer request,
empowerment,
innovation process,
off-site project,
on-site project,
organizational goals,
post implementation,
process integration,
product release,
project implementation,
project management evaluation checklist,
Project Management Methodology,
project manager,
project metrics,
project overrun,
project team,
Risk analysis,
Risk Plan,
roles and responsibilities,
software bug,
software development,
software implementation,
software project management,
software testing,
test case repository
1. Does a formal Project Management Methodology exist in your organization?
2. Are you using some metrics to check if this is the right methodology?
3. What is the degree of improvement required in your current methodology to meet your customer expectations?
4. What are your...
March 6, 2009 9:42 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
bug report,
bug-proofing,
bugs report,
business process,
business rule,
developer,
development team,
functional coverage,
functional specifications,
functional specifications finalization,
quality standards,
sizing of software testing effort,
software development,
software testing,
software testing effort estimation,
test case,
test estimation guidelines,
Test Plan,
test plan guidelines,
test report,
test result,
testcase,
tester,
testing,
testing effort,
testing guidelines,
testing knowledge,
testing plan,
testing time-line,
testing timelineIf we go by quality standards the sizing of software testing effort has to be done before the tester(s) start writing the test cases for the purpose. The estimate will clearly draw out of the functional specifications signed off between the customer and vendor. Without sizing the Testing manager...
March 4, 2009 10:03 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business requirements,
change management,
Code library,
Code repository,
development plan,
implementation plan,
organizational goals,
product development,
project close-out,
project documentation,
project management,
project methodologies,
Project Plan,
project standards,
Quality Goals,
requirements analysis,
Risk Management,
Risk Plan,
software development,
software development methodologies,
software development standards,
Software Project,
software quality,
Software Repository,
software testing,
SQA,
SQC,
test case,
test case repository,
Test Plan,
test standards,
time to test,
top management requirements1. Quality Goals are meant only for Quality Department: No department other than quality (project management, product development, documentation, general management etc.) has to read, understand and learn about the quality goals of the organization. It is only the responsibility of...
March 2, 2009 9:59 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business knowledge,
change management,
integration testing,
software,
test case,
test case repository,
test coverage,
test metrics,
tester,
unit testing10. Document with complete and clear requirements is as important as oxygen in the air: Requirements based testing is purely based on the requirements specified by the customer or software sponsor during the business requirements study phase. Documentation of all requirements (user...
February 27, 2009 9:54 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business requirements,
customer requirements,
fixing of bugs,
functional requirements,
post implementation phase of project,
project close-out,
Project Delivery,
Project Development,
project execution,
project implementation,
project initiation,
project management,
project quality,
quality measures,
quality metrics,
quality standards,
software delivery,
software design,
software metrics,
software product,
Software Project,
software quality,
software strategy,
test case,
Test Plan,
test results,
test scenarios,
test strategyThe definition of QUALITY varies in different contexts. On one hand we talk of software quality that means adopting standards and measures to ensure the building of software product that meets all customer requirements (design, interface, business requirements, functional...
February 25, 2009 10:02 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Avoid cost increases,
Avoid revenue loss,
business survival,
continuous learning,
customer delight,
customer requirements,
customer satisfaction,
first time right,
growth,
Improved service,
Increase in revenue,
maturity,
profits,
project completion,
Project Lifecycle,
project objectives,
project overrun,
project quality,
project sign-off,
Reduce costs,
revenues,
software business,
software metrics,
Software Project,
software project management,
software quality,
software requirements,
stakeholders,
standards and methodology,
team accountability,
Team building,
team responsibility,
team role,
transparencyCertainly and obviously, every business has a set of objectives. Every business strives for survival, growth, revenues, profits, satisfaction and maturity. The clearer the objective are, the easier it is to achieve them. To achieve the objectives, if the destination is clear,...
February 23, 2009 10:43 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
approach and deliverables,
customer requirements,
Customer requirements understanding,
documentation,
Learning from Past,
Measurement of Overrun,
Methodology and Standards,
methods,
pain areas of a software project,
Post implementation support,
Project Repository,
Project Status review,
Quality – man,
Risk analysis,
Role clarity,
software metrics,
Software Project,
Software Project Lifecycle,
software project management,
Team building,
Version ControlFollowing are the top 15 pain areas of a software project. All points listed below appear somewhere or the other in a software project lifecycle. The ratio of pain from a particular below listed item may vary from project to project within an organization, and also from...
February 20, 2009 11:05 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Management Skills,
project management,
project manager,
Software Project,
team managementRecently a US passenger Airbus had a serious problem just after it took off from the Airport. The plane suddenly lost power in both engines, and pilot Chesley Sullenberger judged that it would be too difficult either to return to the airport of departure or to land at a nearby airport. Instead,...
February 18, 2009 10:02 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
product development,
product manager,
project management,
QA,
QC,
Software Project,
Software Quality Control,
SQA,
SQCWhen work pressures are too high, deadlines are on head, we tend to bypass our own standards, procedures and policies. A product manager if affords to skip testing for that purpose, that means he is committing a crime which is quite serious offense. Any management supporting this idea becomes part...
