Software projects are known for their failure rate, where many are being delivered late, over budget or being canceled while in development. The reason to it is changing requirements and intangibility of the software. Being so abstract it is difficult to imaging all the aspects of the software at the requirements stage. Also technology is playing a major role since processing power, storage space, and data transfer speeds are improving from year to year. Agile methodologies are addressing projects with unclear requirements making process of implementing new specifications along the project much easier and less costly. However the success rate of the software projects did not improve much since the introduction of Agile methodologies. This thesis is looking at what type of projects fit different methodologies and what are factors which practitioners should take into account when selecting methodology for a particular project, The thesis opens up with introduction which sets the research question and provides a brief background to the research topic. In subsequent chapter literature review is conducted to find out what does literature and other researchers have said on the same topic. Third chapter discusses underlying research philosophy and discusses the data collection tools. Next chapter discusses the findings of the research. Interviews has been conducted with project management professionals from Sweden, US, UK and Canada. It was identified through the analysis of patters that Agile methodologies are not well suited for projects involving databases, embedded development and computationally complex projects. Through the analysis of the questionnaire several project characteristics were identified which suit Agile methodologies better than traditional ones: unclear requirements, high risk of failure etc… In the last chapter the thesis concludes the findings and its theoretical and practical implications.

[Truncated abstract] The primary tool for software process control is the project plan, with divergence from the schedule usually being the first indication that there are difficulties. Thus the estimation of the schedule, particularly the effort parameter, is a central element of software engineering management. Regrettably, estimation methods are poorly used within the software industry and accuracy is lacking when compared with other engineering disciplines. There are many reasons for this. However, the need to predict project effort remains, particularly in situations of tendering for contracts. The broad objective of this research is the improvement of project control by means of better estimation. . . The error in the prediction of a project parameter is investigated as the result of the variation in two distinct (estimation and actual development) processes. Improvement depends upon the understanding, control and then reduction of that variation. A strategy for the systematic identification of the sources of greatest variation is developed - so that it may be reduced by appropriate software engineering practices. The key to the success of the approach is the statistical partitioning of the Mean Square Error (of the estimate) in order to identify the weakest area of project control. The concept is proven with a set of student projects, where the estimation error is significantly reduced. The conditions for its transfer to industry are discussed and a systematic reduction in error is demonstrated on five sets of commercial project data. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the linking of the approach to current estimation methods. It should also have implications for the statistical process control of other projects involving small sample sizes and multiple correlated parameters.

The main object of this thesis is a design of the project with the utilization of project management principles in the chosen company. Company SynopsIS Technologies, a.s. is developing and selling a software solution for advocacy and law offices. The starting point of the entire process of designing is the strategic analysis of the current state of the company, analysis of the external environment and business field of the company. The main object is a designed project of the change, which will be used for project management in order to successfully reach set goals and minimize the risks of the project. A designed solution is using the support of Microsoft Project Professional 2016 software.

Abstract in English / Software project management has been less effective as a result of being focused on resource management and the completion of projects within allocated resources and other confines. There has not been much focus on improving software project management quality through improved decision-making, software project management standards and methodologies, hence the focus of this study to explore the possibility of using data analytics with project management standards and methodologies to improve software project management quality. The main question to be addressed in this study is: Can data analytics use in software project management improve decision-making and project management quality? This study, therefore, explores and provides insight on data analytics use, by means of a survey that was completed by software project managers. A questionnaire was used to collect data from software project managers. The gathered data was captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and the analysed data was used for validity testing, while the reliability of the measurement items was tested using Cronbach’s Alpha. A hypothesis was used to evaluate the effect of data analytics use on software project management quality. The research made use of the positivist research method. The study established that data analytics has not yet been widely adopted by software project managers and organisations alike, as both the project managers and organisations have not done enough to promote the training in, and the adoption of data analytics. The research also established that data analytics can improve software project management quality through improved decision-making and in complementing software project management standards. The study findings will be beneficial to software project managers, researchers and organisations as it reveals the factors that are necessary to effectively use data analytics in software project management, as well as highlighting how data analytics improves software project management quality / School of Computing / M.Sc. (Computing)

The aim of the thesis was to design and develop a unified application for installation and integration of the software management tools into a single comprehensive and functional unit. The application should also allow export of the project metadata via the RESTful API. The goals of the thesis were fulfilled relatively well. A set of installation scripts was created, as well as a functional web application built using the JavaEE platform. The application can be deployed in a small company after performing minor modifications. Less common deployment scenarios for CGI based applications on Apache Tomcat were also examined. Minor enhancements in the open-source project NetBeans were implemented as well. Also, a branded version of Bugzilla was created and deployed in an existing small software company.

