财政性水利信息化项目建管工作初探

结合国家水资源监控能力建设项目建设管理工作经验,对比财政性和基建性水利信息化项目在法规依据、立项程序、法人构成、验收组织和验收后评价等方面的不同特点,分析了财政性水利信息化项目建设管理工作难点及原因,主要受项目总体控制力度弱,各地特殊情况影响大,项目变更难以掌握,项目质量控制难度大等因素影响。有针对性地提出加强项目建设管理的工作要点,提出完善项目建设管理法规制度的意见建议,主要包括强化项目组织领导体系建设,完善项目建管工作法规制度,加大项目技术统筹力度,重视项目进度管理和要严格把好项目质量关口等。为以后做好财政性水利信息化项目建设管理工作提供了借鉴。     

Collaboration using roles

Segregation of roles into alternative accounts is a model which provides not only the ability to collaborate but also enables accurate accounting of resources consumed by collaborative projects, protects the resources and objects of such a project, and does not introduce new security vulnerabilities. The implementation presented here does not require users to remember additional passwords and provides a very simple consistent interface.     

浅析软件开发项目过程中的风险管理

软件项目开发中存在的各类风险会影响项目计划的实现,如果项目风险变成现实,就有可能影响项目的进度,增加项目的成本,甚至使软件项目不能实现。成功的项目管理一般都对项目风险进行了良好的管理。该文就软件开发项目过程中存在的风险进行分析,并比较了几种主流的风险管理模型,探讨如何对项目进行有效的风险管理,从而最大限度的减少风险的发生。     

A multi-method, holistic strategy for researching critical success factors in IT projects

In the field of information systems (IS) there is an observable trend towards the use of multi-method research. Using different research methods allows for the cross-validation of data obtained via multiple approaches, with the potential to increase the robustness of research results. Such a multi-method approach is applicable to a comprehensive research agenda on critical success factors, an agenda that needs to take into account not only the identification, but also the analysis and management of critical success factors. The goal of this article is to contribute new knowledge on how to carry out research on critical success factors in IS projects using a multi-method approach. For this purpose, two research projects are presented, each a variation of the research design customized to particular circumstances. First, there is an outline of the research approach taken for a critical success factor research project in the field of portal implementation, with discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the project. Taking into consideration these experiences, the research approach of a similar critical success factor research project in the field of offshore software development is then described. Finally, recommendations for using the multi-method research approach in critical success factor research are presented.     

The relative influence of management control and user–IS personnel interaction on project performance

Research has failed to establish a conclusive link between levels of user involvement and information system project success. Communication and control theories indicate that the quality of interactions between users and inofrmation personnel may serve to better the coordinaton in a project and lead to greater success. A model is developed that directly relates management control to the quality of interaction and project success, with interaction quality as a potential intermediary. These variables provide a more distinct relationship to success as interactions are more structurally defined and controlled. A survey of 196 IS professionals provides evidence that management control techniques improve the quality of user–IS personnel interactions and eventual project success. These formal structures provide guidelines for managers in controlling the critical relations between users and IS personnel.     

Escalating commitment to information system projects: findings from two simulated experiments

Commitment to an information system (IS) development project is essential for system success. However, some projects exhibit escalation of commitment, i.e. allocation of additional resources to a failing course of action. This paper describes two simulated longitudinal experiments examining the effects of project, psychological, social, and structural factors during four stages of an IS project. The results support escalation in IS projects. Moreover, project factors and psychological factors, but not structural factors, seem to aid escalation. Project, psychological, and social factors also have different effects during various stages.     

Prioritizing and Assessing Software Project Success Factors and Project Characteristics using Subjective Data

This paper presents a method for analyzing the impact software project factors have on project success as defined by project success factors that have been prioritized. It is relatively easy to collect measures of project attributes subjectively (i.e., based on expert judgment). Often Likert scales are used for that purpose. It is much harder to identify whether and how a large number of such ranked project factors influence project success, and to prioritize their influence on project success. At the same time, it is desirable to use the knowledge of project personnel effectively. Given a prioritization of project goals, it is shown how some key project characteristics can be related to project success. The method is applied in a case study consisting of 46 projects. For each project, six success factors and 27 project attributes were measured. Successful projects show common characteristics. Using this knowledge can lead to better control and software project management and to an increased likelihood of project success.     

Comparing six video chat tools: A critical evaluation by language teachers

This article presents a critical comparison of the usefulness and practicality of six CMC video chat tools (CUworld, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Paltalk, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger) from the perspective of language teaching professionals. This comparison is based on the results of a semester-long project between graduate students at an American university and their counterparts at a university in Turkey. The language teachers were asked to pair up with a partner in the collaborating university to test and then evaluate each of these tools via video chat tool evaluation sheets. They also completed an overall evaluation sheet commenting on CMC tools in general and ranking the video chat tools in terms of their potential as language teaching tools and their usability for personal communication purposes. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of the evaluation sheets indicate a clear preference for MSN Messenger and Skype while placing CUworld and Paltalk at the bottom of the list. The article also provides pedagogical implications and applications for using tools for language teaching purposes.     

