A Technical Seminar Report on Topic

Software Project Management

Submitted to Babu Banarasi Das University

For the fulfillment of the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Honors
IN

Computer Science

By

Romi Singh

B.Sc.(hons.) Computer 5th Semester

(University Roll No: 1221099055)

Under the guidance of

Dr. Gaurav Kant Shankhdhar

Assistant Professor Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
School of Basic Science, Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow.

Department of mathematics and Computer Science

School of Basic Science, Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow

Lucknow 226028 (U.P), India 2024

 ACKNOWLEDMENT

First of all, I am indebted To the GOD ALMIGHTLY for given me an opportunity to excel
to completed this seminar on time.

I am extremely grateful to the college Babu Banarasi Das University and Mr. Head of
Department (HOD), Prof. (Dr) S Ahmad Ali Sir, Department of basic science, for the
successful completion of my seminar.

My heartfelt gratitude to my seminar guide Mr. Gaurav Kant sir, Lecture of Basic
Science Department for his valuable suggestions and guidance in the preparation of
seminar report.

I express my thanks to Mr. Pawan Kumar Verma sir, program

coordinator of school of Basic Science Department and all other lecture for bringing
out this seminar successful in time.

Last but not the least, I am very much thankful to my parents who guide me in
every step which I took.

Thanking You
Romi Singh
B.SC.(Hons.) CS. 3rd year
Table of Content

1. Intro of Software Project Management

2. History of Software Project Management
3. Why is Software Project Management important?
4. What is the type of Software Project?
5. Phases of Software Project
6. Aspects of Software Project Management
7. What is the Software Planning Process?
8. Diagram of Software Project Planning
9. Who is Involved in Software Project Management?
10. Need of Software Project Management
11. Software Project Manager job duties
12. Software Project Management Metrics
13. Benefits of Software Project Management
14. Challenge that impact Software Project Management
15. What Software is Best for Software Project Management?
16. Features to look in Software Project Management tools
17. The Future of Software Project Management
18. Improve Software development project with Smartsheet for
Project Management
19. Conclusion
INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

What is Software?

• Software is a program or set of programs containing instructions that provide

the desired functionality.

What is Software Project Management?

• Software Project Management (SPM) is a proper way of planning and leading

software projects. It is a part of project management in which software projects
are planned, implemented, monitored, and controlled.

History of Software Project Management

• Project management dates back to the start of human civilization, but modern
project management was born in the early part of the 20th century, when Henry
Gantt developed the Gantt chart. Today, project management practices take
place across organizations of all sizes and in all industries, including
manufacturing, information technology (IT), marketing, finance, and
construction. You can find a concise history of project management
methodologies here.

• John Tukey, a Princeton University statistician, introduced the term “software”

in 1958. Initially, companies packaged software as part of the purchase or lease
of a computer. In 1969, however, IBM began selling their software as a
standalone product, thereby establishing an industry exclusively dedicated to
software. As the industry grew, software manufacturers required formalized
practices for controlling and releasing software tools. The already-popular
project management practices were the perfect fit for managing the lifecycle of
software projects.

Why Is Software Project Management Important?

 • Project managers have a big responsibility — one that involves much more than
avoiding overdue, over-budget software projects. Software project management
ensures that the project in question aligns with business goals, achieves high-
quality results, and delivers real value to all stakeholders.

• Software development comes with multiple risks and challenges — frequent

technology changes, immature technology, sloppy development practices, and
staff and management turnover, to name a few. Creating software brings other
potential challenges as well, such as navigating through stakeholder politics and
communicating clearly with end-users, developers, and others. Failure to address
such issues can lead to poorly defined system requirements and other problems.

• Software project management helps project managers overcome these

complexities by inspiring end-user and stakeholder involvement, managing risks,
and creating an environment for transparent communication. All of these
capabilities help you set realistic project goals, estimate resource requirements
more accurately, report on project status, and handle commercial pressures.
Software project management offers strategic alignment, leadership, planning,
practicality, quality assurance, and proven processes to combat chaos and
complexity.

What Are the Types of Software Projects?

Software projects can fall into several categories depending on numerous factors,
including the intended use of the software, the type of company developing the software,
and the type of end-users. Here are a few of the most common types of software projects:

• New software tools developed by existing software vendors or startups

• Updates, patch fixes, and version releases of an existing software solution
• Mobile applications
• Homegrown, internal support software solutions

The 6 Phases of the Software Development Project Lifecycle

• The Six phases of project management, developed by the Project Management
Institute (PMI), work to standardize project management practices. Each step of
the project lifecycle represents the activities necessary to complete the project.
 • The software development lifecycle (SDLC), a unique software project
management lifecycle process, aims to design, develop, and test the quality of
software tools. (Note that there are several SDLC models — Agile currently
dominates the industry due to its flexibility and fast pace.)