Background. Management is an essential factor in any organization let alone its kind and size. Project management is the art and science of planning and implementing a project to achieve the desired outcome. Project Management (PM) plays a crucial role in businesses which are bound to function in a team-based environment regardless of the type of business. Although a variety of project management practices are employed in different kinds of industries, it is well understood that the style and level of employment of these project management practices have a significant impact on the project success. The software engineering industry has its own project management practices and the employment of these practices depends on the project manager who thus plays a key role in project management. Project manager has been a ubiquitous feature of traditional software projects. Project managers are a merger of personal characteristics and areas of competency that act together to integrate the various components of a project. In this study, the author discusses about the concept of software engineering management, various characteristics and key competencies of a project manager and also the factors influencing the overall success of a project. The authors also discuss about the current state and importance of PM education and its influence in the real time industry. Objectives. This research study is to analyze and make conclusions about the ideal features of a project manager and therefore attempt to understand its association with critical factors of PM for a project’s success in terms of delivering the product as scheduled and also understand various non-PM factors that are critical for project success. The study also attempts to show the significance of studying PM specifically in the context of Software Engineering as different from other contexts and the importance of PM education in academics and teaching PM in the industry. Methods. To achieve the objectives of this research, we attempt to study project management in the context of Software Engineering by conducting a literature review followed with a descriptive Survey as our research methods for this study to show how far literature complies to the present-day views and overall form a common opinion on this subject by comparing both the findings. Results. The results yielded by conducting a literature review conclude that Project Management or Software Engineering Management plays a vital role in software projects. Various factors that contribute towards successful project management were identified. Also, relevant literature was reviewed to identify the characteristics and competencies of an effective project manager and the status of project management education in academics and in the software engineering industry. The results obtained from the literature review were used in designing a survey and were further used to compare with and validate the results of this survey. A thorough analysis of these results yielded in capturing the current status and views with a snapshot of the situation in the present Software Engineering industry. A clear view on the subject area and results from a sample population of 73 software engineering professionals consisting of up to 41 experienced managers were analyzed, commented and documented. Conclusions. Various conclusions were drawn including discussions on the compliances and contradictions between present literature and software professionals in the present industry have been made. It was found that the majority of software professionals believe that project management in software engineering is unique from project management in other disciplines. It was found that professionals believe project management to be highly to very highly crucial for the overall success of software projects and that the most important key factors for successful project management were team motivation, communication and risk management. It was found that ‘Ability to foresee a problem’, ‘Decision making’ and ‘Inspires a shared vision’ were among the top three characteristics and ‘Team management’, ‘Leadership’ and ‘Ability to work under pressure’ were among the top three competencies of an effective project manager. It was found that managers feel the need to be taught about project management standards and that the ‘PMBoK’ and ‘ISO 9001’ were the most popular standards implemented. It was found that there are very contrasting views among companies on training project managers before promoting them to managerial positions whereas managers expect to be trained. Keywords: Software Engineering Management, Software Project Management, Project Manager, Project Success, Project Management Education, Software Engineering.