System Analysis Design
Week-8-Lesson-1
Managing the Information
Systems Project
Learning Objectives
❑ Explain the process of managing an information systems project.
❑ Describe the skills required to be an effective project manager.
❑ List project management activities during project initiation,
planning, execution, and closedown.
❑ Explain critical path scheduling, Gantt charts, and Network
diagrams.
❑ Explain the utility of commercial project management software
tools.
Importance of Project Management
❑ Project management may be the most important aspect of systems
development.
❑ Effective PM helps ensure
▪ Meeting customer expectations
▪ Satisfying budget and time constraints
❑ PM skills are difficult and important to learn.
Deciding on Systems Projects
❑ System Service Request (SSR)
▪ A standard form for requesting or proposing systems development work
within an organization.
❑ Feasibility study
▪ A study that determines whether a requested system makes economic
and operational sense for an organization.
System Service Request (SSR)
❑ System Service Request (SSR) is
a form requesting development
or maintenance of an information
system. It includes the contact
person, a problem statement, a
service request statement, and
contact information.
Managing the Information Systems Project
❑ Project:
▪ A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a
beginning and an end.
❑ Project Management:
▪ A controlled process of initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project.
❑ Project Manager
▪ Systems analyst with management and leadership skills responsible for leading
project initiation, planning, execution, and closedown
❑ Deliverable
▪ The end product of an SDLC phase
Project Management Activities
Representing and Scheduling Project Plans
❑Gantt Charts
❑Network Diagrams
❑PERT Calculations
❑Critical Path Scheduling
❑Project Management Software
Gantt Charts vs. Network Diagrams
❑ Gantt Charts
▪ Show task durations.
▪ Show time overlap.
▪ Show slack time in duration.
❑ Network Diagrams
▪ Show task dependencies.
▪ Do not show time overlap, but show parallelism.
▪ Show slack time in boxes.
Example of Gantt Chart
Estimating Task Duration
❑ PERT: Program Evaluation Review Technique
▪ Technique that uses optimistic (o), pessimistic (p), and
realistic (r) time estimates to determine expected task
duration
❑ Formula for Estimated Time:
▪ ET = (o + 4r + p)/6
Example PERT Analysis
Critical Path Scheduling
❑ A scheduling technique whose order and duration of a sequence of
task activities directly affects the completion date of a project
❑ Critical path: the shortest time in which a project can be completed
❑ Slack time: the time an activity can be delayed without delaying the
project
Critical Path Example
▪ Network diagram provides graphical ▪ Network diagram
illustration of dependencies between shows dependencies
activities (see previous slide).
Critical Path Elements
Activity, Duration, ES, EF, LS, LF
Dummy Activity
❑ This dotted arc is a dummy activity. Dummy activities often have a zero completion time and are used to represent
precedence relationships that cannot be easily (if at all) represented using the actual activities involved in the project.
❑ By convention dummies are always shown as dotted arcs in network diagrams.
Example-1: The following table shows a
Gantt Chart list of activities/tasks, their
independencies and times required to
complete each activity/tasks for a project:
Activities/Tasks Dependency Time(Week)
A. User Requirements - 4
B. Feasibility Study A 2
C. Prioritize the A 1
Requirements
D. Analysis the System B,C 5
E. Specification D 2
F. Software Design E 5
G. Hardware Study E 1
H. Coding F 7
I. Hardware G 3
Installation
J. LAN Establishment I 2
PERT Chart K. Deployment
L. Maintenance
H, J
K
2
5
Task:
Draw the Gantt Chart, Pert Chart/Network
Diagram and Critical Path, Critical Value
3-18 © 2005 by Prentice Hall
Example-2: The following table shows a list of
Gantt Chart activities/tasks, their independencies and times
required to complete each activity/tasks for a
project:
Activities/Tas Dependency Time(Week)
ks
A - 10
B - 5
C - 7
D A, B 7
E C 6
PERT Chart F
G
E
D, F
4
10
H G 4
I G 9
J H, I 10
Task:
Draw the Gantt Chart, Pert Chart/Network
Diagram and Critical Path, Critical Value
3-19 © 2005 by Prentice Ha ll
Gantt Chart Example-3: The following table shows a list
of activities/tasks, their independencies and
times required to complete each
activity/tasks for a project:
Activities/Tasks Dependency Time(Week)
A - 3
B - 5
C - 7
D A 8
E B 5
F C 5
G E 4
H F 5
I D 6
J G, H 4
Task:
PERT Chart Draw the Gantt Chart, Pert Chart/Network
Diagram and Critical Path, Critical Value
3-20 © 2005 by Prentice Hall
References
1. System Analysis and Design, by Elias M. Awad
2. Systems Analysis and Design, Kendall and
Kendall, Fifth Edition
3-21 © 2005 by Prentice Hall
