Project Management Software Feature Profitability: Windows, Networks, Mainframes, Filtered Task Diagrams, Schedules and Calendars

As project management (PM) and information technology (IT) evolved over the last decades, an increasing number of project management software products have emerged. Project managers in IT consulting can improve the success of projects through the utilization of such software. However, the diversity of software available cannot sensibly be grasped by a single individual. Based on this context, the study aims to examine the key considerations in the selectionof project management software in IT consulting from the project managers’ perspective. A literature review identifies key aspects of IT consulting projects that may be relevant to the software selection. No evidence was found that provided a view on the process of the selection of PM software in IT consulting itself. The review also unveils the lack of common terminology in regard to PM software. The study addresses these gaps by utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to understand the experiences made by project managers. To gather data, 17 semistructured interviews were conducted with experienced project managers. Thematic analysis was used to develop an understanding of the process employed by project managers in the software selection and the considerations they make along the way. The findings were synthesized to create a process guide, supported by a checklist and the working definition of key terminology. This study adds a broader perspective to the field of PM software through the application of qualitative methodology in an otherwise quantitatively dominated field of research. It addresses the lack of existing knowledge on the perspective of the project manager in the selection process through the generation of a 6-staged process guide. The detailed considerations of project managers were compiled into a checklist of selection criteria. These two also contribute to practice by providing a structured approach to PM selection for practitioners. The third output is a working definition of project management software as used in practice, which simplifies an exchange of knowledge between theory and practice.

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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly dealing with international projects and distributed (sometimes even virtual) teams. Consequently, they are looking for project management (PM) tools which fit their respective needs regarding communication and collaboration. Unfortunately, the majority of the PM software available in the market seems to be oversized for this purpose. Instead most project managers are requesting smart solutions that allow quick implementation without any significant organisational or technical change.
 Within the research project InterComp SME 2.0 we combine theoretical research and real business to develop hands-on solutions for SMEs. This paper describes an effective approach for a â??PM Toolboxâ? that allows finding the right project tool for a specific project need. The toolbox has been developed in due consideration of user stories gained from business practice, a more detailed SME business survey, a theoretical PM meta model and a market of PM tools.
 Since the business survey revealed that the readiness to use and test a â??toolboxâ? is highly dependent on the type of user and his or her technical background, we designed the system based on use cases and user typology. As a result, we suggest a framework of open, freely available, easy-to-install, single and multi purpose PM software tools which can be selected solely on a need basis. With this free platform we want to guide practitioners through the tool jungle with the potential to grow into a lively community.

The article examines the principles of effective formation of a project management system at an enterprise. In the modern environment, project management standards and management information systems are the principles of effective formation of a project management system. The content of the category «project management system» is determined: as a direct means of project management; as software for project management. An analysis of recent research and publications on the topic is carried out, which clarifies the ambiguity of theoretical provisions and applied aspects of project management systems. It is determined that project management is a business philosophy combined with special knowledge, methods and management tools. The essence of PMBoK is noted as a project management standard with 9 functions, the approaches of which reflect the classical theory, the place of other methodologies that ensure the flexibility of project management is indicated. The place of individual methodologies in project management practice is described, five main reasons for project failures are highlighted (according to PMI research) and these reasons are compared with the project management methodology, which is emphasized from the perspective of implementing management standards. A brief description of the Agile and Scrum methodologies is given, their features and significance for certain types of projects are given, and the areas of management to which their specifics correspond are revealed. The essence of IT project management systems is highlighted, their impact on the efficiency of project activities is noted, a brief description of the Jira and Worksection systems is given, and their main components and elements are revealed. Modern requirements for the formation of a project management system at an enterprise are determined, in particular the ability to develop and self-improve. The transition to the principles of a circular economy is identified as a promising direction, a system of fundamental principles for the transition of project activities is given, and the prospective advantages for the future of such a transition are described. The achievements of the formation of a project management system based on the principles of a circular economy were noted. Based on the results of the study, conclusions were drawn regarding the directions of effective formation of a project management system, according to the type of projects and market advantage factors, which will ensure maximum efficiency in planning and coordinating project implementation, interaction with key participants and the project team, optimization of project resources and maximization of project benefits.

