Cerutti--Web Information Systems (postgrad seminar @ University of Brescia)

University of BresciaDipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione

Knowledge Engineering and Human-Computer Interaction Research Group

© 2010 Federico Cerutti <[email protected]>

A WIS Project:A WIS Project:4 Advices for the CIO4 Advices for the CIO

Federico Cerutti

Slide 2 © 2010 Federico Cerutti <[email protected]>

The context

CIO

Company Supplier

Give me a WIS

SW building Process

Wants to See and

Control

WIS

Delivered

Management

Do we need a WIS?


The CIO main featureCapacity Management

The Process responsible for ensuring that the Capacity of IT Services and the IT Infrastructure is able to deliver agreed Service Level Targets in a Cost Effective and timely manner. Capacity Management considers all Resources required to deliver the IT Service, and plans for short, medium and long term Business Requirements

Purpose: ensure that there is adequate capacity in all areas of IT to match the current and future needs that the IT department agreed upon with the business


Input and Output of Capacity Management


The forecast model:The project with a supplier

Project

Software

WEB


Model the suppliers: the CIO point of view

CIO / Project Costumer

Project Manager

Vision

Company Supplier

Consultants

Functional projectLeader

Functional projectLeader

Task leader Task leader

ProjectInterfaces


Project Life Cycle ProcessBroad generic project phases

Concept Initiation, identification, selection

Definition Feasibility, development, demonstration, design prototype,

quantification

Execution Implementation, realization, production and deployment,

design/construct/commission, installation and test

CloseoutTermination and post-completion evaluation


First advice:Know which are the interfaces

Organization relations among project participants Interactions among project phases Benefits:

Identification of role and responsibility (conflicts management) Definition of the Input and Output of project phases Better programming and scheduling Efficency

Two kinds of interfaces: Product interfaces Project interfaces


Costumer Interfacesfor each project phase

Documents related to the product or results Specifications, drawings, descriptions, test procedures,

flow charts, cost estimates …

Physical product or results Intermediate or final mockups, scale or full size models,

prototypes, tools …

Defining the Decision PointsControl

Documenting Project Life-Cycle Management Process


The forecast model:The software project

Project

Software

WEB


We do not want a project: we want a software project

“The organizational characteristics, the degree of familiarity with the technology to be used, and the competitive demands for initiating the project are just some of the environmental factors that can vary from project to project”

Our product is a software Two kinds of life-cycle models:

PredictiveAdaptive


How to choose (from requirements features)

Wfall Prot RAD IncrB Spiral ASD XP SCRUM

Fixed requirements X

Functional requirements variable

X X X X X

Several components with variable requirements

X X X X X

Lot of HCI requirements X X X

High risk requirements X X

Requirements of High Level Documentation

X X X

Is it so easy?


The forecast model:The Web Application Project

Project

Software

WEB


Multi-domain implies collaborative multi-skills

WISModel

Usecases

Scenariodiagrams

Classescollaborations

Statediagrams

Components

Deploymentdiagrams

Requirements

UI designersAnalysts

Designers

Implementers

ArchitectIntegrators

Management

Stakeholders

Domain experts


Second advice:People management

Web Projects are People Projects Real-world cases analysis suggests:

Having a say in the resource selection process helps to ensure project success

The partner project manager can make or break the projectVisibility into the progress of all team members can help

prevent disaster (interface sharing) Clear process for screening the individuals who will

work on the project and introducing them to the business Help in controlling the project


Third advice:A Web app is more than a SW app

Web apps does not require software engineering capabilities only (multi-skills)

The traditional Project Life-Cycle are not proficientThey do not address explicitly several issues Focus on the software production

Several approaches provided:Batini, Pernici, Santucci (BPS)Conallen Polillo


BPS: the process

PlanningRequirements

Gathering/Analysis

Detailed Analysis

Design

Implementation Deployment


BPS: Quality driven design

Navigability Accessibility Usability Readability Reliability Manageability Compatibility, interoperability Security Efficiency


BPS: Pros/Cons

Pros: Focus on classic software methodology Focus on the quality of the WIS

Cons: Focus on classic software methodology (Third advice: a

Web app is more than a SW app) It does not specify the multi-skills required in WIS It does not consider test and evaluation It does not provide any specific interface


