UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS

MAY 2014

PROGRAMME MSc Software Engineering Projects and Management

MODULE NAME Software Project Management

DATE Monday MODULE CODE CSE 6209

26 May 2014

TIME 09:30 – 12:30 Hrs DURATION 3 hours

NO. OF 4 NO. OF QUESTIONS 3

QUESTIONS SET TO BE ATTEMPTED

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

1. This question paper consists of Section A and Section B.

2. Section A is compulsory.

3. Answer any two questions from Section B.

 SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT – CSE 6209

SECTION A [Compulsory]

Question 1 [Total 40 Marks]

CASE STUDY

Agile project management (PM) has changed the way Vishal’s current 40 -strong project
team (onshore and offshore) report to him. While they are based in Mumbai, India, Vishal
works in Bedfordshire, UK. Using an agile approach has improved the way Mastek
develops educational software products for one of its key UK clients. It is Mastek’s job to
increase IT value generation to its clients through onsite and offshore deliveries.

“Off-shoring represents huge opportunities for agile working,” Vishal says. “Agile PM
helps deliver projects on time and to quality. In any offshore organization people need to
work in an agile way otherwise products tend to be delivered that are not what the
customer wanted.”

Traditional Projects vs Agile Projects

On a traditional project, Project Managers may be actively involved in directing work and
telling their team what needs to be done – a style often referred to as command and
control. Agile PM is different. In the early stages, the agile PM creates a high level plan,
based on outline requirements, and a high level view of the solution to be created. From
that point onwards the end project is created iteratively and incrementally, with each
increment building on the output of increments preceding it. Unlike a traditional project,
the detailed plans for each step are created by the team members themselves and not the
Project Manager. Vishal says, “The principles of agile working are essentially based on
communication and transparency. Instead of waiting for something to be delivered, and
not really knowing what the end result is going to be, there are checkpoints to track
progress.”

Another important benefit agile working has brought Mastek is to help keep costs under
control. Without it, the cost of quality increases. “It’s much harder to correct mistakes
when a product is nearing its final phase of development,” Vishal says. “It’s much better
to develop it as you go along. I think agile project management would help any software
developer.”

Agile PM comprises established and proven components that provide a holistic approach
to the management and governance of projects. It has an overarching philosophy and
guiding principles, together with a lifecycle (or process) and a set of deliverables to be
created and maintained as the project progresses from a controlled start through to
completion. It provides clearly defined roles with specific responsibilities designed to
bring together all the stakeholders involved in the project.

…/Cont’d next page

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 SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT – CSE 6209

Question 1 [Cont’d]

It can work alongside more formalized Project Management approaches such as

PRINCE2® – and it can be applied to projects regardless of scale or discipline. It can be
dovetailed into formalized quality processes such as ISO9001 and CMMI – and shows
project Sponsors that they can adopt agile PM with confidence, while providing focus to
the entire project team.

Vishal explains, “For those using PRINCE2, the mandate requires precise details about the
project. However, although PRINCE2 Project Managers complete their reports, that alone
doesn’t give them a real insight into the health of their project. While agile takes care of
the PRINCE2 mandate it does not require all documentation and requirements to be
ready. It allows estimates at a high level. It’s difficult for people to change their mind-set
but agile just makes so much sense. When you understand it you just think “Why didn’t
we do it this way before?”

Agile Empowers Teams

Within each stage of the agile project, the team collaborates closely with a representative
of the business or customer so they understand the detail of the next step and can create
an evolving solution. This has facilitated and improved Mastek’s customer relationships.
“Our customers can reap the benefits of developing smaller chunks of the product. Before
the software goes into production the business can decide if they want to continue on the
same path or make alterations.” Trust is also built into the team, and staff are encouraged
to work through and overcome difficulties.

“It’s a real team effort but you need both parties to have complete confidence and trust in
each other. Before we adopted agile working, Mastek’s clients were not in touch with how
the team in Mumbai were doing; they did not understand the pressures they were under,
how they worked, who they were or how the software development process evolved
using the CMMI processes. Now we are using agile, there is much more interaction and
an understanding on both sides. We both accept the challenges and pressures and we are
able to help each other achieve the best possible outcomes.”

