WEEK 6- Planning a Software Development Project

Imagine that you have been hired as a project manager assisting in the development of an iOS application and cloud-based solution that is designed to streamline your organization's delivery operation. As the project manager, you are to manage the development and release of the mobile client platform in the cloud-based infrastructure that will use GPS to track the shipment and delivery of goods in airplanes across the United States.

The iOS mobile client will have three modules consisting of a search customer screen, a search address screen, and confirm delivery screen. Programmers have reviewed the requirements and estimate that each module will take one programmer 300 hours to complete.

In addition to delivering the iOS mobile application, your project will require upgrading the internal network and application infrastructure to a cloud-based model to support the new iOS mobile platform. This effort will require your team to procure network appliances to optimize the security factors of the cloud-based platform.

One last component of the project scope is to provide training to operation support staff and 30 cargo airplane pilots staffed across four regions of the United States. Your project team consists of three programmers, a technical writer, three technical trainers, two network engineers, and one system administrator.

Instructions

Section 1: Written Project Plan

Write a 3 page paper in which you:

1. Determine the factors that must be considered and observed throughout the work breakdown structure (WBS) development process, and explain why.
2. Create a work breakdown structure for the scope of the project. Note: The WBS must be in the indented format as shown in Figure 5-3 in Chapter 5 of the text.
3. Analyze the various activities required for this project and provide an estimate of the duration for each activity based on the number of resources available for the project. Include assumptions and basis for each estimate.
4. Recommend the estimation technique that should be used for each activity (that is, PERT, Delphi, analogy, expert judgment, or rule of thumb).
5. Determine the major milestones that the project will encounter.
6. Describe the logical sequence of planned activities required to achieve the project and analyze how monitoring durations on the critical path influence the success of the project.

Section 1 of your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The library is your home for SWS assistance, including citations and formatting. Please refer to the Library site for all support. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

Section 2: Gantt Chart

Use Microsoft Project (or its equivalent) to create a Gantt chart in which you:

1. Document all resources that would be required for this project within the Resource Sheet form.
2. List the activities required for the project. Break down the activities by the major milestones.
3. Enter the estimate of required durations and dependencies, and assign the resources for each activity.
4. Generate a Gantt chart that shows all of the project deliverables, from beginning to end.

Section 2 of your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Include charts or diagrams created in Excel, Visio, MS Project, or one of their equivalents such as Open Project, Dia, and OpenOffice. The completed diagrams/charts must be imported into a Word document.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

• Plan a software development project.

THIS PART IS THE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION UPDATED BY THE PROFESSOR! TUTOR MUST USE THIS GUIDELINE TO DO THIS ASSIGNMENT.

From Instructor: There are more questions to answer and it is not a pure research paper. It is more of critical thinking. There are two different sections

There is a scenario given on building a GPS type of Phone app software. You do not need to know how to build software. 🙂 You need to make the Project Plan for the build of this software based on the scenario given. 

Put the questions into the paper, then answer below the pasted question. 

Section 1: Written Project Plan

1. Determine the factors that must be considered and observed throughout the work breakdown structure (WBS) development process, and explain why.

This is research on the WBS. Do not forget to explain why the factors need to be considered.

1. Create a work breakdown structure for the scope of the project. Note: The WBS must be in the indented format as shown in Figure 5-3 in Chapter 5 of the text.

*** Figure 5-3 should be Figure 5-5 ( i dont have book or image. Tutor should figure it out)

This is where the assignment is different. You will create a WBS for the IOS application web-based solution scenario. It is not on the Internet but created based on the information in the scenario of the assignment. Create the WBS in one of the three formats. 

I will accept any of the three formats for the WBS.

1. Like Figure 5-3 a diagram
2. Like Table 5-4 Like an outline (the book calls it a tabular format)
3. Like Figure 5-5 MS Project format.

I think the Table 5-4 format is the easiest.  The Deliverables or as the book calls it “Level two” of the diagram in Figure 5-3 are important to this project and are given in the scenario.  So, this is an important step or you will need this correct to answer the next few questions.  You will be making Levels 1, 2 and 3. 

1. Analyze the various activities required for this project and provide an estimate of the duration for each activity based on the number of resources available for the project. Include assumptions and basis for each estimate.

***The Activities in this question are the Deliverables from Question 2

Take the deliverables from the WBS in Question 2 and give estimates of each activity. The resources are the project team listed in the scenario.

1. Recommend the estimation technique that should be used for each activity (that is, PERT, Delphi, analogy, expert judgment, or rule of thumb).

Each Activity (deliverable) should be mentioned separately, and which estimation activity should be used. A "why" should be given. Just one line of "why" is fine.

1. Determine the major milestones that the project will encounter.

Milestones can be based on the completion of deliverables or phases within the deliverables and other factors.

1. Describe the logical sequence of planned activities required to achieve the project and analyze how monitoring durations on the critical path influence the success of the project.

This is a chart you will need to create your Gantt chart in Section 2 of the assignment. These are all the deliverables and all the steps needed to complete each deliverable in an Excel table based on all the items in the WBS.

If you include start and end dates and have the dependency built into the chart via these dates, then part of section 2 (questions 2 and 3) is complete here.

Section 2: Gantt Chart

There are 4 questions to be answered here it is not just a Gantt Chart

Use Microsoft Project (or its equivalent) to create a Gantt chart in which you:

1. Document all resources that would be required for this project within the Resource Sheet form.

The Resource Sheet form is in MS Project. You can fill that out in Project or in an Excel chart fine. List the resources (team on the project from the scenario) And their roles to the project, What will they be doing for the project (items in the WBS)

1. List the activities required for the project. Break down the activities by the major milestones.

This is the Deliverables and steps in the WBS. It is the same as what you made in Number 6 from section 1. If you create the Gantt Chart with the table from Number 6 above, this is part of the Gantt, and you will not need to do anything else here.

1. Enter the estimate of required durations and dependencies, and assign the resources for each activity.

If you entered dependencies in question 6 from section 1 and did the resource sheet adding the job responsibilities in section 2 question 1 then I will see the dependencies in the Gantt and team responsibilities in question 1 here in section 2 and  you will not need to do anything else but have a created Gantt chart.

1. Generate a Gantt chart that shows all of the project deliverables, from beginning to end.

These are the deliverables and the steps to complete them.

The Gantt can be made using many different programs. The list is below. MS Project Visio and Excel are the most common used by student. But anything on the list below or other Gantt chart tools works. Just copy the Gantt and paste it into the paper if you are using a program that is not one of those three. This way I do not have to figure out how to open it.

• Include charts or diagrams created in Excel, Visio, MS Project, or one of their equivalents such as Open Project, Dia, and OpenOffice. The completed diagrams/charts must be imported into a Word document.