Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN AUTOMATED PROJECT OFFICE AND
AUTOMATIC RISK ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING
Reference to Related Applications
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No.
60/640,104, filed December 30, 2004, whose disclosure is hereby incorporated
by reference
in its entirety into the present disclosure.
[0002] Related disclosure is found in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
60/618,231,
filed October 14, 2004, and in U.S. Patent Application No. 11/249,744, filed
October 14,
2005, whose disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties into the
present disclosure.
Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention is directed to a system and method for automation
of project
risk identification and in particular to such a system and method in which
various qualitative
and quantitative measures are combined to report a project's risk level,
areas, and mitigation
in an automatic and objective manner.
Description of Related Art
[0004] In "Project Management Essentials" from MetaGroup, a statistical survey
was
conducted for 23,000 application development projects. The following results
were
projected:
[0005] 26% succeeded: Project delivered on time and on budget to the
client/customer.
[0006] 46% challenged: Project completed over budget or past deadline.
[0007] 28% failed: Project never completed.
[0008] The researchers found that the core issues with project success were
mostly related to
poor project management discipline. The root cause, or underlying problem,
often is
attributable to poor project estimating techniques, ineffective project team
stiucture (team
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risks), a lack of client (end-user) participation, unmanaged scope changes,
and taking on
large-scale project risks without any contingencies.
[0009] Project management software was brought along to address these
problems, but often
fails to do so effectively.
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Summary of the Invention
[0010] It is therefore an object of the invention to overcome the above-noted
deficiencies of
the prior art. To that end, the present invention is directed to a system and
method that, in
various embodiments, can include the following functionalities.
[0011] Risk Assesssnent and Reporting
[0012] The Risk Assessfnent and Report Ff=anaework combines various project
performance
measurements as well as a comprehensive set of multifaceted questions to be
processed by a
risk engine to assess a project's level or risk, and the areas wllere risk
exists. In addition to
identifying risks, advice on mitigation of the identified risks, as well as
tracking of mitigation
actions is performed to enhance the system's ability to assess and provide
future risk advice.
[0013] The framework collects data, either through Application Program
Interfaces (APIs),
or via direct data entry, on project performance measured by base Earned Value
Analysis
(EVA) data, quality data on defect rates, customer satisfaction ratings,
manpower utilization,
milestone progress. The risk engine uses the inputs to evaluate the
performance against
warning thresholds and limits to identify and report trouble. In the case of
EVA, a set of
performance indicators are calculated from the main performance input to
determine schedule
and cost performance, as well as the level of risk and recoverability of the
schedule and cost.
[0014] In addition to the performance metrics and thresholds, the risk engin.e
uses data from
question sets that survey various aspects of the projects activities to assess
risk in various
areas. Each question set and possible answers are categorized, scored, and
weiglited in such a
way as to identify potential risk areas, and these risks are then reported via
a dashboard to the
user.
[0015] Questions sets are foimed from a large question pool that contains all
possible
questions, risk categories, answers, and scores. New question sets are built
by selecting
questions from the pool and storing the question set into a question set
library. The risk
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identification is broken down into several levels of classification and
increasing detail
according to a risk structure of risk categories, that each category contains
risk areas, and that
each risk area contains risk attributes. Each question in the question pool is
assigned to a
particular risk attribute; thus, when incorporated into a question set, it
becomes part of the
risk engine's risk calculation.
[0016] The question sets are customizable and are assigned according to
various
classifications for a project. Classifications for the project include a
portfolio and a project
type. Projects are broken down into one or more portfolios or collections
which have some
cominon characteristic or interest (for example, a business unit or line of
business, or a
particular technology, etc.). Each portfolio has one or more question sets
assigned to it that
are used for assessment the elements of risk via the risk engine for all
projects belonging to
that portfolio. In addition to the portfolio assigned question sets, there are
project type
questions sets. Each project has a type classification assigned to it, and
that type
automatically incorporates risk question set appropriate for the particular
project type. In
addition to these two question set associations, each project can add any
additional or
supplemental question sets as needed to expand the risk assessment coverage.
[0017] In addition to the portfolio, project type, and supplemental question
sets, the f-isk
engine provides for a role association for the question sets at each of those
levels. The roles
allow users with different roles/responsibilities to provide input to the risk
engine and have
those perspectives combined into an overall risk assessment, and to identify
differences in
views for establishing consensus within a project. The roles can include (but
are in no way
limited to) a Project Manager, a Quality Engineer, or a Project Sponsor.
[0018] The risk engine provides a facility for periodically "running" or
stepping through the
question sets for each project. The risk engine assembles the question sets,
eliminates any
duplication or overlap between question sets (as different question sets can
share any number
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of questions from the larger question pool), and present a user with an
orderly, unique,
questionnaire. Users are required to periodically go through the question sets
to update the
risk assessments and to provide risk trend analysis. Each user that has a
particular role for a
project creates an answer session for the questionnaire, and is presented with
all questions
appropriate for the role, portfolio, project type, and supplemental questions.