The peculiarities of modern investment activity of enterprises are analyzed in the work. The goals of investment activity of enterprises are structured: increase of profitability; expanding market share; strengthening innovation activity; improving investment attractiveness. The current problems of project management are highlighted: management of limited resources to achieve goals; funding and weighted evaluation of potential criteria; integration of tasks on the main business processes; distribution of roles and responsibilities of all performers and stakeholders; project portfolio management; project management software. The interests of the main stakeholders of the projects are classified: increase of profits and dividends, improvement of reputation (business owners): efficiency and effectiveness, self-realization, authority (managers); proper wages and social guarantees, self-realization, recognition of work results (employees of the enterprise); fulfillment of contract conditions and refund, solvency of the enterprise (investors); optimal ratio of price and quality of goods, compliance with the terms of the order (consumers); increase in order volumes, timely payments under the terms of contracts, long-term relationships (suppliers); activities that meet the requirements of the law, payment of taxes, job creation, implementation of volunteer social and cultural projects (public authorities); growth of cooperation agreements (intermediaries); availability of competitive advantages, market leadership (competitors). In order to develop skills in the formation of hybrid project management systems, the features of approaches to project management have been studied: cascade project management; Agile; Six Sigma; PRINCE2. Systematized priority areas for solving project management problems: training of enterprise managers by programs: project management software; team leadership; project portfolio management; change management; increasing the stress resistance of managers; conflict resolution; talent management; project management information support; team building; Public Relations; attracting various sources of project funding; planning enterprise development programs and updating business models; reconciling the interests of project stakeholders. Which in turn will optimally solve the problems of project management and improve the results of the enterprise. These issues are for further research: studying the peculiarities of attracting various investors to finance enterprise projects and concluding investment agreements.

Due to globalisation, advances in computing technologies, as well as the deployment of software projects in distributed, collaborative and virtual environments, the software project management environment has changed. Traditional project management methods fail to address these added complexities. As a result, numerous software development projects either do not live up to expectations or they fail outright. The authors proposed the software project management model, entitled software project management supported by software agents (SPMSA) that aims to enhance software project management by taking the unique nature and changing environment of software projects into account. The SPMSA model supports the entire spectrum of software project management functionality, supporting and enhancing each key function with a team of software agents. In this extended paper, the authors adapt the SPMSA model to incorporate PMBOK2004 guidelines. The SPMSA model makes a fresh contribution to enhance software project management by utilising software agent technology.

Favorable planed management is the base of software project succeed. In this piece aim at the present situation of software project management, comprehensive use the thought of software engineering and project management, explore process and method of project schedule planning control. On the base of analysis software project schedule planning control difficulties, research based on PSP method. PSP follow adjustment, practice, measurement, comparison result and readjustment such a circulation and the continuous improvement of process, it is a process step by step for a long time. This paper studies the successful application of content; it can change insufficient plan in software project management process, the phenomenon of control adverse, improve comprehensive management ability and competitive power of project, creating Value for software company, improve high quality service for user.

Context: In software project management, the decision-making process is a complex set of tasks largely based on human relations and individual knowledge and cultural background. The factors that affect the decisions of the software project managers (SPMs) as well as their potential consequences require attention because project delays and failures might be related to a series of poor decisions. Goals: To understand how SPMs make decisions based on how they interpret their experiences in the workplace. Further, to identify antecedents and consequences of those decisions in order to increase the effectiveness of project management. We also aim to refine the research design for future investigations. Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with SPMs within a Brazilian large governmental organization and a Brazilian large private organization. Results: We found that decision-making in software project management is based on knowledge sharing in which the SPM acts as a facilitator. This phenomenon is influenced by individual factors, such as experience, knowledge, personality, organizational ability, communication, negotiation, interpersonal relationship and systemic vision of the project and by situational factors such as the autonomy of the SPM, constant feedback and team members' technical competence. Conclusions: Due to the uncertainty and dynamism inherent to software projects, the SPMs focus on making, monitoring and adjusting decisions in an argument-driven way. From the initial relationships among the identified factors, the research design was refined.