Organizing Projects Around the Mitigation of Risks Arising from System Dynamic Behavior

Many of the key products and services used by modern societies are the result of large-scale engineering projects. Despite decades of theoretical and practical work in the art of systems engineering and project management, project execution results remain somewhat inconsistent, in the sense that many projects fail to produce a product that meets the original specifications, and many more projects achieve some measure of technical success only after taking significantly more time and/or money than originally expected. One source of such failures is the occurrence of unplanned and adverse dynamic behavior in the resulting system. This paper summarizes research being conducted to look at the potential of design-phase actions that centralize control of the eventual system''s dynamic behavior as a potential solution to some instances of this problem. This approach could lead to increased chances of success on future major system development projects, through a new method for instituting better control of the dynamic behavior of such a system.     

Project management: Have we applied all that we know?

Information systems projects are often successfully justified but fail in their development. This is usually caused by ineffective management of the project during development combined with an overemphasis on coding techniques. A proven management methodology effectively applied to every project addresses the unpredictability of new objectives, personnel re-organizations, and changing priorities. Key management components include: obtaining management commitment, planning the work, organizing the staff, setting project standards, guiding the team, communicating with general management, documenting decisions, motivating staff, negotiating changes, and training the user. Thorough application of these principles during each project, combined with tracking the actual performance versus the schedule, provides a quality data base of estimating criteria for a data processing organization. Experience indicates proper management applied to any project significantly increases the probability of success.     

Assessing Project Success Using Subjective Evaluation Factors

Project evaluation is essential to understand and assess the key aspects of a project that make it either a success or failure. The latter is influenced by a large number of factors, and many times it is hard to measure them objectively. This paper addresses this by introducing a new method for identifying and assessing key project characteristics, which are crucial for a project's success. The method consists of a number of well-defined steps, which are described in detail. The method is applied to two case studies from different application domains and continents. It is concluded that patterns are possible to detect from the data sets. Further, the analysis of the two data sets shows that the proposed method using subjective factors is useful, since it provides an increased understanding, insight and assessment of which project factors might affect project success.     

The role of modelling in achieving information systems success: UML to the rescue?

Much computer science literature addresses the mechanics of the Unified Modelling Language (UML) and requirements modelling, but little research has addressed the role of UML in the broader organizational and project development context. This study uses a socio-technical approach to consider UML as a technology embedded in a social environment. In this study, project developers were interviewed in detail about their use of UML along with influences on their decisions to use this approach and the results of using it. Data were analyzed using causal mapping. Major findings included: (1) that definitions of success may differ by unit of analysis (e.g., developer, project, organization) and that the relationship among these definitions are complex; (2) a very large number of variables impacting project success were identified; (3) a number of important variables exist in complex (non-linear) relationships with project success; and (4) the majority of interviewees linked the use of UML to project success.     

Identifying and overcoming the challenges of implementing a project management office

With the ongoing challenge of successfully managing information technology (IT) projects, organizations are recognizing the need for greater project management discipline. For many organizations, this has meant ratcheting up project management skills, processes, and governance structures by implementing a project management office (PMO). While anecdotal evidence suggests that implementing a PMO can be quite difficult, few studies discuss the specific challenges involved, and how organizations can overcome them. To address this gap in existing knowledge, we conducted a Delphi study to (1) identify the challenges of implementing a PMO for managing IT projects, (2) rank these challenges in order of importance, (3) discover ways in which some organizations have overcome the top-ranked challenges, and (4) understand the role of PMO structure, metrics, and tools in the implementation of a PMO.We identified 34 unique challenges to implementing a PMO and refined this list to 13 challenges that our Delphi panelists considered most important. The top-three challenges were (1) rigid corporate culture and failure to manage organizational resistance to change, (2) lack of experienced project managers (PMs) and PMO leadership, and (3) lack of appropriate change management strategy. Through follow-up interviews with selected panelists, we identified a series of actions that can be taken to overcome these challenges including having a strong PMO champion, starting small and demonstrating the value of the PMO, obtaining support from opinion leaders, hiring an experienced program manager who understands the organization, bringing the most talented PMs into the PMO implementation team, adopting a flexible change management strategy, and standardizing processes prior to PMO implementation. The interviews were also used to better understand the role of PMO structure, metrics, and tools. In terms of PMO structure, we found that ‘light’ PMOs were more likely to be implemented successfully. Most organizations eschew formal metrics, instead relying on subjective indicators of PMO success. Lastly, it appears that PMO tools are difficult to implement unless a project management culture has been established.     

