Systems Development Life Cycle

• Vision– Strategic direction

• Objectives– Results to achieve

• Strategy– How vision will be attained

• Long-range plans– 3-5 year horizon

• Annual plan• Financial plan

Architecture

• Information systems architecture

• Business systems architecture

• Technical architecture– Network architecture

Policy versus planning

• Policy sets criteria for planning

• Planning– Done at many levels throughout the

organization– From long range to intermediate time horizons– From general to specific

Telecom planning

• Long range planning—architecture

• Mid-level planning—components that fit the architecture

• Lower-level planning –configurations, features, procedures and training for specific operations

Sources of requests for projects

• Telecom group itself– Technical knowledge, often not knowledge of

business needs

• User groups

• Senior managers

• Customers/vendors/government agencies

Network modeling

• Logical

• Geographical

• System’s design

• Data flow or topology

Phases of network analysis and design

• Problem identification, definition and objective statement– Development team—technical expertise,

users, vendors and service providers– Need for a champion– Preliminary determination of requirements– Assessment of risk involved– Deliverable—white paper describing the

problem to be solved or the opportunity to be taken advantage of

Second step

• Preliminary investigation and feasibility study– Technical – Behavioral– Economic –plus/minus 50% cost variance– Operational – Time – Regulatory– Ethical – Deliverable: report of feasibility and preliminary cost

estimate

Third step

• Systems analysis—detailed understanding and definition– Specifications– Prototyping and simulation– Make-or-buy decisions– Architecture– Planning and documentation– Deliverable: specification of requirements, defined

strategy and architecture, updated cost estimate, test plans

Further steps

• Step four: Investigation of alternatives– Deliverable: statements of alternatives available with

cost and value of each and recommendation of best alternative

• Step five: general network design– Deliverable: diagram showing components of project

• Step six: selection of vendor and equipment– Deliverable: rating and ranking of vendors, with

recommendations

Even more steps

• Step seven: calculation of costs– Deliverable: recommendation of final

configuration after calculation of costs by alternative vendor

• Step eight: presentation to management• Step nine: final decisions and design• Step ten: procurement• Step eleven: preparation for

implementation

And the final steps

• Step twelve: installation of equipment• Step thirteen: system testing• Step fourteen: training• Step fifteen: implementation

– Cutover: pilot, parallel, phased, cold turkey

• Step sixteen: after implementation cleanup and audit

• Step seventeen: system turnover to maintenance

“How to fail in project management without really trying” –J.K. Pinto and O.P Kharbanda

• Ignore the project environment—including the stakeholders• Push a new technology to market too quickly• Don’t bother building in fallback options• When problems occur, shoot the one most visible• Let new ideas starve to death form inertia—Xerox example• Don’t bother conducting feasibility studies—ready, fire, aim• Never admit a project is a failure• Over-manage project managers and their teams• Never conduct post-failure reviews—insanity= doing the same thing

in the same way and expecting a different result• Never bother to understand project trade-offs• Allow political expediency and infighting to dictate crucial project

decisions• Make sure the project is run by a weak leader

Lessons to be learned

• Projects often involve risk and always upset the organizational status quo

• Past failures should not discourage future effots

Project failure

• Not enough resources

• Not enough time

• Unclear expectations– Necessary changes are not understood or

agreed upon by the stakeholders– Disagreements among stakeholders

The 12 rules of project management

from “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Project Management”• Thou shalt gain consensus on project outcomes• Thou shalt build the best team you can• Thou shalt develop a comprehensive, viable plan and keep it up to

date• Thou shalt determine how much stuff you really need to get things

done• Thou shalt have a realistic schedule• Thou won’t try to do more than can be done• Thou will remember that people count• Thou will gain the formal and ongoing support of management and

stakeholders• Thou must be willing to change• Thou must keep others informed of what you’re up to• Thou must be willing to try new things• Thou must become a leader

Five processes of project management

from “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Project Management”• Project initiating • Project planning• Project executing• Project controlling• Project closing

• These embody the three general functions of project management: definition, planning, and control

Project initiating process

• Recognize that a project needs to be done• Determine what the project should accomplish• Define the overall project goals• Define general expectations of all stakeholders• Define the general project scope• Select initial members of the project team• Write and agree on a statement of work or

contract of the project• Establish the rules for the project—levels of

authority, communication channels, chain of command

Project planning process

• Refine the project scope (balance required among results, time, and resources)

• List tasks and activities that will lead to achieving the project goals

• Sequence activities in most efficient way

• Develop a workable schedule and budget

• Get the plan agreed to and approved by the stakeholders

Project executing process

• Procure necessary resources (money, people, equipment, time)

• Lead the team

• Meet with team members

• Secure the special talent and expertise needed

• Communicate with stakeholders (ongoing process)

Project controlling process

• Monitoring deviation form the plan• Take corrective action• Receive and evaluate project change requests from

stakeholders and team members• Reschedule project as needed• Adapt resource levels as necessary• Change the project scope• Return to planning stage when necessary to make

adjustments to goals and get them approved by stakeholders

• Fire-fighting (conflict resolution) to resolve problems

Project closing process

• Acknowledgement of achievements and results

• Shutting down the operation and disbanding the team

• Learning from the project experience• Reviewing the project process and its

outcomes with team members and stakeholders

• Writing a final project report