Research Using New Technologies: Software and Web-Based Tools for Analysis, Communication and Project Management

Software Project Management is a knowledge intensive process that can benefit substantially from ontology development and ontology engineering. Ontology development could facilitate or improve substantially the software development process through the improvement of knowledge management, the increase of software and artefacts reusability, and the establishment of internal consistency within project management processes of various phases of software life cycle. A large number of ontologies have been developed attempting to address various software engineering aspects, such as requirements engineering, components reuse, domain modelling, etc. In this paper, we present a systematic literature review focusing on software project management ontologies. The literature review, among other, has identified lack of standardization in terminology and concepts, lack of systematic domain modelling and use of ontologies mainly in prototype ontology systems that address rather limited aspects of software project management processes.

Current practice in project management — an empirical study

Practice and science today agree that software project managers have to master soft skills in order to be successful. Lack of justified, derived from concrete needs, essential soft skills identification makes their mastering impossible. The research model presented hereafter is build on detailed investigation of human factor related processes in software project management and subsequent identification of project manager soft skills needed to perform these processes. The L-Timer™ process based mental model of project management is chosen for the evaluation. Innovative and systematic approach identified at least 645 human factor related activities. Their effective execution requires mastering of at least 256 soft skills.

Objectives: To perform a gender analysis on the usage of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) of simulation based e-learning in the field of Software Engineering in specific reference to the dynamic complexity, a modeling framework for Software Engineering Simulation based e-Learning Environment (SESeLE) tool is needed and has been proposed. Method/Statistical Analysis: A questionnaire based survey has been carried out twice on the learners enrolled in Computers and Information Technology based courses at tertiary levels in and around the city of Chandigarh in north India. The learners were provided an interactive single-learner environment of the SESeLE which was accessible through the internet by using a standard web-browser. In all, 392 students of tertiary level were included as subjects and were made to respond twice on the issues like their practical knowledge of software handling, interest and knowledge in software project management and impact of e-learning on their knowledge in software project management through questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was first got filled up from the subjects without any exposure to the SESeLE and subsequently after a training session on the SESeLE. ANOVA test was performed to find out the significant differences in various learning styles on post-training test scores overall and in both male and female students as well. Findings: This study is unique and one of its own kind. It has been used to analyse the impact of using VLE tools by the learners/students on their learning and also for the gender analysis on various parameters. The web based learning style has been found to be the most preferred learning style among female students and the second most preferred style of learning among male students. Reading textbooks was not significantly popular among female students as compared to male students. About half of the students agreed to participate in any kind of seminar on software project management. The post-training test score on the knowledge about typical patterns observed in software project management issues has been found to be significantly higher from pre-training test scores. No significant difference has been found among the average response of the male and female students on all issues related to their Interest in Software Project Management. The post-training test scores of male and female students on both the issues of simple and difficult software project management were significantly different; the pre- and post-training test scores of the students on both the issues were different significantly; and lastly, significant difference was found between the post-training test scores on both the issues among students categorized according to their preferred choice of learning. Application/Improvements: It will be interesting to evaluate, in future, the effectiveness of SESeLE for the learners.

This chapter presents the implementation of a system that visualizes the construction process using 3D modeling data and schedule data to analyze construction planning. Previous papers have emphasized the benefits of visual 4D planning that combines 3D modeling data and process schedule data for work progress control. The proposed methodology offers rapid visualization of work performance with scheduled activity and facilitates construction planning and schedule inspection. Consequently, it should increase productivity and reduce rework. However, even major construction companies will not adopt such a work style, because the existing, well-organized way of working would not be readily changed unless the new style is proven to afford benefits that outweigh the effort and cost required to adapt to the style. The advanced CAD system, for example, is able to simulate the assembly process, and the advanced 3D graphic designer is able to animate the arrangement of objects. Even though each software provides multiple functionalities, the applications in practical use are all independent and specific, such as CAD for designing 3D models, and a project manager for scheduling and analyzing. Therefore, a system that integrates all outputs from each application is required to move from the conventional work style to the new one. This chapter, thus, aims to develop a system that integrates several types of data and enables the simulation of the construction progress by gradually showing 3D models according to the activity schedule. It is also possible to attach material data to each object and to display related information like cost and object properties. The system assumes the following requirements: (1) to import and display the 3D modeling data, (2) to import the project schedule, (3) to link each model and activity, (4) to give the material data on each object to enhance reality, and (5) to show cost accumulation. These functions are supposed to be realized such that the system utilizes the resources previously reserved. Therefore, the system should be able to import a DXF format file for 3D modeling data and access the MDB format database for the project schedule, including costs. The MDB file is originally a database that Microsoft Access creates. Microsoft Project, which is probably the most widely used software for project management, is also able to export the project data in this format. These functions are implemented with Microsoft Visual C++ and DirectX SDK. Although the system displays inaccurate models partially because of the misinterpretation of the DXF file, all of the demands listed above are satisfied currently. The authors of this chapter are now at the stage of implementation of further functions, that is, to display not only structures but also other elements such as the temporal space on the site, the route of delivery vehicles, and the work area of the temporally used heavy machinery, all for the sake of the visualization and analysis of the entire construction site.

