Project Management
Alphasoft has its state-of-the-art software development centers in Chicago, IL.
Our facility incorporates world-class technology infrastructure with a focus on reliability, security and scalability. Alphasoft Systems has a comprehensive physical security setup that ensures all project documents, data and services are secure and protected at all times.
Effective project management is key to a successful implementation that is on-time and within budget. We begin with a well-defined project scope that doesn't overlook key deliverables. Alphasoft Systems Inc project managers maintain close operating contact with our clients and project team members. Utilizing proven methodologies and project management software like Microsoft Project;
we can manage all aspects of your project as well as coordinate all vendors that are involved. Project status meetings and quality control reviews are held on a regular basis to ensure project continuity and to minimize risks. We provide the simplicity and stability of a single point of contact for an entire project. Our objective is for our clients to enjoy a hassle-free implementation.
Project Management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. A project is a finite endeavor (having specific start and completion dates) undertaken to create a unique product or service which brings about beneficial change or added value. This finite characteristic of projects stands in sharp contrast to processes, or operations, which are permanent or semi-permanent functional work to repetitively produce the same product or service. In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management philosophy, which is the subject of this article.
Project management is quite often the province and responsibility of an individual project manager. This individual seldom participates directly in the activities that produce the end result, but rather strives to maintain the progress and productive mutual interaction of various parties in such a way that overall risk of failure is reduced.
A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality, and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.
In whatever field, a successful project manager must be able to envision the entire project from start to finish and to have the ability to ensure that this vision is realized.
Also furthering the concept of project control is the incorporation of process-based management. This area has been driven by the use of Maturity models such as the CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) and ISO/IEC15504 (SPICE - Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination), which have been far more successful.
Agile project management approaches based on the principles of human interaction management are founded on a process view of human collaboration. This contrasts sharply with traditional approach. In the agile software development or flexible product development approach, the project is seen as a series of relatively small tasks conceived and executed as the situation demands in an adaptive manner, rather than as a completely pre-planned process.
Capability Maturity Model ( CMM )
What is CMM?
A Capability Maturity Model defines the characteristics of a mature, capable process. It identifies the practices that are basic to implementing effective processes and addresses advanced practices. It also assigns to those practices associated maturity levels ranging from unrepeatable to mature. Typically a path through the various practices is recommended for achieving higher levels of maturity and improving an organization's processes. The implementation of CMM helps an organization in achieving improved quality of the products, processes and systems, improvement in productivity, and reduced cycle time for projects. The software community has developed the SW-CMM with leadership from the Safety Equipment Institute (SEI). The SEI Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW-CMM) describes a framework that organizations can use to determine their ability to develop and maintain software; it is a model for organizational improvement. The SW-CMM is based on the process management work of W. Edwards Deming, Joseph M. Juran, and Phillip B. Crosby, and can be applied by organizations to improve their software process through a software process assessment. The SW-CMM also can be applied by acquisition organizations to select qualified software vendors via contractor evaluations. CMM directs software organizations to gain control of their development and maintenance software processes while simultaneously evolving toward software engineering and management excellence. It was designed to guide software organizations in selecting process improvement strategies with current process maturity in mind, and identify the few issues most critical to software quality and process improvement.
The SW-CMM, SE-CMM, and IPD-CMM provide the basis for the initial CMM Integration SM (CMMISM) product suite. The direction is to integrate the development characteristics and delivery methods of these and future capability models (CMs), which will enable users to reduce the cost of performing assessments and implementing improvements. The initial CMM Integration Product Suite includes a framework for generating CMMISM products to meet business objectives/mission needs, and a set of CMMI products produced by the framework. The framework includes the common elements and best features of the current models, as well as rules and methods for generating the CMMI products. Discipline-specific elements (e.g., software, systems engineering) of the CMMI Product Suite will provide the user with the ability to select elements applicable to specific situations
CMM is organized into five maturity levels:
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Level 1-level 2 Disciplined process
Initial - the software process is characterized as ad hoc, and occasionally even chaotic. Few processes are defined, and success depends on individual effort and heroics.
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Level 2- level 3- Standardized and consistent process
Repeatable - basic project management processes are established to track cost, schedule, and functionality. The necessary process discipline is in place to repeat earlier successes on projects with similar applications.
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Level 3-level 4 Predictable process
Defined - both management and engineering activities are documented, standardized, and integrated into a standard software process for the organization. All projects use an approved, tailored version of the organization's standard software process for developing and maintaining software.
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Level 4 -level 5 Continuously improving process
Managed - detailed measures of the software process and product quality are collected. Both the software process and products are quantitatively understood and controlled.
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Optimizing - Continuous process improvement is enabled by quantitative feedback from the process and from piloting innovative ideas and technologies. Predictability, effectiveness, and control of an organization's software processes generally improve as the organization moves through these five levels. While not rigorous, the empirical evidence to date supports this belief.
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