Corporate Software Project Management

By: 
Guy W. Lecky-Thompson
Published: 
2005
Pages: 
376
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Book Description

Learn to produce quality software on time and within budget! It has long been accepted in the software industry that projects will be late, over budget, and lacking in agreed upon features due to technical or time limitations. As more companies become involved with the development and deployment of large-scale software projects, it is necessary to define ways to ensure that quality products are produced. Corporate Software Project Management focuses on the three main areas for efficient software development: management, quality, and client relations. It provides a series of globally applicable methods that can enhance productivity and reduce costs within software teams, without sacrificing quality. In addition to the management aspects, the book also deals with the technical side of software engineering. This section of the book illustrates the decisions that need to be made when planning the implementation phase of the project. Examples of how software can be designed to maximize code for future projects are also included. Corporate Software Project Management provides managers, developers, and programmers with methods and techniques that will help them produce quality products from start to finish.

KEY FEATURES

  • Teaches easy-to-implement methods that help software development teams increase productivity and lower costs
  • Covers key development areas, including outsourcing, specifications, testing, reusable code, code and language choice, product delivery, and client satisfaction
  • Focuses on the three most important aspects to software engineering: management, quality, and client relations
  • Provides guidelines to the type of standards that need to be created within your software development team and what these standards should cover
  • Discusses the technical issues behind implementing a client's design
  • Includes a CD-ROM with third-party software, templates for use in planning and reporting software projects, and all the figures from the book on the CD
  • MindJet MindManager X5 - Trial version of this brainstorming, organizational software
  • OpenWorkBench - A stand-alone desktop application that provides robust project scheduling functionality
  • Resource Standard Metrics - Trial version of M Squared Technologies; RSM source code metrics and quality analysis tool
  • Subversion - A version control system
  • WinCVS - A set of sophisticated GUIs for CVS
  • Figures - Contains all the images from the book by chapter
  • Skeleton Documents - Provides a set of templates that can be used for planning and reporting your software projects

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

PC: Windows NT, Windows 2000 Pro, or Windows XP, Web browser, Pentium IV processor or greater, CD-ROM drive, hard drive, 128MB RAM minimum, 512MB recommended.

Member Reviews: 

Review By: Jennifer Cannon
09/26/2005Software projects that are on time, under budget, and deliver all features seem to be a fantasy for most of the software industry. There are many books on the subject of software project management that offer solutions and ideas to get software projects on track for a successful completion, but I believe that "Corporate Software Project Management" stands out from the rest. This book looks at all aspects of a software project, from specification to delivery. It discusses more than the technical aspect of coding and the internal perspective of project management. The author also emphasizes building relationships with both internal and external clients, and setting up well-defined standards in which to work with these clients.

Lecky-Thompson builds on the premise that a breakdown in communication is one of the main reasons software projects do not finish on time and as expected. Communication lines need to be pre-defined and rigidly set. For this purpose, the author introduces the idea of a “liaison center,” which acts as the primary contact point for the client. Lecky-Thompson offers a blueprint to implement such a role in various corporate environments.

Efficient, effective communication is difficult if documentation standards are not utilized. To remedy this, the author discusses the standards and guidelines for project documentation, coding, data collection, and reporting. He also covers specifications, product development, and testing.

The CD-ROM is very helpful, which includes brainstorming software, project scheduling software, a source-code metrics and quality-analysis tool, a version-control system, and a set of GUIs for CVS. Some of these applications are trial versions, so that the user can evaluate whether the tool would work in his particular environment.

It is my opinion that Lecky-Thompson did an excellent job covering areas of software development from specifications, testing, reusable code, code and language selection, product delivery, and client satisfaction. He discusses the problems that can arise in each of these areas, and offers easy-to-implement methods and ideas that can circumvent those problems before they can occur.

"Corporate Software Project Management" is not written with a lot of technical jargon, so even someone new to the software industry can gain a good understanding of all areas of software development, how they fit together, and how to increase productivity and reduce costs.

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