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ProjectManagementForSoftwareDevelopers

Page history last edited by PBworks 18 years ago

Project Management for Software Developers

by CraigFitzpatrick

 

Bio

 

The Problem

  • Two sides of the fence:
    • Plumbing (commodity tools)
    • Tools for success (management tools)
      • This is where devshop is
  • 70% of software projects fail
    • Off spec
    • Poor quality
    • Over budget
    • Late
  1. Cut features
  2. Cut testing
  3. ? (missed this one - anyone?)
  4. Still miss deadline
  • Band-aid solutions fix symptoms of being late but not the diseases
    • Same thing happens over and over as a result
  • Problem is HUGE
    • Extra budget for extra people to meet deadlines
    • Cost of re-coordination of launch
    • Loss of prospects and leads
    • Evaporating sales pipeline
    • Lost revenue for the period
    • Credibility, reputation, and brand
    • Easily 20 - 50 times the direct cost of being late
  • No one knows when software will be finished, even the teams building them
    • Customers are building habits around avoiding v1 of a product
      • Won't be out on time
      • Low quality due to bugs
  • The current approach isn't working because it's a one-size-fits-all approach
  • Manage risk factors and promote success factors
    • For software:
      • requirements change constantly
      • distractions come up
      • estimating time is hard
      • start building before you know what you're building
      • the biggest promises are made upfront when you have the least amount of homework done

 

SECRET: Stop trying to change realities

    • See the risks coming
    • Plan around them
    • Eliminate their impact
    • Look up and spot the trends
      • Stay out of low-level Gantt charts with 1 hour task durations
        • Rate of "mind" changing?
        • How are our time estimates?
        • Distractions?
        • Schedule confidence?
    • Use trends to assess impact
      • Original schedule + effects of time estimation error + impact of distraction rates + impact of change requirements
  • It can take 10 years to hone the craft and increase your success rate
    • The key is to have risk management baked into the tools we use everyday
  • Track relevant changes every day
    • The best trend analysis comes from the last 15 versions of your schedule
      • What changed?
      • At what rate?
      • What can this tell me about the future?
  • Devshop
    • To help the 15 million developers worldwide to deliver better products on time.
    • Provide and automate risk management functions
    • Best practices and an early warning radar

 

Demo

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