Software Project Management

Project Planning :
Effective project planning for large projects in large corporations involves both planning specialists and automated planning tools. Successful planning for large software projects involvesthe following.
• Using automated planning tools such as Artemis Views or Microsoft Project.• Developing complete work breakdown structures.
• Conducting critical path analysis of project development activities.• Considering staff hiring and turnover during the project.
• Considering subcontractors and international teams.
• Factoring in time for requirements gathering and analysis.
• Factoring in time for handling changing requirements.
• Factoring in time for a full suite of quality control activities.
• Considering multiple releases if requirements growth is significant.

Successful projects do planning very well indeed. Delayed or cancelled projects, however, almost always have planning failures. The most common planning failures include
(1) not dealing effectively with changing requirements;
(2) not anticipating staff hiring and turnover during the project;
(3) not allotting time for detailed requirements analysis;
(4) not allotting sufficient time for inspections, testing, and defect repairs.

Successful project planning tends to be highly automated. There are at least 50 commercial project-planning tools on the market, and successful projects all use at least one of these. Not only are the initial plans automated, but also any changes in requirements scope or external events will trigger updated plans to match the new assumptions. Such updates cannot be easilyaccomplished via manual methods; planning tools are a necessity for large software projects.