Conallen's Iterative Workflow

Project Management

Requirements Gathering

Analysis

Design

Implementation

Test

Deployment

Evaluation and Change Management


Conallen (1) Project Management

Business case

Project and iteration plans

Iteration evaluation and Quality Assurance

Requirements Gathering Unambiguously express what the proposed system should do

Risks Management

Analysis Examining the requirements

Making a conceptual model of the system to be built

Design To make the analysis model of the system realizable in software


Conallen (2) Implementation Test

Unit, Integration, System, Acceptance, Regression tests

Deployment Deployment planning

Address failover issues, load balancing...

Integration with third-party and off-the-shelf components

Careful planning of network resources

Evaluation / Change Management Management of the changes: introduced and monitored in a controlled way

Each change is a small adjustment

To assess the quality of any section of the project


Conallen: Pros/Cons

Pros:Address the risk earlyUse cases drive the process Sets of use cases that contain the most risk can be

targeted for early developmentTest plans to evaluate each iteration delivery

Rigid project life cycle with clear project/product interfaces mainly with prototypes

Cons:Rigid methodology (hard for the CIO point of view)


Polillo: Project PhasesR

equi

rem

ents

Vis

ual d

esig

n

Web

Man

agem

ent

Ser

ver

Man

agem

ent

Dev

elop

men

t

Con

tent

s

Web

des

ign

Inte

rnet

Man

agem

ent

Analysts Architect UIdesigners

Designers

Implementers

DomainExperts


Polillo: Project Phases Iteration

Design

Prototyping Test Deployment


Polillo: the Road MapR

equi

rem

ent

Gat

heri

ng

Pro

ject

Sta

rts

Web

Des

ign

Vis

ual D

esig

n

Dev

elop

men

t

Con

tent

s

Dep

loym

ent

Req

uire

men

t D

ocum

ent

Qua

lity

Pla

n

Nav

igat

ion

Pro

toty

pe

Com

mun

icat

ion

Pro

toty

pe

Wor

king

Pro

toty

pe

Con

tent

Pro

toty

pe

Onl

ine

Syst

em


Polillo: Pros/Cons

Pros: It is a roadmap, can easily used as an external (CIO point

of view) model of the process It addresses the prototyping problem which can easily

manage the inter-domain communication It is quality driven It evidences each phase's project/product interfaces

Cons:Too easy?


Fourth advice: Effective Web Prototypes Have Clear Benefits

Prototypes help organizations communicate Facilitate internal discussionsExplain products

Prototypes are key to user-centered designValidate product concepts Iterate on designs and decide between alternatives Find usability problems

Done right, prototypes save time and moneyQuickly, sometimes in a matter of minutesCheaply, before you pay the developers


Prototypes Beware: improper use creates problems

Use one type of prototype to serve all purpose Expose some aspects of the prototype at the wrong

time Don't set accurate expectations Spend too long making things perfect Project teams don't understand prototype fidelity

A prototype can have both high and low fidelity Prototyping tools don't dictate fidelity


Summary

First advice Project Management by Interfaces

Second adviceWIS Projects are People Projects

Third adviceWeb App is more than a SW App

Fourth advice Prototypes (if used rightly) have clear benefits


References[1] R. D. Archibald, Project Management[2] P. Schgör, R. Brambilla, F. Amarilli, Professione Informatica vol I, Pianificazione, uso e gestione dei sistemi informativi[3] C. Batini, B. Pernici, G. Santucci, Sistemi Informativi vol VI, Sistemi Informativi basati sul Web[4] R. Polillo, Plasmare il Web, Road map per siti di qualità[5] J. Conhallen, Building Web Applications with UML[6] T. Sheedy, People Management Is Fundamental To The Success Of Large Systems Integration Projects (Forrester, 12/06/2008)

[7] K. Bodine, A Web Prototyping Primer (Forrester Best Practice 02/06/2006)

[8] E. Hubbert, Role Overview: Capacity Manager (Forrester, 01/12/2008)

[9] M. Minevich, The CTO Handbook: Chief Technology Officer/Chief Information Officer Manual[10] J. Hallows, Information Systems Project Management: How to Deliver Function and Value in Information Technology Projects