Information Technology Project Management: A
Forward-Looking Strategy
Many IT teams use a "rear-view mirror" strategy to manage
projects, tracking hours spent as they move towards their
goals. This can lead to serious gaps in functionality
delivered as teams get bogged down on one aspect of the project
while deadlines loom.
Whether you're outsourcing your information technology project
management or handling it in-house, use the best management
practices to ensure your project comes in on time, and on
budget.
With a function point analysis strategy, you can accurately
estimate project timelines and track functionality delivered rather
than looking at hours reports and hoping for the best.
Function point analysis was developed in the mid 70s by Allan
Albrecht at IBM, and has since become a respected standard within
the IT community, used by companies such as AT&T.
Using function point analysis at the beginning
Function point analysis begins with data collection on project
requirements. A business analysis meeting between information
technology project management, user representatives, and a business
analyst trained in function point analysis keeps everyone on the
same page regarding project needs and requests.
Once you have the requirements lined out, it's time to perform a
function point estimate. This process evaluates 14 general system
characteristics covering the different technical requirements of
the project. It measures functionality delivered and the complexity
of the environment you're working in.
Applying productivity metrics to the function count gives the
man-hours needed per function point.
Proven standards for information technology project
management
The best productivity estimates come from ISBSG.org, a
standards organization which has been around for 15 years. During
that time, they've compiled massive amounts of data for hours of
development time, project management time, design time, and
requirements gathering. With their information, you can create an
accurate estimate of how long a project will take.
Function point analysis also lets you drill down to see what
percentage of the estimate comes from a particular function, such
as design development testing or project management. With full
knowledge of information technology project management
requirements, you can size your team appropriately.
Chart true progress
Use these functionality milestones to gauge true progress at a
very detailed level, rather than just hours spent on a
project. This allows you to catch problems in the early
stages before they derail the entire project.
For any given point in the information technology project
management process, you can measure productivity based on function
points delivered. Compare this with your original projections to
keep your project on track