BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI

WORK INTEGRATED LEARNING PROGRAMMES

COURSE HANDOUT

Academic Term

SECOND SEMESTER 2014-2015

Course Title

Software Project Management

Course ID No.
Instructor(s)

SS ZG622
T V Rao

Course Modules (add more rows as per needs)

Module No

Module Title

Objectives

SPM Overview

Concepts, Project activities to be managed,

Management activities to be performed, Quantitative
approaches

Estimation & Scheduling (Managing Time &

Cost)

Estimation theories and techniques, Activity Planning,

Resource Allocation, Project Scheduling theories and
techniques, Monitoring & Control

Managing People

People in Software Projects, Team Management

Managing Quality

Quality concepts, Quantitative indicators

SPM Challenges

Risk Management, Contract Management,

Technology Evolution & Reengineering, Configuration
Management

Text Book(s)
th

T1

Bob Hughes, Mike Cotterel, and Rajib Mall, Software Project Management, 5
2011

T2

Roger S. Pressman, Software Engineering : A Practitioners Approach, 7 Edition, McGraw Hill, 2010

th

Reference Book(s) & other resources

R1

Sommerville, I., Software Engineering, Pearson Education, 9th Ed., 2010

Edition, McGraw Hill,

R2

Capers Jones., Software Engineering Best Practices, TMH 2010

Available under BITS, Pilani 24x7 books (eLibrary)

R3

Robert K. Wysocki, Effective Software Project Management, John Wiley & Sons 2006

R4

George Stepanek, Software Project Secrets : Why Software Projects Fail, Apress 2012

R5

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), Fifth Edition by Project
Management Institute Project Management Institute 2013

R6

Jake Kouns and Daniel Minoli, Information Technology Risk Management in Enterprise Environments.
John Wiley & Sons 2010

R7

Andrew Pham and Phuong-Van Pham, Scrum in Action: Agile Software Project Management and
Development Cengage Learning 2012

Self-Study & Contact Session Plan

Module Title: Software Project Management Overview

Session 1
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

1.1

Definitions, Concepts of project management

T1, Ch 1

1.2

Software Projects versus Other projects

T2, Ch 1

1.3

Activities in a software project

T1, Ch 4; T2, Ch 1, 2

Module Title: Software Project Management Overview

Session 2
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

2.1

Project Management vs. Program Management

T1, Ch 2

2.2

Management of agile projects vs. conventional projects

T2, Ch 3

Module Title: Software Project Management Overview

Session 3

Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

3.1

Project Planning Steps

T1, Ch 3

3.2

Activities and Products

T1, Ch 3

3.3

Selection of appropriate project approach

T1, Ch 4

Module Title: Software Project Management Overview

Session 4
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

4.1

Software Metrics : Concepts of Measurement, Metrics for

Product, Process and Project

T2, Ch 23, T2, Ch 25

4.2

Software Metrics : Integrating metrics with process,

Establishing metrics program

T2, Ch 25

Module Title: Estimation & Scheduling

Session 5
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

5.1

Estimation for Software Projects : Concepts, Process, Elements

T2, Ch 26

5.2

Decomposition Techniques for Estimation : Problem-based

estimation, Process-based estimation

T2, Ch 26

5.3

Empirical Estimation Techniques : COCOMO, Software

Equation, Lorenz and Kidd approach

T2, Ch 26

5.4

Specialized Estimation Techniques, Make-Buy Decision Tree

T2, Ch 26

Module Title: Estimation & Scheduling

Session 6
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

6.1

Activity Planning

T1, Ch 6

6.2

Resource Allocation

T1, Ch 8

Module Title: Estimation & Scheduling

Session 7
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

7.1

Project Scheduling : Concepts, Principles

T2, Ch 27

7.2

Project Scheduling : Task Sets, Task Networks, Critical Path

T2, Ch 27

7.3

Project Scheduling : Progress Tracking using Earned Value

Analysis

T2, Ch 27

Module Title: Estimation & Scheduling

Session 8
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

8.1

Project Monitoring & Control overview

T1, Ch 9

8.2

Collection of data for monitoring

T1, Ch 9

Session 9: Review Session

Mid-Semester Test (Closed Book) : Topics in Session 1 to 8
Module Title: Managing People
Session 10
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

