project close-out

Mar 13 2009   10:07AM GMT

7 mandates for Customer Organization on Software Project “Ownership”

Posted by: Jaideep
1. Software Project Ownership, Software Project, specifications finalization, implementation, project manager, Key users, requirement freezing, implementation phase, UAT, project close-out, project milestones, Project Management, Project Plan, business practices, Business Rules, statutory requirements, project initiation

In 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 highlight 7 mandates for Customer Organization on OWNERSHIP in a software project. If both these mandates are followed, there is not doubt about the success of a project.

Mandates can be as below:
1. Involvement of top management during specifications finalization and implementation is mandatory: Most of the times customer management thinks their role only in signing off the project initiation documents and after that they feel it is the responsibility of the vendor team and their organization team managed by respective project managers to run the show and make it a success. This is a wrong concept, as the top management has to play a lead role in defining their expectations and requirements during specifications finalization phase of the project. They have to keep monitoring the progress of the project in later stages too. Generally what happens is that the top management do not define their requirements and expectations during this phase and at the final stage of implementation they feel robbed off as they realise that they are getting nothing or something they did not require or expect.

2. Project Manager and Key users should be identified well in advance and should be spared from all other responsibilities during requirement freezing and implementation phase: The top management should identify the project manager and key user well in advance based on their business knowledge, process ownership and commitment towards the organization. They should also ensure that this team’s top priority is now this project where they have to define specifications of requirements, UAT, implementation, reconciliations etc. And if they are engaged in their day to day routine activity or in any other critical program, they would not be able to do the full justification to the project.

3. Management has to ensure all milestone sign-offs – like requirements study, UAT, Implementation close-out etc: The management has to ensure that they mutually identify the milestones of the project. Proper sign off after each milestone achieved, monitoring of milestones progress etc. The persons understanding the gravity and seriousness of the matter should be authorized for signing off the various stages.

4. Project Manager has to ensure about the specifications completeness and validation during requirement freezing phase. Also he has to ensure his own and the key users’ availability during the project implementation, training and UAT phase: The project manager chosen by the top management has to ensure that accurate and complete requirements being documented validated by respective process owners. Since top management can not be involved in day to day activities of the project, he, being the project manager has to raise an alarm to the top management as and when he foresees any deviation from the plan or unavailability of key persons of his team who have to define the requirements or have to vet the validity of software meeting those requirements defined.

5. Project manager has to ensure the adherence of implementation plan timeline and any non-adherence has to be escalated well in time: As said above, Project manager has to be very careful and serious in this regard, and should be empowered enough to raise the appropriate alarm to the right person at right time at any level.

6. Top management has to review the progress of the project regularly as per schedule (weekly/daily): Top management has to have a process to monitor the progress of the project. The metrics could be plan vs actual or anything. Their involvement in monitoring the progress will definitely keep everyone in the team on their toes.

7. Persons dedicated for requirement freezing should be well aware of business practices, processes and statutory requirements of their organization and country: This is very important but not critically analyzed often. The persons identified for defining the process, requirements and business rules should be well aware of the business practices and processes of their organization and any statutory requirement of their country.

Mar 4 2009   10:03AM GMT

10 top “Do this if you want blunders!” in Software Development and Software Testing

Posted by: Jaideep
software development, software testing, Project Management, Software Project, Quality Goals, software quality, SQA, SQC, product development, project documentation, organizational goals, time to test, development plan, Project Plan, Test Plan, test case, implementation plan, project close-out, top management requirements, requirements analysis, business requirements, change management, Risk Plan, Risk Management, Software Repository, Code library, Code repository, test case repository, project standards, project methodologies, software development standards, software development methodologies, test standards

1. 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 quality department and quality staff. So keep performing without ‘quality’ in it. After all the quality has to do its job.
2. Don’t define your quality goals: If quality goals have such a low value in the organization, don’t document it. Because even if it gets documented, it will be never read or adhered to. Why waste efforts and paper.
3. Give least time for testing: In your project development plan, keep least time between the release time and development finish time so that quality people get least time to test the product and thereby least burden to the production/development team.
4. Have a highly versatile and flexible project plan: Build a scope of huge flexibility and versatility in your project plan/ development plan/ testing plan/ implementation plan to make it a never ending project.
5. Don’t focus on customer top management requirements: Just focus on the user’s and department’s requirements while freezing customer requirements in requirements freezing stage. Discard top management in all briefings, findings and their requirements analysis at any stage. This may make you success in all stages except the final project close-off stage, which will never come in this scenario.
6. Adopt no methodology: Don’t try for any world class standards or methodologies in your project management even if you have any world class projects in hand. Be assured that both situations will go hand in hand for a long run. So no need to worry.
7. Learn the art of converting inadequate into adequate: Project in your review reports at all stages that situation is under control with an art of projecting inadequate efforts, planning etc as adequate.
8. Never change: Have a firm belief that priorities have no meaning. Keep working on your pace as per your desire. Don’t prioritize and re-prioritize anything, ever.
9. Risk: If your trust yourself, be firm that there is any risk to assess. There is no requirement of risk assessment and risk planning in your projects at any stage.
10. No Repository: Who says – there has to be a library of codes and test cases for instance? Why create a repository? You have enough time to work and re-work on anything.

Feb 27 2009   9:54AM GMT

Software Quality vs Project Quality

Posted by: Jaideep
software quality, project quality, quality standards, quality measures, quality metrics, software metrics, Project Management, Software Project, customer requirements, software product, software design, business requirements, functional requirements, software delivery, Project Delivery, project execution, project initiation, Project Development, project implementation, software strategy, test strategy, test case, Test Plan, test scenarios, test results, fixing of bugs, project close-out, post implementation phase of project

The 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 requirements etc.) and ready to deliver. On the other hand when we talk of Project Quality, we mean the standards and measures by means of building (or adopting) to ensure the success in terms of time and revenues of a complete project right from its initiation till the implementation stage that keeps continuing at post implementation stage also.

In context of software – the quality means – software strategy, plan, text cases, test scenarios, test results and fixing of bugs. Inclusion of quality in this context will vary from organization to organization and project to project (within an organization). This will ensure the successful building of software product ready for delivery.

In context of project – the quality would mean – managing quality standards and measures for a project right from its initiation to all stages coming forth. A project lifecycle in standard terms would comprise of Project Initiation, Project Planning, Development Execution, Implementation execution, Project Close-out, and post implementation phase broadly, which remains on-going till the software built is in use by the customer for a period of years.

The subject matter can continue on pages and pages, but the crux is – software quality is merely a subset of project quality, and even if we have world class standards in software quality, it does not ensure a successful project lifecycle.