Project Management

29.7.2 Project Management

In Part Two of this book, we considered each of the activities that are collectively called project management. 9 Process and project metrics, project planning (and esti- mation), risk analysis and management, scheduling and tracking, SQA and SCM were all considered in some detail. In theory, most (if not all) of the the project manage- ment activities discussed in earlier chapters apply to WebE projects. But in practice, the WebE approach to project management is considerably different.

First, a substantial percentage 10 of WebApps are outsourced to vendors who (pur- portedly) specialize in the development of Web-based systems and applications. In such cases, a business (the customer) asks for a fixed price quote for WebApp devel- opment from two or more vendors, evaluates competing quotes, and then selects a vendor to do the work. But what does the contracting organization look for? How is the competence of a WebApp vendor determined? How does one know whether a price quote is reasonable? What degree of planning, scheduling, and risk assessment can be expected as an organization (and its outsourcing contractor) embarks on a major WebApp development effort?

9 Readers who are unfamiliar with basic project management concepts are urged to review Chap- ter 3 at this time.

10 Although reliable industry data are difficult to find, it is safe to say that this percentage is consid- erably higher than the one encountered in conventional software work.

Second, WebApp development is a relatively new application area and there is lit- tle historical data to use for estimation. To date, virtually no WebE metrics have been published in the literature. In fact, relatively little discussion has emerged on what those metrics might be. Therefore, estimation is purely qualitative—based on past experience with similar projects. But almost every WebApp wants to be innovative— offering something new and different to those that use it. Hence, experiential esti- mation, although useful, is open to considerable error. Therefore, how are reliable estimates derived? What degree of assurance can be given that defined schedules will be met?

Third, estimation, risk analysis, and scheduling are all predicated on a clear under- standing of project scope. And yet, the “continuous evolution” characteristic discussed in Section 29.1 suggests that WebApp scope will be fluid. How can the contracting organization and the outsourcing vendor control costs and schedule when require- ments are likely to change dramatically as a project progresses? How can scope creep

be controlled, and more important, should it be controlled, given the unique nature of Web-based systems and applications? At this stage in the history of project management for WebApps, the questions pre- cipitated by the differences just noted are not easy to answer. However, a few guide- lines are worth considering.

Initiating a project. Even if outsourcing is the strategy to be chosen for WebApp “My advice to

development, an organization must perform a number of tasks before searching for builders [of

an outsourcing vendor to do the work: WebApps}?

1. Many of the analysis activities discussed in Section 29.3 should be performed requirements

1. State your quality

internally. The audience for the WebApp is identified; internal stakeholders quantitatively.

who may have interest in the WebApp are listed; the overall goals for the