10.1

Managing people in software projects

T1, Ch 11

10.2

Selection of people for projects

T1, Ch 11

10.3

Organizational behaviour

T1, Ch 11

Module Title: Managing People

Session 11
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

11.1

Team Leadership vs. Technical Leadership

T2,Ch 24

11.2

Development of teams

T1, Ch 12

11.3

Organization & Team structures

T1, Ch 12

Module Title: Managing Quality

Session 12
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

12.1

Software Quality Concepts : Definitions, Activities, Costs of

Quality

T2, Ch 14

12.2

Quality Standards

T1, Ch 13

Module Title: Managing Quality

Session 13
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

13.1

Software Quality Assurance

T2, Ch 16

13.2

Quality indicators

T2, Ch 23

Module Title: SPM Challenges

Session 14
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

14.1

Risk Management : Definitions, Concepts, Strategies

T2, Ch 28; R6

14.2

Risk Management : Identification, Elaboration of Risks, Risk

Components and Drivers, Risk Table

T2, Ch 28

14.3

Risk Management : Risk Mitigation, Monitoring, and

Management

T2, Ch 28

Module Title: SPM Challenges

Session 15
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

15.1

Concepts of contracts, Types of contracts

T1, Ch10

15.2

Stages in contract

T1, Ch10

15.3

Typical terms of a contract, Contract management

T1, Ch10

Module Title: SPM Challenges

Session 16
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

16.1

Reengineering concepts, definitions

T2, Ch 29

16.2

Reengineering process

T2, Ch 29

16.3

Reverse engineering and Forward engineering

T2, Ch 29

Module Title: SPM Challenges

Session 17
Topic No.

Topic Title

Reference

17.1

Configuration management concepts

T2, Ch 22

17.2

SCM repository

T2, Ch 22

17.3

SCM Process

T2, Ch 22

Session 18: Review Session

Details of Lab (Online) If any:

Evaluation Scheme:
Legend: EC = Evaluation Component; AN = After Noon Session; FN = Fore Noon Session
No

Name

Type

Duration Weight

Day, Date, Session, Time

EC-1

Assignment-I/ Quiz-I

Online

February 1-10, 2015

15%

Quiz-II

March 1-10, 2015

Assignment-II/ Quiz-III

April 1-10, 2015

EC-2

Mid-Semester Test

Closed Book 2 hours

35%

22/02/2015 (AN) 2 PM 4 PM

EC-3

Comprehensive Exam

Open Book

50%

19/04/2015 (AN) 2 PM 5PM

3 hours

Syllabus for Mid-Semester Test (Closed Book): Topics in Session Nos. 1 to 8

Syllabus for Comprehensive Exam (Open Book): All topics (Session Nos. 1 to 18)
Important links and information:
Elearn portal: https://elearn.bits-pilani.ac.in
Students are expected to visit the Elearn portal on a regular basis and stay up to date with the latest announcements
and deadlines.
Contact sessions: Students should attend the online lectures as per the schedule provided on the Elearn portal.
Evaluation Guidelines:
1.

EC-1 consists of either two Assignments or three Quizzes. Students will attempt them through the course
pages on the Elearn portal. Announcements will be made on the portal, in a timely manner.

2.

For Closed Book tests: No books or reference material of any kind will be permitted.

3.

For Open Book exams: Use of books and any printed / written reference material (filed or bound) is
permitted. However, loose sheets of paper will not be allowed. Use of calculators is permitted in all exams.
Laptops/Mobiles of any kind are not allowed. Exchange of any material is not allowed.

4.

If a student is unable to appear for the Regular Test/Exam due to genuine exigencies, the student should
follow the procedure to apply for the Make-Up Test/Exam which will be made available on the Elearn portal.
The Make-Up Test/Exam will be conducted only at selected exam centres on the dates to be announced later.

It shall be the responsibility of the individual student to be regular in maintaining the self study schedule as given in
the course handout, attend the online lectures, and take all the prescribed evaluation components such as
Assignment/Quiz, Mid-Semester Test and Comprehensive Exam according to the evaluation scheme provided in the
handout.