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ANALYSIS OF PM TOOLS BASED ON

SDLC MODEL
First A. Mahfooz Rauf, Second B. Sarfaraz Solangi, and Third C. Haider Ali

Abstract- In the era of IT globalization, project paper is to prove the substantive gains in adapting a PM
management as a management discipline underpins much tool, with a number of precise features, concerning the
economic activity. In industries as diverse as choice of an SDLC model. This research paper covers all
pharmaceuticals, software and aerospace, projects drive these vistas and intents towards providing good resolutions
business. A project is a temporary endeavor, having a
defined beginning and end, undertaken to meet particular
goals, to bring some value added services. It includes
developing a project plan, defining and confirming the
project goals, identifying tasks, quantifying the resources
needed, and determining budgets and timelines for
completion. All these umbrella activities are catered in a
Software Development Life Cycle Model that describes the
stages involved in the development of a project. The
selection of SDLC model can vary depending on the nature
and requirements of the Project. On the other hand PM
tools are used in every project at each level to sort out tasks
and track project status, allocate responsibilities to
resources, plan and track project costs and resources. [1]

This paper examines previous empirical studies on Project


Management tools, and the criteria and factors most
frequently adopted. It also presents an evaluation of
different PM tools under the illumination of different
SDLC models selection, to aid in understanding the
differences among the models and studying the pros and in this heed.
cons of the diverse PM tools and techniques, thus resulting
in a superior preference of the PM tools. [1] This paper is constrained to the study of the following
SDLC models and PM tools.
Keywords: SDLC Models, PM tools
Models PM Tools
I. INTRODUCTION Waterfall Model. MS Project 2007.
Agile Development. OnTime AxoSoft 2009.
Project management is a well-established discipline RAD Model. SourceGear Fortress.
defining in substantial aspect, the techniques that are
required to define, plan and execute any project with the
The generic criterion concerning the necessities and
help of SDLC model. The organization-wide adherence to
attributes of each SDLC model and traits of the PM tools
the tool recommendations will develop data sharing
explained later can assist in selection of other tools in the
potential and enable quick accessibility. More over the
vary SDLC models.
choice of PM tools based on selected SDLC model will
help incorporate the model’s characteristics, demands and
II. SDLC MODEL
restraints into the PM tool, thus serving to spend less time
in worries of the model itself and more time in developing As in any other engineering discipline, software
the project. [2], [3] engineering also has some structured models for software
development referred as SDLC models. SDLC or the
Usually the investment in IT projects is mellow and their Software Development Life Cycle refers to the steps
resultant is frequently dubious. The object of this research involved in creating software from scratch. During earlier
days, software used to be scarce and its creation was Analyzing these requirements results in a list of
comparatively easier as developers could create any functionality that the system should provide, business logic
programs they want and experience no competition but in that processes data and how the user interface should
present time, any software released to the public can easily work. The overall result is the system as a whole and how
be compared to another. [3] it performs. A part of requirement analysis is Feasibility
study too that provides a high-level view of the intended
The SDLC or Software Development Life Cycle in project and determine the goals of the project. The
software engineering is the process of creating or altering feasibility study is sometimes used to present the project to
systems, and the models and methodologies that people use upper management in an attempt to gain funding. It also
to develop these systems. The model generally describes includes the personnel assignments, costs, project schedule,
phases of the software cycle and the order in which those target dates etc. [3], [4], [6], [7], [8]
phases are executed. It is a set of logical processes used to
develop software. [5] DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

There are tons of models but all have very similar patterns. The software design is produced from the results of the
The general, basic model is shown below: requirements phase. Architects have the ball in their court
during this phase. The software's overall structure and its
nuances are defined. In terms of the client/server
technology, the number of tiers needed for the package
architecture, the database design, the data structure design
etc are all defined in this phase. The logical system of the
product is developed in this phase. The development phase
involves converting design specifications into executable
programs.. For a developer, this is the main focus of the
life cycle because this is where the code is produced.
Development may overlap with both the design and testing
phases. [3], [4], [6], [7], [8]

