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BAIT3153 Software Project Management – Assignment

1. Objectives
This assignment provides students with the opportunity to learn and apply the following project
management skills:
 Create a project plan using a project management software
 Perform activities related for software quality, risk management and software process
improvement.
 Present and communicate project ideas professionally

2. Assessment
This contribution of this assignment to the overall coursework mark is shown below:
CLO Programme Learning Outcomes Contribution to overall coursework mark
2 Interpersonal and communication skills 20%
3 Ethics and professionalism 40%
Refer to the Assignment Rubrics for details.

3. Group Formation
Students will be assigned to groups of 4 - 5 members per team from the same tutorial group by
the tutor. Every member in the group is expected to contribute and participate actively in the entire
process of completing the assignment tasks. Sharing of ideas and assistance in the completion of
assignment among members is required. Team members should rotate among themselves to play
the role of Project Manager for the different assignment tasks / parts.

4. Assignment Tasks
Students are required to select ONE (1) business organisation which they are familiar with and are
interested in. Assume that the chosen organization has commissioned your team to initiate a
project to improve its business operations and performance. Students are required to do the
necessary research (via the Internet, reference books and other resources) to complete the
following parts which are to be included in the assignment report:

Part 1
(a) Project Initiation
Research on the business workflow of the chosen organization and propose an application
and/or technology that could enhance its performance. Write a 2-5 page paper with:
 A brief description of the business workflow
 The main objective(s) of the proposed project

A project manager’s main concern is to develop the system on time, within the allotted budget
and to the required quality. As you carry out the following activities, you must think of appropriate
strategies and best practices to ensure the project’s success.

(b) Project Planning

Identify a suitable process model as well as the required activities for this project. Next, using
Microsoft Project,
i. Enter the project information with the appropriate start and/or finish date.
ii. Set the non-working days and working times in the project calendar.
iii. Enter the plan’s title and other properties.
iv. Prepare a Gantt chart with the task ID, task name, and duration. All the tasks and
subtasks must include the estimated durations, milestones and task dependencies.
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(c) Resource Management

 Determine the resources (e.g. labor, equipment, materials, expenses, etc.) required for
the various tasks or subtasks.
 Skill and experience play a significant part in determining the time taken and the quality
of the final product. Identify the project’s team members and their roles in the project.
Then, allocate individual team members to the project’s tasks/subtasks.
Note that resource scheduling depends on the work schedule (or project calendar), tasks
dependency and manpower.
 Apply resource levelling in the Gantt chart and revise your project plan accordingly.
Next, produce estimates of the number of hours that each team member has to work
on this project as well as the staff costs for the project and update your project plan
accordingly.

Part 2
The field of software development is rife with stories of project failures. As you work on the
following parts, reflect on their importance to a software development project.

(a) Software Quality Attributes

Identify 4 - 5 quality attributes for the application being developed. Write quality specifications
for each of the attributes. The quality specification should include the following details:
 name: the specific quality attribute
 description: definition/description of the quality attribute
 quality measurement: the metric used to measure the quality attribute
 test: the practical test of the extent to which the quality attribute exists in the system
 target range: the range of values within which it is planned the quality measurement
value should be in

(b) Software Process Improvement

Process measurements should be used to assess process improvements. Using a Goal
Question Metric (GQM) approach, identify 4 - 5 important goals for the project and prepare a
GQM paradigm using the hierarchical structure. The GQM paradigm should include the following
levels:
 Goals: state what an organization wants to achieve
 Questions: state how to meet the goal
 Metrics: define metric(s) to answer the question(s) and explain how to measure.

Part 3
Projects often do not go according to plan. Therefore, it is important to identify as many risks as
possible in your project plan and be prepared if something goes wrong.

Project Risk Projection and Assessment

(a) Identify the potential risks for this project and prepare a Risk Table (include the category,
probability, and impact rating for each risk).
(b) Based on your risk table from part (a), identify the list of risks to be included in your Risk
Mitigation, Monitoring and Management (RMMM) plan. Then, prepare a Risk Information
Sheet (RIS) for each risk included in your RMMM plan, i.e.:
 develop a risk mitigation strategy and specific risk mitigation activities for the risks;
 develop a risk monitoring strategy and specific risk monitoring activities for the risks. Be
sure to identify the factors that you will be monitoring to determine whether the risk is
becoming more or less likely;
 develop a risk management strategy and specific risk management activities for the risks.
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5. Assignment Schedule

Deliverables / Activities Week

Assignment specification distribution 1
Hardcopy submission to tutor during Week 6’s class
 Assignment report
Digital submission to Google Classroom by 9.00am on Monday, 6 April 2020 6
 Assignment report as a Google Docs*
 Microsoft Project File
 Presentation slides/file
Oral Presentation for Parts 1, 2, 3 6
*This will include the Original Report (OR) Checking: You are given 3 attempts and have to amend
your report in the Google Docs directly if the OR result is > 30%.

7. Assignment Report Format

The report for all parts should contain the following items: -
(a) Assignment cover page
(b) Assessment Rubric – one for each student
(c) Table of Contents with page numbers
(d) Content
Note: For every part/task, indicate the name of the project manager. For each entry, indicate
the name of the author.
(e) Reference section (Students are required to use Harvard Referencing System format)
(f) Appendices (if any)

The reports must be type-written using Google Docs using the following format:

Font Size A body text of font size 12 is required while for headings and subheadings a
larger font size must be used.
Font Style Use Times New Roman for body text. Main headings and sub-headings
should be clearly stated using suitable font styles (e.g. Arial).
Line Spacing Typed material should be 1.5-line spaced. Use Justify for alignment.
Headers and Appropriate footers and headers should be used to enhance clarity and
Footers presentation.
Page Numbering Ensure that all pages (except cover page) are numbered.
Paper Size Use A4 paper (29.7cm x 21cm).
Binding Use a 2-hole plastic binder clip. Print on only one side of the paper.

8. Late Policy
Late submission of the assignment will be handled according to the Guideline for Late Submission
of Coursework available at TAR UC’s Intranet Examinations and Credit Accumulation
Undergraduate Guideline.

9. Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Before submitting your assignment, please make sure that you have complied with TAR UC
Plagiarism Policy. Any cheating, attempt to cheat, plagiarism, collusion and any other attempts
to gain an unfair advantage in assessment will cause the students concerned to be penalized.
IMPORTANT: Students found to be dishonest are liable to disciplinary action.