February 16, 2009 11:10 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
project goals,
project management,
project manager,
Project Plan,
software,
software development,
Software Project,
team managementDuring one of my initial management trainings (years back) I learnt the different between hard worker and smart worker. This example I could never forget even after so many years. Example of a hard worker is a person who comes to office in the morning, puts off his shirt, start pushing a wall, and...
February 13, 2009 11:06 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
customer,
management,
process,
Project,
project management,
project manager,
software,
teamI remember a small inspirational story read somewhere recently. A small girl took all the money she had in her piggy bank and went to a nearby drug store. The drug store owner was busy on a phone, and the girl was waiting for him to get free at the earliest. As she got desperate she interrupted the...
February 11, 2009 11:04 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
coder,
coding,
developer,
Development,
PM,
programmer,
programming,
project completion,
Project Development,
project management,
project manager,
project milestone,
project progress,
project task,
Software Project,
software team,
technicalA new project is always divided into small tasks and based on the resources available, the task(s) are allocated to individuals by the project manager (PM). A simple metrics is important to follow to monitor (and manger) the completion of tasks and thereby figuring out at any moment of time – the...
February 9, 2009 9:55 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
coder,
coding,
developer,
Development,
PM,
programmer,
programming,
project completion,
project management,
project manager,
project metrics,
project progress,
Project Status,
project task,
Software ProjectIt is not important what metrics you (the project manager) use, because unless and until you understand the meaning of “task” and “task completion”, you can’t get into the mode of monitoring and measuring it. The progress (or completion) project as a whole is measurable only if it is...
February 6, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
QC,
Regression Testing,
software development,
software product,
software testing,
tester,
testingRegression testing comes into picture in “re-testing” of a product. The purpose is very clear – a thorough testing. Regression testing has to be as rigorous as possible, for this reason. And regression testing never happens once, it has to happen again and again till the product reaches at a...
February 4, 2009 9:54 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
PM,
Project Development,
project manager,
Project Plan,
Project Status,
software development,
Software ProjectThe most wrong statement from a Project Manager to the management during a project can be – “Everything is as per plan”. This is never, never possible during a project where a software development is required. If this is the statement from the Project Manager, there could be two realities...
February 2, 2009 9:51 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
developer,
QA,
QC,
quality head,
quality manager,
software,
software quality,
SQA,
SQC,
tester,
testingThe young inexperienced or short experienced budding testers are the one who will determine the future of testing. This is the prime thing that the QA head has to keep in mind while grooming and mentoring them. The testers have to have a firm belief that the future of testing is going to be...
January 30, 2009 10:03 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
acceptance testing,
Bug,
coding,
developer,
software,
software logic,
Test Driven Development,
tester,
testing,
unit testing,
• TDDTDD is test driven development in which the developers coding efforts become manifold. It is not only the development coding that developer has to write. Along with the requirements coding, the developer has to write code for the testing of each of the logic he has built in the product. It is more...
January 28, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Bug,
bug-free product,
developer,
software,
tester,
testingSync is very important between a developer and a tester. The confidence and ease of the both has to complement each other and ultimately create a bug-free product. The prime goal is same for the whole organization – to deliver the customer what he is expecting – a totally bug free product. Both...
January 27, 2009 11:06 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Bug,
developer,
Development,
software,
tester,
testingOn the lighter side the equation goes like this:
Let us assume that the developer is developing in such a manner that there is no bug in the software, that means developer is actually developer and tester both.
The equation would look like: developer = developer + tester.
Which can be written...
January 22, 2009 11:03 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Bug,
bug filtering,
project lead,
project management,
QC,
software,
software development,
software testing process,
tester,
testing,
testing process In an organization engaged in software development, usually each software goes through testing process by a separate set of team in the organization know as Testers meant exclusively for the purpose of testing. It matters most what this process is being thought as by the development team, project...
January 19, 2009 10:14 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Bug,
Bug Control Management,
Bug Management,
developer,
QC,
software,
software development,
software quality,
software quality assurance,
Software testers,
software testing,
testerBugs are often invincible during development, especially in large projects when multiple sub-teams of developers are working on development of different sub-modules of the project. The software developed (or during development) will always appear innocent and bug-free to the team of developers. It...
January 14, 2009 10:10 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
Bug Management,
business management,
CRD,
customer requirements,
Customer Requirements Document,
SDLC,
team managementPast is not to be buried. It contains a treasure called EXPERIENCE. In software development this treasure is of ample importance for acquiring skills required to handle the unwarranted turns and twists during the development (and implementation) period.
What we can learn from the past is the...
January 12, 2009 10:04 AM
Posted by: Jaideep Khanduja
business management,
business requirements,
customer requirements,
defect free software,
Development,
documentation,
Project Development,
Project Lifecycle,
project management,
SDLC,
software,
software development,
software quality,
software quality assurance,
software requirement,
software testingIn software development project what matters most is the timely accurate delivery that gives the benefit of defect free product, customer satisfaction, profits, market edge, growth, motivation across the organization etc. All this is not easy to achieve having so many enemies in and outside the...