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-04-19T14:49:21Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TeseDoutorado_JoseAdsonOliveiraGuedesCunha_CInUFPE_vFinal.pdf: 2184943 bytes, checksum: 928987ce07e4113b3596a20086cbc4c7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-19T14:49:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TeseDoutorado_JoseAdsonOliveiraGuedesCunha_CInUFPE_vFinal.pdf: 2184943 bytes, checksum: 928987ce07e4113b3596a20086cbc4c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-15 / Background: In software project management, the decision-making process is a complex set of tasks mainly based on human relations, individual knowledge, and cultural background. The factors that affect the decisions of 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. Aims: To understand how SPMs make decisions based on how they interpret their experiences in the workplace. Further, to identify antecedents, moderators and consequences of those decisions to increase the effectiveness of project management. Method: Firstly, an exploratory study based on semi-structured interviews was conducted with SPMs from a large Brazilian governmental organization and from a small Portuguese private organization to shed light on the causal factors of SPMs’ cognitive biases and how they deal with them, including techniques and tools they used to minimize the cognitive biases’ adverse effects. The initial findings suggested that we needed a more grounded understanding of the mechanisms of decision-making. Thus, a broader research protocol based on semi-structured interviews was carried out with SPMs within a large Brazilian governmental organization and a large Brazilian private organization. We also conducted interviews with software engineers and PMO managers to triangulate the data, which was analyzed using techniques from grounded theory. Data from observations, document analysis and selected studies from a systematic literature review were also used. 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, leadership style, and skills, and by situational factors such as the autonomy of the SPM, task complexity 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 na argument-driven way. Also, the involvement of the team members in decision-making aims to minimize the SPM's decision regret and cognitive biases as well as to maximize the team member's commitment. / Contexto: No gerenciamento de projetos de software, o processo de tomada de decisão refere-se a um conjunto complexo de tarefas baseadas, principalmente, nas relações humanas e no conhecimento e background de cada indivíduo. Os fatores que afetam as decisões dos gerentes de projeto de software (GPs), bem como as suas consequências potenciais necessitam de atenção uma vez que atrasos e falhas de projeto estão relacionados a uma série de más decisões. Objetivos: Entender como os GPs tomam decisões com base em como eles interpretam suas experiências no ambiente de trabalho. Além disso, pretende-se identificar os antecedentes, moderadores e consequências dessas decisões para aumentar a eficácia no gerenciamento de projetos. Método: Primeiramente foi realizado um estudo exploratório com base em entrevistas semi-estruturadas com GPs de uma organização governamental brasileira de grande porte e de uma organização privada portuguesa de pequeno porte para analisar os fatores causais dos vieses cognitivos dos GPs e como estes lidam com eles, incluindo técnicas e as ferramentas utilizadas para minimizar os efeitos adversos dos vieses cognitivos. Os resultados iniciais sugeriram uma compreensão mais fundamentada dos mecanismos de tomada de decisão. Dessa forma, um protocolo mais amplo de pesquisa baseado em entrevistas semi-estruturadas foi realizado com GPs de uma organização governamental e de uma organização privada, ambas brasileiras e de grande porte. Foram realizadas entrevistas com engenheiros de software e gerentes de escritório de projetos para triangular os dados, que foram analisados usando técnicas de teoria fundamentada. Também foram utilizados dados de observações, análise de documentos e estudos selecionados a partir de uma revisão sistemática da literatura. Resultados: Verificou-se que a tomada de decisão no gerenciamento de projetos de software é baseada no compartilhamento de conhecimento em que o gerente de projetos de software atua como um facilitador. Este fenômeno é influenciado por fatores individuais, como experiência, conhecimento, estilo de liderança, e habilidades, e por fatores situacionais, tais como a autonomia, complexidade da tarefa, e competência técnica dos membros de equipe. Conclusões: Devido à incerteza e dinamismo inerente aos projetos de software, os GPs concentram-se em agir, monitorar e ajustar as decisões com base em argumentos. Além disso, o envolvimento dos membros da equipe na tomada de decisão visa minimizar o arrependimento de decisões e influência de vieses cognitivos por parte dos GPs, bem como maximizar o comprometimento dos membros da equipe.