• Depending on the methodology you use (e.g., Agile, traditional Waterfall, iterative,
V-shaped, spiral, big bang, or a hybrid approach), the phases of software
development — also known as software project management stages or steps —
you follow may be linear, overlap, repeat, or have varying amounts of focus placed
on them. You may find different naming conventions across phases, but the
following six steps are the most common designations for the major software
development phases:
1. Planning
2. Requirements
3. Design
4. Build
5. Testing
6. Implementation

Aspects of Software Project Management

• Issue tracking
• Risk Management
• Time tracking
• Project budgeting
• Cost Management

• Resource Planning
What Is the Software Planning Process?
• Planning is the first phase in the SDLC and consists of several activities that set
the stage for a successful software development project. Below are the software
project planning activities and phases:

Define the Project Initiative: The project initiative will serve as the software planning
roadmap that guides the project. In it, you should do the following:

• Outline project goals.

 • Create a baseline.
• Set a budget.
• Create deadlines.
• Identify stakeholders.
Break Down the Work:

• Host a brainstorming session that includes the entire project team.

• Perform an analysis of past projects.
• Identify all tasks and break them down into subtasks.
• Create a list of all activities and assign them to an individual or group.
• Estimate timelines.
Create a Resource Schedule:

• Identify resources.
• Evaluate resource constraints.
• Consider outsourcing options.
• Allocate resources.
Perform Risk Management:

• Identify potential risks and impact.

• Perform qualitative and quantitative risk analyses.
• Create contingency plans.
Select a Task Management and Communication Platform:

• Identify the required functionality.

• Evaluate products.
• Select a solution.

SOFTWARE PROJECT PLANNING

• Scope of work to be completed
• Risk analysis
• The project to be accomplished
• Record of being followed
Who Is Involved in Software Project Management?
• The responsibilities of software project management — as well as the project
results — touch many people and teams across an organization. A software
project manager is typically responsible for the management of a project, and
developers, engineers, IT, quality assurance (QA), employees from various
business departments, contractors, and leadership are also involved at varying
stages of the process.
 • Additionally, clients and customers are involved in the SDLC during user
acceptance testing (UAT), which is the final phase of the testing process. During
this stage, users (typically clients and customers) put software to the test with
real-world test cases to make sure the development is complete.

NEED OF SOFTWARE PROJECT Management

• Time
• Cost
• Quality

DIAGRAM
Software Project Manager Job Duties
• Like other types of project managers, a software project manager is the project
leader with a diverse set of responsibilities, including project planning,
leadership, activity monitoring, time management, budgeting, communication,
risk analysis, resource management, and change management. The primary
responsibility of the software project manager, though, is to ensure that the team
adheres to the SDLC.

• If we look at the phases of the SDLC, we can better visualize the many hats worn
by the software project manager.

Initiation/Planning:

• Define the project scope.

• Gather feedback and buy-in from all stakeholders.
Create a master project plan with the estimates of the project timeline, the schedule,
and the total project time. Below are the two major techniques that managers use to
make the above estimates:
Decomposition Techniques: These methods use a breakdown of significant project
activities to estimate size, effort, and associated costs.
Empirical Estimation Techniques: These methods use an educated guess from an
expert or group of experts. The techniques base decisions on previous software
development projects and apply lines of code (LOC) or function points (FP) in the
formula. COCOMO and Putnam are two empirical techniques.

• Divide work into subtasks and relate similar tasks.

• Assign responsibilities based on availability by creating resource requests.
• Create a change control, quality control, communication, and risk management
plan.
• Host a project kickoff meeting.
• Estimate project costs, including software, hardware, tools, licenses, human
resources, travel expenses, communication needs, training tools, and additional
project support.
Requirements:

• Create a business requirements document.

• Create an implementation plan.
Design:

• Take an active role in the software design document.

Build:

• Execute the active development portion of the project.

• Monitor activities and milestones.
• Share status reports with all stakeholders.
• Measure progress and performance along the way.

Testing:

• Remain informed on user acceptance testing results.

• Ensure the team makes appropriate updates.
• Close project activity.
• Implementation:
• Ensure that all tasks are complete.
• Evaluate project performance.
• Execute the next steps.
• Risk analysis and management will take place throughout the entire SDLC. The
project manager must have the skills and insight to monitor for, identify,
categorize, and manage risks that may occur. If problems arise, they must be
able to manage changes (i.e., identify, validate, analyze, control, and execute
changes) to reduce or remove risk.

• Based on the aforementioned responsibilities of the software project manager, it

comes as no surprise that a qualified candidate must possess outstanding
multitasking skills. Strong communication and leadership skills, as well as
technical acumen, are also vital, along with the ability to pay close attention to
detail and remain organized amidst constant change.

Software Project Management Metrics

• project is subject to unique metrics based on the goals of the business. In other
words, all metrics should answer business-related questions. Below are four
useful Each software project management metrics:

• Satisfaction: How satisfied are stakeholders with the project? Similar to a net
promoter score, this post-project survey contains a question that calculates the
overall satisfaction on a numerical scale.
• Delivery: This refers to the percentage of projects that the team completes on
time.
• Cost: This refers to the percentage of projects on which the team stays within
budget.
 • Defects: This refers to the amount of defects that the team identifies and repairs
during the project versus the amount of errors that users report post-
implementation.

