What Is Software Project Management According To Bob Hughes?Is managing Software projects any different from managing other kinds of projects? According to the book Software Project Management Bob Hughes wrote it isn't. If you consider some ideas about the monitoring, planning, and control of software projects you will find that all projects are about meeting objectives. A project, worth doing, can only be worthwhile if it really does satisfy needs of the stakeholders. Once you identify those objectives, making sure they are met is the basis of by which the success of any project management is measured. Right about now you are probably asking, "What is a project anyway?". Clearly dictionary definitions emphasize that a project is a planned activity. If we accept that a project is planned, we must also assume that we can figure out how we are going to get the task finished before we start. Planning is thinking about doing something before you even begin to do it. Other related activities, such as routine maintenance, might be done so often that everyone will know exactly what needs to be done. In these cases, you man not think planning is needed but procedures should be documented to ensure consistency. This will greatly help any newcomers to the job. The techniques of other types of project management apply to Software Project Management but products of software projects have characteristics that make them different or even unique. For example, if an artifact, such as a building, is being built the progress is easily seen. With software the progress isn't so clearly visible. Software Project Management Bob Hughes says is the process of making visible that which is invisible. For the dollars spent, software products have more complexity than other engineered artifacts have. How easy software can be changed is often seen as one of its greatest strengths. This means, however, that that where the software interfaces with a physical or organizational system, the expectation is that the software will change to accommodate the other components rather than the other way around. As you can see, from this introduction to the subject, Software Project Management is a topic you need to study in some depth. If you would rather not take a course on the topic you might consider finding a way to acquire the book Software Project Management Bob Hughes wrote. I am sure you can find it at your local library, bookstore, or can order it online. The quality of the information will be well worth it. |