Submitted by Marcia Silva (marcia@latec.uff.br) on 2016-10-24T19:01:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Luiz Augusto Cescon Tavares.pdf: 2000584 bytes, checksum: 8a2e3d63b83415e6a821fa41e28059df (MD5) / Rejected by Biblioteca da Escola de Engenharia (bee@ndc.uff.br), reason: Favor incluir no trabalho a folha de rosto (elemento obrigatório), antes da ficha catalográfica. Atenciosamente, Catarina Ribeiro Bibliotecária BEE - Ramal 5992 on 2017-01-27T11:51:16Z (GMT) / Submitted by Marcia Silva (marcia@latec.uff.br) on 2017-02-08T17:38:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Luiz Augusto Cescon Tavares.pdf: 2000584 bytes, checksum: 8a2e3d63b83415e6a821fa41e28059df (MD5) / Rejected by Biblioteca da Escola de Engenharia (bee@ndc.uff.br), reason: Favor incluir no trabalho a folha de rosto (elemento obrigatório), antes da ficha catalográfica. Atenciosamente, Catarina Ribeiro Bibliotecária BEE - Ramal 5992 on 2017-02-15T12:03:25Z (GMT) / Submitted by Marcia Silva (marcia@latec.uff.br) on 2017-05-09T19:56:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Luiz Augusto Cescon Tavares.pdf: 2000584 bytes, checksum: 8a2e3d63b83415e6a821fa41e28059df (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Biblioteca da Escola de Engenharia (bee@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-05-15T12:09:26Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Luiz Augusto Cescon Tavares.pdf: 2000584 bytes, checksum: 8a2e3d63b83415e6a821fa41e28059df (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-15T12:09:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Luiz Augusto Cescon Tavares.pdf: 2000584 bytes, checksum: 8a2e3d63b83415e6a821fa41e28059df (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-21 / Este estudo investiga o grau de utilização do framework SCRUM na empresa Dclick desenvolvimento de software LTDA, empresa nacional do setor de tecnologia da informação que foi estudada no ano de 2015. Com o objetivo geral de analisar por meio de um survey, o nível de utilização das ferramentas e técnicas ágeis em que os profissionais de desenvolvimento de software atuam em equipe na empresa descrita. A revisão da literatura foi efetuada entre os artigos selecionados como mais relevantes para o tema na base de dados da CAPES, o framework SCRUM foi exaustivamente estudado e também foram revisados os frameworks que tratam do assunto maturidade, o CMMI e o OPM3. A metodologia foi baseada na proposta de Gil (1999), e em um questionário que utiliza escala de Likert como referência, essas abordagens foram importantes para ajudar a listar as ferramentas e técnicas ágeis contidas no framework SCRUM de forma organizada gerando assim, as perguntas em um modelo fechado para que com esse questionário se possa aferir o seu grau de utilização e com isso, averiguar a maturidade e se ela contribuirá para o sucesso do gerenciamento de projetos de software / This study investigates the utilization of the SCRUM framework in the Dclick desenvolvimento de software company, a Brazilian company in the information technology sector that was studied in 2015. With the overall aim of identifying through a survey, the level of use the tools and techniques that agile software development professionals work as a team in the company described above. The literature review was conducted among the articles selected as most relevant to the topic in the CAPES database, the SCRUM framework has been thoroughly studied and were also reviewed the frameworks dealing with the subject maturity, CMMI and OPM3. The methodology was based on the proposal of Gil (1999), and a questionnaire using the Likert scale, Likert (1932) as a reference, these approaches were important in helping us to list and organize the tools and agile techniques contained in the framework SCRUM in an organized manner thus generating questions in a model closed so that with this questionnaire is to measure the degree of use and thereby ascertain the maturity and it will contribute to the successful management of software projects

Software industry is growing day by day and software is going more complex and diverse with increase in cost and rate of failure. This increase in size and complexity of software projects has negative impact on the software productivity, schedule and effort. Organizations are demanding high quality products to increase their productivity and profits. It is common that they are facing some serious problems even after spending a large sum of money. So, its alarming situation and the concerned parties should take effective steps to resolve software project failure problem. Above all this, we are facing a high rate of software failure putting software industry on stake. This study revolves around the core issue of finding the root causes of software project failure with respect to organizational factors. In this, I have tried to find the organizational factors contributing towards the failure of software projects. I have