Training at Mastek

Vishal is an Computer Science engineering degree graduate from Mumbai. He joined

Mastek in 2002 and has run a number of successful major projects since then. In 2008 he
became the Engagement Manager for one of Mastek’s key UK accounts and is responsible
for on-offshore service operations. He manages the complete range of services – project
management, software deliverables, people capabilities, processes, infrastructure and
resources. Vishal was invited to take part in training for Agile PM, a new qualification
from APMG and DSDM.

…/Cont’d next page

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 SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT – CSE 6209

Question 1 [Cont’d]

The training was delivered by Barbara Roberts, Senior Consultant, RADTAC. Barbara
says, “Mastek is a highly professional organization employing a large number of staff who
in turn work on hundreds of projects. It is inspiring to meet delegates who embrace a
mature agile approach. It was a pleasure to train Vishal and I was pleased that he scored
very high marks in his Agile Project Management Practitioner examination.”

Agile – it’s about collaboration

Vishal is convinced that this way of working would help not only software developers but
any international organizations. Essentially, Vishal believes that Agile PM makes life
better for software development teams and their clients. “It just makes sense to work
together to develop something that will make our customers happy,” he says.

Source: APMG International: Agile Project Management

(a) State the advantages Mastek have benefited when applying the Agile Project
Management approach, as opposed to the traditional approach.
[5 x 2 Marks]

(b) In what ways scaling and staging have been applied in Mastek’s Agile Project
Management?
[2 x 4 Marks]

(c) Describe how Agile may work alongside the key features of PRINCE2.

[5 x 2 Marks]

(d) According to you, justify how a democratic team structure would be more suitable
when harnessing an agile project management.
[4 x 3 Marks]

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 SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT – CSE 6209

SECTION B
Answer Any Two (2) questions

Question 2 [Total 30 Marks]

(a) How can testing help to manage risks on a software project? Support your answer
with appropriate example.
[12 Marks]

(b) For the past decade, software development teams have fostered the use of
versioning as means to improve software potentials. Describe the two models
presently used for version control.
[2 x 3 Marks]

(c) Assuming that you have been assigned the task of managing the development of
Time and Attendance software for a large firm.

(i) Discuss on the elements that should be taken into consideration for a sound
estimate of the project.
[4 x 2 Marks]

(ii) Following results gathered from different estimation techniques, it was

found that you are having widely divergent estimates. What are the possible
factors leading to such divergence?
[2 x 2 Marks]

Question 3 [Total 30 Marks]

(a) Why is it inappropriate to abuse buffers in scheduling projects? Explain its

implications using adequate examples.
[12 Marks]

(b) Assume that a software development team does NOT report to Project Manager
(PM), but PM is responsible for hitting milestone dates and not exceeding budget.
Sometimes, developers have to do work for other PM’s, so less than 100% of their
time is available.

(i) As the PM, how can you motivate the developers to produce the results you
need (quality work, done on time and within budget)?
[10 Marks]

(ii) If there are no negative consequences for developers being late or doing
inferior work, how can you get the best possible work out of them?
[8 Marks]

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 SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT – CSE 6209

Question 4 [Total 30 Marks]

(a) Suppose you have a $1 Million software development project under your belt.
Following your coding stage, the client refused to go forward. Compare the types
of cost reimbursement methods that may be applied on such contract and suggest
which method will be most appropriate.

[10 Marks]

(b) Software projects involve several risks namely:

1. Requirements are not properly stated

2. Low estimation of time and cost
3. More stress of users than expected
4. Delivery deadline tightened or manager change circumstances
5. Technology does not meet expectations

Suggest appropriate strategies that may be used in order to either avoid, mitigate,
accept or transfer each of the above risks.
[5 x 3 Marks]

(c) What are the five benefits that a software development company may gain when
harnessing the CMM approach?
[5 x 1 Mark]

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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