Month: May 2016

  • Planning Tools

    Tools used to support I.T. department planning, range from Excel to Project or even more specialised products. Choice depends on size and complexity of project. MS Project can link several projects together under one steering project facilitating project management. Many tools can also provide costings for the projects to assist with budgets and cost charging.

  • Software Management Tools

    Many tools available to help manage I.T. departments, both simple and complex. Can be stand alone for specific functions or fully integrated systems covering areas such as: Code repository Asset repository Help desk Data models repository Software analysis and design repositories  

  • Software Development Productivity Measures

    Key output from I.T. department is software, either directly written or by third party. Difficult measuring & monitoring software development productivity – no industry standard approach. Approaches include: Algorithmic Model based on historical data e.g. Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO). Comparison Compare to a similiar sized past project. Bottom Up Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) – work…

  • Contract Management

    Sources for human resources can be varied, not just directly employed employees. In such cases there will be contracts. Contracts will also exists for other areas such as: software development software maintenance network provision hardware software licences Contract costs can vary greatly and require managing with help from KPIs and performance metrics. Performance metrics may…

  • Key Performance Indicators

    Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – valuable tool in monitoring plans. Relate to critical areas of plan that need to be monitored and managed. Specific measurements usually quantitative. Commonly displayed as a Traffic Light report, results shown in red, amber and green. Green – progressing to plan. Amber – variance to plan, need to review. Red…