done this study with the help of literature review and questionnaire survey. There could be one or several factors responsible for the software projects failure, which are mentioned in chapter two. I have slightly touched the Information Technology for digging deep into the failure and for understanding this phenomenon. Software failure is the biggest challenge faced by IT as well as business people. There is strong need to find the root causes of software project failure and mitigate them. For controlling this failure problem management can perform its role and I have discussed the role of management in defining, measuring, controlling and implementation of software projects. A project is considered failure when it is not able to show the anticipated results and it is happened when team is not able to fulfill the requirements of the project e.g. overruns time, overruns resources, lack of conformance with initial requirements specifications. I have tried to find out the answers of my research questions through literature review and empirical study. Root causes of software project failure are presented and validated through literature review, data analysis, discussion, and findings. A comprehensive analysis of empirical data and discussion will give you the insight into the problem and my effort to sort out them in a precise way. For the purpose of knowing the solution of this study, I will refer you towards the conclusion and recommendation. The concerned or interested people can get benefit from this research study and definitely it will help them to avoid software project failure. The contribution of the research is twofold. First, it will be helpful for the software making professionals/companies and secondly, it will be helpful for decision makers/users (Organizations), when they are going to buy or implement a software project for enhancing their productivity. / This study revolves around the core issue of finding the root causes of software project failure with respect to organizational factors. In this study, I have tried to find the organizational factors contributing towards the failure of software projects. Study is comprises of literature review and questionnaire survey. There could be one or several factors responsible for the software projects failure. I have finalized some important causes of software failure on the basis of literature review and empirical study in chapter two. Further these finalized causes of software project failure are again validated with the help of questionnaire survey in chapter four. I have presented a comprehensive analysis of the gathered data from respondents. For avoiding any aspect of the analysis, I have further added a detailed discussion on data gathered through survey. I have slightly touched the Information Technology with respect to management’s role in software project development. Information Technology is playing a very vital role in today’s organizations for competing on world level. Software failure is the biggest challenge faced by IT as well as business people. In this way, software failure is very important issue for software development firms as well as buyer and user firms. There is strong need to find the root causes of software project failure and mitigate them. In currant age, the effective use of IT is a success factor for any organization. It is only possible if we link IT with organizational goals. Business and IT managers need to learn that how they can measure, manage and justify technology as a business matter. The example of ideal organization is that which gives value to the collaboration, openness, and communication. The insight gain through this research is the basis for describing the solution for software failure problem and it is presented in chapter six (Conclusion and Recommendations) briefly. The concerned parties will be able to get the benefits from this study to avoid the failure problem. The contribution of this research is twofold. First, it will be helpful for the software making professionals/companies and secondly, it will be helpful for decision makers/users (Organizations). Especially, when they are going to buy or implementing a software project for enhancing their productivity.

The aim of this thesis is to determine possibilities and real use of project management tools in event management, in sphere built on project bases, but that is also very dynamic and changing even in realisation. The thesis focuses on software support for managing projects and project teams, that are applicable in event management. The research was made for the selection of optimal tool for realization of leasure time, public event Ladronkafest. Selection is based on multi-criteria decision evaluation process, that is implemented after consultation with professionals in event management. The chosen software was tested on some smaller event. During the test users realized some negatives about this program and decided not use it.