Who would have thought research projects could make for interesting books? This is my second recent column about a research project that led to a book. I still find myself scratching my head about that as a concept. Nevertheless, here again is a book based entirely on a single research project. In this case, the research was conducted by the author, Tony Moynihan, in his role of Professor of Computer Applications at Dublin City University in Ireland. The topic? The techniques used by experienced software project managers for addressing and managing risks on their projects. You might expect that would make for a boring book. But, in fact, it isn't! This is probably one of the most real, useful, and entertaining books I have ever read on project management. (You may know that project management isn't my favorite software engineering topic!). What was the research project, and what is so real about it? The author interviewed a collection of 30-odd IS/IT project managers, from the point of view of project risks they had experienced. He asked them to discuss and rank risks on projects they had managed, and then on hypothetical projects he presented to them, all the while eliciting comments on how they did or would handle those risks. The result came through as the most real collection of thoughts on project management I have ever read, in that they were straight from the horse's mouth (that is, from experienced software project managers). Having elicited all those opinions, the author then aggregated them into perhaps the most useful chapter of the book, the one that presents "some strategies/recipes" for handling specific risks. There's even a chapter on "when to walk away" from a project that looks like a disaster-in-the-making. Now, an important question is "Who's the target audience for this book?" The author says it's for "IS/IT software project managers." Well, I suppose that makes sense. But there's a whole lot of researchy stuff - methods and approaches - that the average practitioner would want to move swiftly over, but the average researcher might gobble up. There's a chapter on linking the findings to risk theory that also would be eminently skippable for many practitioners, but would be the heart of the book for a researcher. In fact, as I read this, I found myself wishing it could be required reading for IS/IT academics! The reality of the findings would help immensely in getting those academics to move down to earth in their consideration of what's important in IS/IT and software. As a particular example, there's even a research finding that identifies gaps in the traditional risk theoretical literature, issues that arose during the interviews that are not present in that literature. As a further example, the problem that kept recurring as the most serious one to worry about was variously called either "control" (issues over which you haven't much control are real potential project pitfalls), or "customer people problems" (that's where many of those control issues were categorized). And the resolution of those control problems was most frequently found in a subject the author considered only in passing, contractual approaches.I think most academics, especially those who tend to deal largely in technical matters, would be surprised at how unimportant such issues really are to people in the field!As an example of that, the author noted that "requirements uncertainty," a matter of high concern in most academic textbooks, was simply not much of a concern in practice. Why? Because practitioners have "a rich mixture of strategies" for dealing with that. What didn't I like about this book? It leaped precipitously into the interview results without setting sufficient context for them. Tables of fascinating data were often difficult to read because they weren't sufficiently well captioned. Discussions of interview after interview tended to get repetitious. Odd discrepancies, like saying there were 30 project manager subjects when there were apparently really 34, and saying the study analyzed 32 "constructs" when the tables contained 34.Non-American expressions (they added a nice Irish context, however!) like "carry the can," and "sussing out," and "horses for courses. And two perhaps more serious weaknesses. The managers were discussing a collection of projects which ranged in size from one to six people, too close to "toy" projects to be terribly useful in the larger-project world.And the managers were all positioned with companies in Ireland (the author makes a nice argument for why that may not be terribly important, however). On balance, do I like this book? Yes, strongly. This is one of those "and now for something completely different" books that really adds a worthwhile dimension to the (often boring!) IS/IT project management literature.