Testing

During testing, the implementation is tested against the


requirements to make sure that the product is actually
solving the needs addressed and gathered during the
requirements phase. [3]
General Life Cycle Model
Implementation and Maintenance
These phases generally follow the same basic steps but
many different methodologies give the steps different The implementation phase involves installing approved
names and the number of steps seems to vary between 4 applications into production environments. Primary tasks
and 7. There is no definitively correct Systems include announcing the implementation schedule, training
Development Life Cycle model, but the steps can be end users, and installing the product. Additionally,
characterized and divided in several steps. Each phase organizations should conduct post-implementation reviews
produces deliverables required by the next phase in the life resulting in changes. There can be many reasons for such
cycle. Requirements are translated into design. Code is changes like change in input values into the system. Thus
produced during implementation that is driven by the the software must be developed in a way to best
design. Testing verifies the deliverable of the accommodate the changes. [3], [4], [6], [7], [8]
implementation phase against requirements.
A. Waterfall Model
REQUIREMENTS (ANALYSIS AND PLANNING)
Few people in the modern computing world would use a
Business requirements are gathered in this phase. Meetings strict waterfall model for their Systems Development Life
among managers, stake holders and users are held in order Cycle (SDLC) as many modern methodologies have
to determine the requirements. How will the users use the superseded this thinking. Some will argue that the
system and what data should be input into the system and Waterfall no longer applies to models like Agile
what will be the output? These are general questions that computing, but it is still a term widely in use in Technology
get answered during a requirements gathering phase.
circles. This methodology has advantages in traditional tasks into small increments with minimal planning, not
models of software development that lends itself more to a directly involving long-term planning. Iterations are short
structured environment. The disadvantages of using this time frames that typically last from one to four weeks and
SDLC methodology are when there is need for iterative all the iterations involves a team working through a full
development (i.e. web development or e-commerce). The software development cycle including Planning, Analysis,
waterfall model is a sequential software development Design, Development and Testing (Unit Testing and
process, in which progress is seen as flowing steadily Acceptance Testing). This helps minimize overall risk, and
downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of lets the project adapt to changes quickly. The agile method
Planning, Analysis, Design, Development, Testing, encourages stakeholders to prioritize wants with other
Implementation and Maintenance. The Picture below iteration outcomes based exclusively on business value
depicts Water Fall Model. [3] perceived at the beginning of the iteration. [3]

Characteristics of Projects that fall under Waterfall


Model

We can use Waterfall Model to assist in the engineering of Characteristics of Projects that fall under Agile Model
a project whose scope is well defined, i.e. the requirements
We can use agile development methodologies for projects
are well known which allow setting a schedule with
that are developed in iterative and modular approach, agile
deadlines for each stage of the SDLC. In such
development allows incorporating the high priority features
circumstances PERT (Program Evaluation and Review
as a sprint. Such approach also allows adaptation to
Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method) are very
changes and requires collaborative efforts. The project is
helpful. Also the project should be such that it can be
developed in incremental phases, i.e. the entire system is
decomposed to the lowest level possible in terms of
not built at once instead parts of the system are developed
Activities and Tasks, thus making it possible to move
in single time. This way all such parts or features can be
through the phases of the SDLC in a strict order. The
managed and incorporated into a sprint on need basis.
project should allow the distribution of resources in the
Moreover the sprints become the perfect unit for planning
foundation phase with minimal chances that this
the project and we can set limit of each sprint and schedule
distribution will ever change again. This distribution can be
the activities of the sprint respectively. Projects that are
in terms of individuals or teams. Moreover the cost of the
time constrained can be tracked easily with the help of
overall project should be well clear without any ambiguities
daily scrum and observing the spring progress in terms of
at the beginning and this cost should not be altered much
sprint Burndown which is a timeline showing the sprint
during the project life cycle, i.e. there should be a least
actual progress against the estimated or likely progress.
chance that the allocated budget of the project will overrun.
Projects that include communication among different teams
[12]
or communication with remote teams can result in rapid
B. Agile Model changes that can be managed in Agile Model. [9]

Agile development refers to software development C. RAD Model


methodologies based on iterative development, where
Rapid Application Development refers to a type of software
requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration
development methodology that uses minimal planning in
between self-organizing cross-functional teams. It generally
favor of rapid prototyping. The "planning" of software
promote a disciplined project management process that
developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the
encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, a set of
software itself. The lack of extensive pre-planning
engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of
generally allows software to be written much faster, and
high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns
makes it easier to change requirements. It involves
development with customer needs. Agile methods break
techniques like iterative development and software B. ONTIME AXOSOFT 2009
prototyping. According to Whitten (2004), it is a merger of
various structured techniques, especially data-driven OnTime provides a Project Wiki that facilitates
Information Engineering, with prototyping techniques to communication among remote teams it also provides a
accelerate software systems development. Bug/Defect Tracking System that incorporates the sprint
changes as part of the Sprint. It helps in
RAD approaches may entail compromises in functionality Feature/Requirements Management by allowing
and performance in exchange for enabling faster maintaining a Project Backlog. Items from the Project
development and facilitating application maintenance. Backlog can be moved into a Sprint on need basis. It also
Given below is a pictorial representation of RAD Model. [3], provides Sprints & Release Planning allowing further
[12] decomposing the activities of an sprint into smaller chunks
of work or tasks that can be assigned to individuals or team
members. It also provides Scrum/Agile Project
Management and Burndown, Workload & Treemap Charts
to track the sprint and the overall project progress. It helps
to automate the Workflow and it also helps in Desk
Incident Tracking. Besides it provides other forms of
Project Visibility in terms of customized reports as an add
on feature. [11]

