Foundations of Software Project Management Online and Onsite

Course #	EN05073
Date(s)	June 27 - August 5, 2005 Six Sessions, One Session per Week
Times	Course may be taken online or on-site with classes on Tuesdays from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Instructor(s)	Bob Futrell  various industry experts
Course Fee(s)	Register on or before May 28, 2005 $1,800.00 Register after May 28, 2005 $1,850.00 DIR Registration Fee $1,602.00
CEUs	4.8
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Program Description

Foundations of Software Project Management is a six-week online course comprised of one session per week. It is a component of the Software Quality Institute's Software Project Management (SWPM) Certificate Program . SWPM itself contains six courses: this course, Foundations of SWPM, plus five others. All six courses are required for certification, but all may be taken as a stand-alone courses. The courses may be taken in any order.

SWPM offers a thorough view of the most up-to-date software best-practices, taught by expert practitioners from industry. With a focus specifically on software, the Foundations of Software Project Management course results in a working knowledge that incorporates quality, applicability, profitability and timeliness.

Course Description

In this course, you will be introduced to the concepts of managing software projects. Beginning with a high-level view of the software project environment, you will learn how to plan and run a software development project. The course will cover how the project and product processes fit together to define a unique project instance, where the five steps of a project: Why, What, How, Do-It, and Did-It are addressed. These steps are where the five PMI^® project processes of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Closing are executed. You will see what is required to define the goal and scope of a unique software development project. Documents that define the project include the Charter, Scope of Work statement, and Software Project management Plan. You will learn to build the backbone of the project: the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), fill it with suitable activities from an appropriate life cycle model, and arrange them for best effect and ease of use (scheduling). Estimation and work assignments will be derived from the WBS, and the project's progress will ultimately be tracked by completion of its activities. Project Monitoring and Controlling, covers the concepts and techniques of project control systems, project status reporting, and earned value management for software development projects. Lastly, phase or project closure will be studied. Often overlooked because of deadline pressures and a weary team, proper closure is how lessons learned get turned in to process improvements, and promote organizational learning.

Sessions included in the Foundations of Software Project Management course are:

• Project Management Overview A high level overview of Software Project Management
• Project Management Plan (SPMP) How to prepare a project plan using IEEE 1058 as a model
• Constructing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Breaking the work of a project into manageable
• Project Scheduling How to prepare a realistic project schedule
• Project Monitoring and Controlling How to track a project and keep it on course
• Post Performance Analysis and Project Closeout How to evaluate and report performance and lessons learned

About the Course

Students should be prepared to devote eight to ten hours of time to each session. Participation in the course is team-based and includes completing team and individual exercises as well as weekly conference calls. Students will have the opportunity to work with fellow team members on real-world projects.

Use of an online courseware tool allows students to virtually perform all work within a single application. Participants of the course will receive textbooks, the cost of which is included in the registration fee.

The Program Mentor: You've Got a Friend

A program mentor, who is an experienced software project manager, guides the individual students and team members through the learning process, in addition to collecting program deliverables and giving feedback to the teams.

Course Benefits

The student who completes these six sessions, with his or her team, will be able to:

• Describe the costs and benefits of software project management
• Identify valuable sources of information about software project management and standards
• Understand software project management terminology
• Describe the processes and activities that typically take place during the entire life cycle of a software product and software development project
• Describe the five project process steps for any project, and how they relate to the product processes of business and software development
• Describe several ways to approach to building of a usable WBS
• Create a software project schedule from a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) that feeds a Gantt Chart with resource loading, dependencies, and calendar information
• Demonstrate how to crash a schedule to shorten time to completion
• Compute Earned Value measurements from given project parameters
• Describe the Post Project Analysis process
• List and describe the components of project success
• Track a project to completion and give status reports using Earned Value

SQI is an approved Project Management Institute (PMI) Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.). Students who are PMP's will earn 42 PDU's for successful completion of this course. Additionally, this course satisfies PMI's 35-hour project management education requirement for students who choose to take the PMI certification examination. Please visit the PMI web site to learn more.

This course qualifies for 4.8 continuing education credits.

Register today to reserve your seat!

Sign up today for the June 27 - August 5, 2005 offering. The registration fee is $1,800 per person if registered on or before May 27, 2005 and $1,850 per person if registered on or after May 27, 2005.