Software Project Management Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book takes one through a step-by-step approach to managing a project and along the way highlights the problems encountered by the Software Project Manager and means available to solve each of them. I particularly enjoy how this book not prescriptive, instead one is shown how to evaluate the specific needs of your particular project at each step enabling you to select from these options. Two case studies are provided which I suggest following in order to get the most value from this book.

There is comprehensive coverage of the subject with Feasibility, Methodology Choice, Program Management, Estimation, Risk Management, Resource Management and Project Tracking included. Valuable practicalities such as how to present your plan to other stakeholders are also provided. Each topic provides good coverage, for the more enthusiastic, the links to further information provided are very worth following.

This book is for those who really want to know about Software Project Management. Initially I was not such a person with this book being prescribed as part of my degree. After reading it, I have developed a real insight and interest in this field.

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Product Description:
Software project management is a crucial element in successful software and IT development, and requires students to develop an understanding of technical methodology and an appreciation of the many human factors that can play a part in software projects. The new fifth edition of "Software Project Management" has been fully revised and updated to help students to grasp these contrasting skills, and learn about new developments in the discipline. It provides both undergraduate and postgraduate students with a comprehensive introduction to software project management and has enjoyed a loyal following of users since the first edition published.

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Project Management with the IBM(R) Rational Unified Process(R): Lessons From The Trenches Review

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(More customer reviews)Talk about reading a book that feels like you're reliving your current work assignment...Project Management with the IBM Rational Unified Process - Lessons from the Trenches by R. Dennis Gibbs.

Contents: Introduction to Outsourcing; Overview of the Rational Unified Process; Getting Started - Request for Proposals (RFPs), Proposals, and Contracts; Best Practices for Staffing the Outsourcing Organization's Project Management Office (PMO); Best Practices for Staffing the Contractor's Software Project Team; Establishing the Software Development Environment; Inception - Kicking Off the Project; Identifying and Managing Risks; Navigating the Requirements Management Process; Construction Iterations - Staying on Target; Testing; Transitioning a System into Service; System Operations and Maintenance Issues; Using Consultants Effectively; The Project Postmortem; Common Mistakes Utilizing RUP; Implementing a Two-Stage Procurement Process; Glossary; Bibliography; Index

I'm in the midst of a specification documentation project, and the organization I work for uses the Rational Unified Process (RUP) standard.The author rightfully states that RUP is adaptable, in that you don't have to adopt absolutely every artifact that RUP contains.You tailor it to fit the organization and the process load you want to undertake.This book is far from a comprehensive guide to everything RUP.Instead, it's more focused on solid project management techniques and processes, and it so happens that RUP is the underlying documentation flow that's used.The other twist you'll see here is that there's an emphasis that you've brought in contractors or you've outsourced your development activity, and Gibbs focuses on how a RUP approach can help overcome many of the difficulties inherent in not controlling every aspect of software development.

There's a couple of things I don't quite agree with, however...The author talks about RUP being used in an agile methodology, and states that RUP *can* be agile if you use only what you need.Technically that is probably true, but in reality RUP is a document-heavy methodology that bears little resemblance to agile techniques as they are commonly thought of.Also, chapter 6, Establishing the Software Development Environment, talks about the build/borrow/buy choice for development software.He refers to the "borrow" solution as shareware, when in reality it's open source software.They are two different things, and it makes me wonder how much the guy really knows about software as opposed to project management.

If you're in the right scenario of managing outsourced projects using a RUP methodology, this book will offer significant insight.I don't know that I'd recommend it for an introduction to RUP, as you'll probably walk away with a few more questions than answers...

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Product Description:

· Master win–win techniques for managing outsourced and offshore projects, from procurement and risk mitigation to maintenance


· Use RUP to implement best-practice project management throughout the software development lifecycle


· Overcome key management challenges, from changing requirements to managing user expectations





The Hands-On, Start-to-Finish Guide to Managing Software Projects with the IBM® Rational Unified Process®





This is the definitive guide to managing software development projects with the IBM Rational Unified Process (RUP®). Drawing on his extensive experience managing projects with the RUP, R. Dennis Gibbs covers the entire development lifecycle, from planning and requirements to post-mortems and system maintenance. Gibbs offers especially valuable insights into using the RUP to manage outsourced projects and any project relying on distributed development teams-outsourced, insourced, or both.





This "from the trenches" guidebook is invaluable for anyone interested in best practices for managing software development: project managers, team leaders, procurement and contracting specialists, quality assurance and software process professionals, consultants, and developers. If you're already using the RUP, Gibbs will help you more effectively use it. Whatever your role or the RUP experience, you'll learn ways to





· Simplify and streamline the management of any large-scale or outsourced project


· Overcome the challenges of using the RUP in software project management


· Optimize software procurement and supplier relationships, from Request for Proposals (RFPs) and contracts to delivery


· Staff high-performance project teams and project management offices


· Establish productive, consistent development environments


· Run effective project kickoffs


· Systematically identify and mitigate project risks


· Manage the technical and business challenges of changing requirements


· Organize iterations and testing in incremental development processes


· Transition new systems into service: from managing expectations to migrating data


· Plan system maintenance and implement effective change control


· Learn all you can from project post-mortems-and put those lessons into practice

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Software Project Management: A Unified Framework Review

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(More customer reviews)If you aren't versed in advanced project management techniques this book will be overwhelming.More important you may pick up misleading information.However, if you are a battle-scared veteran of software development projects and have a full understanding of earned value project management, estimating techniques and development life cycles you'll learn much from this book.
The highlights are:
* A project life cycle and process framework that is [obviously] closely aligned to the Rational Unified Process (RUP), and can be fitted to any rapid development or iterative approach.
* An excellent tutorial on effective project controls, with an emphasis on earned value project management.
* In-depth coverage of estimating techniques, with a lot of material on the constructive cost model (CoCoMo), and current gaps in estimating techniques and to where the craft and science of estimating and software economics needs to evolve in the discussion of next-generation cost models.I especially like his distinction between the use of source lines of code metrics for size and function points for scale.There is middle ground.The treasure trove of metrics, including core project metrics, and the change metrics that are given in Appendix C.
There is one glaring flaw in this book and an experienced project manager will quickly spot it:the proposed approach to basing work breakdown structures on project phases instead of the decomposition of the system to be delivered will not work.Using Royce's approach there is no clear way of integrating the work breakdown structure with the organizational breakdown structure.Using earned value techniques (which is well covered elsewhere in the book) Royce's approach will not align control accounts (sometimes called cost accounts), making his recommendations contrived and unworkable.
This book is better suited for an architecture-centric approach to project management, which means that it's more applicable to product development instead of internal IT projects. However, all seasoned PMs will learn much from it.

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