The Benefits of Software Project Management

• Project management can be a significant expense for some organizations, but
when software projects involve numerous stakeholders, tasks, and teams — and
the results impact customers — the benefits easily outweigh the risks. A project
manager can reduce overall expenses by streamlining operations. A project
manager has the power to keep a project on time and within budget, but, more
importantly, they can create a relationship between internal stakeholders and
clients, improving communication and visibility into projects. Additionally, they
can reduce risks that negatively impact an organization and minimize the number
of issues that can burden software development teams.

Challenges That Impact Software Project Management

• Software project management is packed with benefits, but there are potential
issues that may arise. These challenges are generally prominent in organizations
that attempt to take a cookie-cutter approach, rather than considering each
software project individually before applying project management methods. Start
by evaluating each project one by one to accommodate unique requirements.

• For example, some project management solutions are too expensive for small
software development teams. If you purchase a needlessly pricey solution, you
risk yielding little return on your investment. Software project management
solutions do not have to be costly; spreadsheets and basic solutions are available
at minimal expense. And, some software projects may not even require an
extensive project management solution. In fact, in the case of a simple project,
implementing a complicated solution may do more harm than good. Be sure to
consider the type of software projects your team will be managing before investing
in a software project management solution.

What software Is Best for Project Management?

 • Finding the right project management software can be tricky. As mentioned
earlier, you must analyze the type of projects you will manage, their complexity
and intricacy of detail, your team’s size, and your budget to help you determine the
best solution for project success. A software’s features and methods of
deployment (in-house versus cloud) are essential considerations. Look at tools
that offer Gantt charts, PERT diagrams, resource histograms, and critical path
analysis functions. To help you choose the right project management software,
read “All about Project Management Software.”

Features to Look for in Software Project Management Tools

• A project manager’s workload can quickly become overwhelming. As mentioned
in the discussion of the SDLC and project managers’ duties, project managers
have a wide variety of responsibilities. But, there are hundreds of software project
management tools available to help; they range from individual to mid-sized and
high-end systems. To identify the best tool for you, first determine your
organization size, the type(s) of software projects you’ll be doing, and which
development methodology you’ll be using. Below, you will find features that
support the planning, execution, and control of each phase of the SDLC.

• Project estimation
• Scope definition, verification, and control
• Project scheduling/calendar
• Resource management
• Risk management planning and control
• Task management with priorities and categories
• Subtasks
• Budget management and forecasting
• Time and expense management
• Project monitoring and control
• Team collaboration and communication (online discussions and chat, video, and
email notifications)
• Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and PERT diagrams
• Milestone tracking
• Document management and file storage
• Analysis, reports, key performance indicators (KPIs), dashboards, and objectives
and key results (OKRs), including cost-to-complete analyses
• Permissions and user roles
• Workflow processes
 • Portfolio management
• Billing and invoicing
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android
• Easy to use, drag-and-drop configurations and out-of-the-box templates
• Contact management
• Change management
• Configuration management
• Release management
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Product roadmaps
• Backlogs/stories
• Subversion
• Bug tracking
• Client portals for communication, UAT, and approvals

The Future of Software Project Management

• Emerging technology is revolutionizing every aspect of the technology industry. AI,
natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning are already
transforming consumer interactions, and it’s only a matter of time before bots are
also handling project management activities. Employee expectations are
changing, too. Workers now seek flexible, remote work environments, along with
the use of personal devices for work purposes (e.g., bring your own device
[BYOD]). In many industries, a remote workforce is already the norm.

• Project managers are facing the challenge of communicating with a remote

workforce, while also having to worry about robots that will take their jobs. Over
the next few years, project managers will experience the effects of digital
transformation, which will minimize issues that currently cause project delays.
Intelligent tools may take on some project management tasks, leaving human
project managers to focus on more strategic activities. In addition, technology
that improves communication with the increasingly distributed workforce will
become the standard. In the near future, companies will have fully adopted and
implemented technology and practices that support today’s modern workers.
Then, we will move on to the next technological revolution.
Improve Software Development Projects with Smartsheet for
Project Management
• From simple task management and project planning to complex resource and
portfolio management, Smartsheet helps you improve collaboration and
increase work velocity -- empowering you to get more done.

• The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on
work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done.
Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-
up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team
connected and informed.

• When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much
more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free,
today.

Conclusion
• Software project management* is a critical discipline that ensures the successful
planning, execution, monitoring, and delivery of software projects. By applying
established frameworks and methodologies, project managers can effectively
manage resources, timelines, risks, and quality, ensuring that the project meets
its objectives and delivers value to stakeholders. The complexity of modern
software development, with its fast-paced changes and technical challenges,
underscores the importance of strong project management skills and tools.
Ultimately, the success of a software project relies on clear communication,
precise planning, adaptable processes, and collaborative teamwork.