SWPM Curriculum

The Software Quality Institutes Software Project Management (SWPM) Certificate Program is comprised of six courses, with 3-6 sessions per course;

Foundations of Software Project Management,
6 sessions
Essentials of Software Engineering, 6 sessions
Principles of Software Testing, 4 sessions
Management of Software Project Teams, 5 sessions
Software Quality Assurance, 6 sessions
Business Context and Legal Considerations for Software Projects, 3 sessions

Each of the courses may be taken as a stand-alone course. All six courses are required for certification and 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 program results in a working knowledge that incorporates quality, applicability, profitability and timeliness.

The SWPM curriculum has been structured to align the materials with internationally recognized certification programs offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the American Society of Quality (ASQ), along with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) bodies of knowledge.

The sessions included in each of the courses follow:

Foundations of Software Project Management

• Project Management Overview -- A high level overview of Software Project Management
• Software 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 pieces
• 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

Essentials of Software Engineering

• Introduction to Software Engineering -- Problem solving, using both process and data views of a system
• Requirements Elicitation -- How to get the Right Requirements, and how to construct a solid Software Requirements Specification (SRS)
• Requirements Modeling -- How to get the Requirements Right and Structured Techniques for modeling them
• Object-Oriented Requirements and Analysis Modeling using OO techniques
• Software Design Concepts and Principles for Architecture -- How to prepare a Software Design Document (SDD), incorporating user interface and component designs
• Software Estimation -- How to size (resize) a product, and estimate (re-estimate) its cost and effort

Principles of Software Testing

• Test Planning -- Structured and OO Software Testing Techniques and Strategies
• Test Execution Test Environments and Test Case Design
• Inspection Techniques -- Verification and Validation Techniques
• Software Project Metrics What metrics to collect and how to use them

Management of Software Project Teams

• Team Management & Personalities -- Leverage opposite styles of communication for faster, more comprehensive problem solving
• Negotiation Techniques & Conflict Management -- Determine conflict resolution methods
• Technical Presentation Skills -- Practice the major elements of effective presentations
• Project Reporting & Communicating How to achieve "true" communication
• Leadership and Human Resource Management How to achieve the role of leader on a software project

Software Quality Assurance

• Process Management -- Tailoring software processes
• Foundations and Tools of Software Quality Processes -- Key standards and guidelines for software quality engineering
• Introduction to Risk Management -- The importance of identifying, mitigating and controlling software project risks
• Introduction to Risk Management -- The importance of identifying, mitigating and controlling software project risks
• Configuration Management -- Processes for use throughout the product development life
• Quality Assurance and Cost of Quality -- How to employ SQA and reap the savings

Business Context and Legal Considerations for Software Projects

• Business Context & Project Selection -- Software projects in business, financial and ROI considerations
• Legal Issues in Software -- Patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyright issues for software
• Commercial Contracting in the US -- Learn basic information on contracting with respect to a software project