Once all
questions have be satisfactorily answered, the answers are submitted and the
risk engine
coinputes and updates the risk assessment for the project.
[0019] The risk engine combines the risk assessment scores, and metric scores
from the
EVA, quality, customer satisfaction, manpower, and progress, and reports those
on a project
or portfolio dashboard using a "stop light" kind of indicator (green,
yellow/amber, red), to
indicate an overall level of risk. The overall risks can be "drilled" down on
via a web browser
based interface to display increasing levels of detail of the risk status.
This drill down
continues to the level of the questions and answers or metrics that are
driving the overall
status. Where risks have been identified by the risk engine, mitigation advice
is made
available to the user to identify actions to take that are appropriate to
mitigate each risk.
[0020] Along with the mitigation advice is a mechanism for recording and
tracking the
mitigation actions taken and the results of those actions for automatic
incorporation into the
mitigation advice to provide heuristics to the mitigation component of the f
isk engine,
providing all projects witll improved mitigation advice as the risk engine
continues to collect
data.
[0021] Portfolio Analysis
[0022] The Automated Project Office (APO) integrates a Portfolio Analysis
function that
allows an organization to track its projects according to a high-level
classification system that
allows for understanding a particular project footprint or balance of efforts
relative to an
overall goal. In particular, the preferred embodiment incorporates the MIT
Model of portfolio
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classification, and uses it to perform a (classification) balance analysis,
although those skilled
in the art who have reviewed the present disclosure will appreciate that other
models can be
used instead of or in addition to the MIT model. For example, the MIT Model
classifies
projects as Infrastructure, Transactional, Informational, or Strategic, and
uses the relative
distributions of projects to those classifications to determine a position or
balance for Cost
Focused portfolio, Agility portfolio, or Balanced Cost and Agility portfolio.
Through the
APO, and organizations portfolio (of projects) can be tracked and measured
according to the
target position desired.
[0023] In addition to the MIT Model for portfolio classification, a user can
create new models
with any classifications desired, and use them in the same way as the MIT
Model. A project
can be assigned as many portfolio/portfolio classifications as desired, and
have all tracked
and reported via a common dashboard via a web browser.
[0024] Project Plan Validator
[0025] The APO integrates a Project Plan Validator facility using project
heuristics to
measure proposed project plan efforts by phase against known plan performance
statistics for
general project phases to determine if the plan contains the right work
breakdown and effort
distribution. Using the validator, a project manager can quickly see if too
much or too little
time has been allocated to critical phases of the project, and make
adjustments before the plan
is baselined and commitments are made for delivery dates. The validator uses
statistics from
completed projects to set the distribution of effort for a particular kind of
project and can then
be given, for example, a single number covering a single element from a plan,
and determine
the efforts by phase and total effort necessary for the project to be
completed.
[0026] Integrated Project ltlasaagenzeiat Office Toolkit atzd Process Asset
Librafy
[0027] The APO integrates a Project Management Office (PMO) Toolkit and
Process Asset
Library (PAL). The toollcit provides essential documents and templates that
correspond to
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PMO best practices, and additionally is coupled with the risk engine's
mitigation advise to
ensure the tools for risk mitigation are given additional visibility and
tracking in the APO.
The integrated PAL allows documents and tools used by other APO projects to be
shared and
their usage automatically tracked by the APO to provide powerful means of
identifying
organizational best practices and tools. The tracking allows for locating high
value, high
usage items, and pruning of low value, unused items at appropriate time.
[0028] Iaztegrated Skills Tracking, Locatitzg, and Availability
[0029] The Skills Engine of the APO provides a facility for tracking an
organization's, or
sub-unit's of the organization's people resources. The Skills Engine provides
first, and
"inventory" of all skills within the organization or sub-organization using
the APO. Beyond
the skills inventory, the engine provides tracking of the resources and skills
assigned to
projects and with a view toward when the resources and associated skills will
be available for
further allocation as well as aiding in reallocation of skills and resources
to other projects.
The Skills Engine provides for a skills search facility to locate resources
with the skills
needed for a project. In addition to the location of resources with needed
skills, the engine
allows for those resources to have a "claim" placed on them. The claim
facility can either be
hard or soft. A hard claim can be made for resources being placed on a project
that has been
contracted and has a start assigned. A soft claim is made for resources for a
project that is not
formally committed to, but allows for identification of intent to utilize
particular resources in
the future. This capability of the engine gives managers and project managers
a facility to
identify what resources are to be used, and to act early on allocation of
resources, resolution
of resource conflicts, and identification of new resources with particular
skill that need to be
obtained.
[0030] The skills engine also provides a tracking of overall availability of
the resources and
skills in the organization with notifications and warnings for resources wlio
are under
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allocated (relative to their defined availability), or not allocated at all.