Documentation and the management of a software project—a case study

The purpose of this article is to discuss documentation and management technique in a software production project. It is claimed that clear and concise documentation is a major contribution to communication between people who are either inside or outside the software project and that such documentation plays an important role in the management of the project. A university software project is used as a case study to illustrate the above points and to describe the means for achieving them. This project developed a supervisor and an assembler for a small 4K words machine and at various times it involved up to ten parttime people (instructor and students). One of the goals of the project was the development and improvement of documentation technique, and the techniques described in this article were practised and improved as the project progressed. It is felt that with minor changes the conclusions of the university project can be used in industrial projects of similar size.     

Management competences,not tools and techniques: A grounded examination of software project management at WM-data

Traditional software project management theory often focuses on desk-based development of software and algorithms, much in line with the traditions of the classical project management and software engineering. This can be described as a tools and techniques perspective, which assumes that software project management success is dependent on having the right instruments available, rather than on the individual qualities of the project manager or the cumulative qualities and skills of the software organisation. Surprisingly, little is known about how (or whether) these tools techniques are used in practice. This study, in contrast, uses a qualitative grounded theory approach to develop the basis for an alternative theoretical perspective: that of competence. A competence approach to understanding software project management places the responsibility for success firmly on the shoulders of the people involved, project members, project leaders, managers. The competence approach is developed through an investigation of the experiences of project managers in a medium sized software development company (WM-data) in Denmark. Starting with a simple model relating project conditions, project management competences and desired project outcomes, we collected data through interviews, focus groups and one large plenary meeting with most of the company’s project managers. Data analysis employed content analysis for concept (variable) development and causal mapping to trace relationships between variables. In this way we were able to build up a picture of the competences project managers use in their daily work at WM-data, which we argue is also partly generalisable to theory. The discrepancy between the two perspectives is discussed, particularly in regard to the current orientation of the software engineering field. The study provides many methodological and theoretical starting points for researchers wishing to develop a more detailed competence perspective of software project managers’ work.     

浅谈软件项目的沟通管理

目前由于软件项目越做越大,分析、开发、设计工作量大,同时涉及到的项目干系人众多,使得项目管理人员往往忽视对沟通管理,造成很大的实施难度,或者实施后效果不好,这样不仅造成了资源浪费,而且造成项目方不良影响。该文以校务通管理系统为例,通过对其的沟通管理分析,进行相应的沟通管理规约,确保校务通管理系统的顺利实施。     

Identifying exogenous drivers and evolutionary stages in FLOSS projects

The success of a Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) project has been evaluated in the past through the number of commits made to its configuration management system, number of developers and number of users. Most studies, based on a popular FLOSS repository (SourceForge), have concluded that the vast majority of projects are failures.This study’s empirical results confirm and expand conclusions from an earlier and more limited work. Not only do projects from different repositories display different process and product characteristics, but a more general pattern can be observed. Projects may be considered as early inceptors in highly visible repositories, or as established projects within desktop-wide projects, or finally as structured parts of FLOSS distributions. These three possibilities are formalized into a framework of transitions between repositories.The framework developed here provides a wider context in which results from FLOSS repository mining can be more effectively presented. Researchers can draw different conclusions based on the overall characteristics studied about an Open Source software project’s potential for success, depending on the repository that they mine. These results also provide guidance to OSS developers when choosing where to host their project and how to distribute it to maximize its evolutionary success.     

The optimization of success probability for software projects using genetic algorithms

The software development process is usually affected by many risk factors that may cause the loss of control and failure, thus which need to be identified and mitigated by project managers. Software development companies are currently improving their process by adopting internationally accepted practices, with the aim of avoiding risks and demonstrating the quality of their work.This paper aims to develop a method to identify which risk factors are more influential in determining project outcome. This method must also propose a cost effective investment of project resources to improve the probability of project success.To achieve these aims, we use the probability of success relative to cost to calculate the efficiency of the probable project outcome. The definition of efficiency used in this paper was proposed by researchers in the field of education. We then use this efficiency as the fitness function in an optimization technique based on genetic algorithms. This method maximizes the success probability output of a prediction model relative to cost.The optimization method was tested with several software risk prediction models that have been developed based on the literature and using data from a survey which collected information from in-house and outsourced software development projects in the Chilean software industry. These models predict the probability of success of a project based on the activities undertaken by the project manager and development team. The results show that the proposed method is very useful to identify those activities needing greater allocation of resources, and which of these will have a higher impact on the projects success probability.Therefore using the measure of efficiency has allowed a modular approach to identify those activities in software development on which to focus the project's limited resources to improve its probability of success. The genetic algorithm and the measure of efficiency presented in this paper permit model independence, in both prediction of success and cost evaluation.