C. SourceGear Fortress

Characteristics of Projects that fall under RAD Model Fortress provides all the version control features of our
Rapid Application Development is not appropriate for all renowned Vault tool - fast, secure remote performance;
projects. The methodology works best for projects that are
excellent concurrent development support; automated
(GUI) graphical user interface applications, where the
scope is small and work can be broken down into branching and merging; and 100% SourceSafe imports. But
manageable chunks. Along these lines project teams must by seamlessly integrating version control with bug tracking,
also be small, the project itself does not require too much of Fortress takes things several steps farther, yet still keeps
documentation. Also it must be suitable to develop the things simple. Fortress’s Line History function allows you
project in an iterative approach, which leads to multiple to zero in on any section of your code and see all the
versions of the software being produced. changes that have affected it over time. Changes to the rest
In order to achieve the above mentioned goals, RAD can be
of the file are ignored -- it’s as though each function had its
assisted with a project management tool that provides a
repository to maintain the versions of software, and own version control repository. Once you’ve found the
because of the iterative and prototyping approach, there history you’re looking for, Fortress can take you straight to
may arise a large number of defects and changes for which the bug report that triggered that change. All without ever
there is a definite need of a defect reporting tool. leaving your IDE. And it also offers the more-standard
History and Blame. Querying a large bug database can be
III Selecting Project Management Tools
frustrating. Fortress’s Clouds let you narrow a search one
A. MS Project 2007 factor at a time, quickly pulling out just the status, assignee,
milestone, etc. you’re looking for -- and never fill out a
MS Project helps you efficiently plan schedules, allocate
form along the way. [13]
resources, manage budgets, and set realistic expectations so
that the organization can achieve its long-term goals. It
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
enables you to track project performance and the progress
during the entire duration of the project for a quick With all the characteristics of the models and project
understanding of the project management process. It management tools discussed above, we can come to the
provides visibility in work transactions, timesheets, and conclusion that in order to choose the right project
resource capabilities. You can build resource plans to co- management tool for a particular software development life
ordinate the recruiting and outsourcing strategies with long- cycle, on must choose a tool that maps the characteristics of
term business objectives. It enables you to assign resources the project and the development life cycle. Such choice
to tasks and manage conflicts over allocated assignments would lead to a PM tool that would assist in more phases of
easily. You can allocate work to the entire team collectively the life cycle than any other tool. This would yield in the
instead of assigning work to individual resources. Team objectives of the company achieved. Based on the similar
members can accept their individual assignments and analysis for the models and the tools discussed in this
indicate the time taken against the allocated assignment. [10] paper, it is recommended that MS Project 2007 is used to
manage a Project under Waterfall Model and ONTIME
AXOSOFT 2009 is used to manage a Project under Agile
Model and SourceGear Fortress is used to manage a Project
under RAD Model.

The model presented in the paper shows advanced tools for


project selection based on influences that govern the project
selection process. A hierarchical approach is adopted to use
the model to derive the expected results for project
selection process and decision making under uncertain
conditions

V. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This Research Paper is supported by Project Management


Tools, Project Management. The authors acknowledge the
teacher and student of IQRA University, Karachi.

VI. REFERENCES

www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-importance-of-project
[1]
management.html

[2] www.pmforum.org/viewpoints/2007/PDFs/Naughton-8-07.pdf

[3] en.wikipedia.org

[4] www.sereferences.com/white-papers.php

[5] toostep.com/trends/types-of-sdlc-models

[6] www.allinterview.com/viewpost/29138.html

[7] www.answers.com/topic/systems-development-life-cycle

[8]
pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~ayala/SENG/seng611/Assignment
s/LifeCycle.htm

[9] c2.com/cgi/wiki?EssentialAgileCharacteristics

[10]www.projectsmart.co.uk/features-of-microsoft-project-
2007.html

[11] www.axosoft.com/ontime

[12] www2.giac.org/resources/whitepaper/application/217.php

[13] www.sourcegear.com/fortress/literature/SG_Fortress_WP.pdf

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