Reference no: EM13334606

(a) Discuss the reasons why software is often delivered late.

(b) You are working on a project anticipated as lasting around 12 months. Team members include analysts, programmers and other specialists (database, HCI, telecommunications). Your organisation has decided to make the senior programmer the project manager. What are the arguments for and against this course of action?

(c) Cost and schedule estimates are often developed during software project planning before the software requirements analysis or design have taken place.

(i) Why do you think this is done?

(ii) Are there any circumstances in which it should not be done? Illustrate your answer with suitable examples.
 
(d) The firm for which you work is developing software for a client. The cost of the software will be based on a fixed price per function point (for example 1500 function points at $1250 per function point for a total cost of $1,875,000). What are the advantages and disadvantages of basing the cost of projects on function points?

(e) In order to test an application that is being developed, a software component (a test bed) is being written. There is a 40% probability that the software component will be available a month late. Losses include unproductive testers for two weeks, overtime later in the project, morale problems, and delays in finding defects for a total estimated loss of $100,000. In addition to the dollar loss, the testing is on the critical path and not all of the lost testing time can be made up in overtime (loss estimated at three week schedule slippage).

(i) What is the Risk Exposure?

(ii) Given that the expected profit on this project is $80,000, describe your risk mitigation, monitoring and management strategy.

2. 5e) What is the difference between scope and a project plan? What basic questions must a scope statement answer?

f) What is the Cone of Uncertainty and what does it say about a project? Draw a diagram and explain it.

g) What questions does a project plan answer?

h) Describe the components of a risk management plan.