As part of this engine's
processing, and outlook for the utilization that looks into the future alerts
managers of
upcoming under utilization, which provide a means to avoid lost organizational
productivity
because the resource might otherwise be left idle.
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Brief Description of the Drawings
[0031] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be set forth in
detail with
reference to the drawings, in which:
[0032] Fig. 1 shows a use-case diagram of the preferred embodiment;
[0033] Fig. 2 shows a schematic overview of a Project Office Data System
(PODS) on which
the process of Fig. 1 can be implemented;
[0034] Fig. 3 shows Fig. 3 shows a data model for PODS of Fig. 2;
[0035] Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of the operations of the preferred
embodiment;
[0036] Fig. 5 shows a main screen flow chart;
[0037] Fig. 6 shows an administration screen flow chart;
[0038] Fig. 7 shows a project initiation screen flow chart;
[0039] Fig. 8 shows an active project screen flow chart;
[0040] Fig. 9 shows a flow chart of the reports; and
[0041] Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagrain of a hardware configuration on which
the
preferred embodiment can be implemented
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Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
[0042] A preferred embodiment will be disclosed in detail with reference to
the drawings, in
which like reference numerals refer to like elements or operational steps
throughout.
[0043] An overview of the functionality of the preferred embodiment is shown
in the use
case diagram of Fig. 1. The user 102 supplies project plan statistics 104 to a
project plan
validator 106, which returns effort distribution validation 108 to the user
102. The integrated
project management office toolkit/process asset library 110 supplies
information to the user
102. The user 102 supplies information on the skills and availability of
workers as well as
searches and claims for such workers, collectively designated 112, to a skills
engine 114,
which returns information 116 on resource and skill availability, tracking,
notification, and
alerts to the user 102.
[0044] The user 102 interacts in the following manner with the risk engine
118. The user
102 forms custom questions, answers, and thresholds 120 into a question set
122, wliich
becomes one of the user-defined and pre-packaged question sets 124 used by the
risk engine
118. The user 102 supplies the following input to the risk engine 118: earned
value analysis
(EVA) 126, question responses 128, performance measurements 130, quality data
132,
customer satisfaction information 134, staff power utilization information
136, and milestone
progress 138. Also, an external data gathering application 140 can gather data
from the user
102 and supply such data to the risk engine 118 through an application
prograinming
interface (API) 142.
[0045] The results of the operations performed by the risk engine 118 are
output to the user
102 tlirough one or more dashboards 144, which are user interfaces that
provide such results
in visual form. The risk engine 118 determines schedule and cost performance
146 and levels
of risk and recoverability 148 and outputs them in the form of the EVA output
150 to the
dasliboards 144. The risk engine determines potential risk areas 152 and risk
mitigation
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advice 154 and outputs them in the foim of risk reporting 156 to the
dashboards 144. The
risk reporting 156 can also include input directly from the user 102. The risk
engine can
output an overall risk output 158 to the dashboards 144; the overall risk
output can include a
"stop light" indication for display on the dashboards 144 if the level of risk
warrants it. The
risk engine 118 outputs information to a portfolio analysis 160, wliich can be
standard or
user-defined, which is output to the dashboards 144.
[0046] The functionality shown in Fig. 1 and described above is implemented on
a Project
Office Data System (PODS), shown in Fig. 2 as 200. The PODS 200 is centered on
a Project
Management Office (PMO) database 202 which stores, among other things,
assessment
questionnaires 204. The database receives information on projects 206 and
skills 208 and
allows reporting and querying by management 210 and subject matter experts
(SME's) 212.
[0047] Fig. 3 shows a data model 300 for PODS. Table I below provides a brief
description
of the tables in the database.
[0048] Table I
Table Name Description
Active_Project 302 Stores Active Project information identified by the Prj_Id
field
Answer_Type 304 Stores infoimation for all Answer type available
identified by the Ans_Typ_Id field
Assessment 306 Stores Project Initiation - Assessment information
identified by the Prj_Id field
Assessment_Type 308 Stores information for all Assessment type available
identified by the Assess Typ_Id field
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Baseline 310 Stores Project Initiation - Baseline information identified
by the Prj_Id field
Category 312 Stores Category information identified by the Cat Id field
Code_Directory_Common_Code Stores Code Directory Common Code ( list of scores
for
314 each question and answer combination) information
identified by the Doc_Txt Id and Coinmon Cd Id field
Common-Code 316 Stores common code (list of answers) information
identified by the Common Cd Id field
Customers 318 Stores Customers information identified by the Cust_Id
field
Document 320 Stores Document information identified by the Doc_Id
field
Document_Text 322 Stores Document Text (list of questions for each
category) information identified by the Doc_Txt Id field
Genera1324 Stores Project Initiation-General information identified
by the Prj_Id field
Project 326 Stores Project information identified by the Prj_Id field
Project_Answers 328 Stores Project Answers (answers for each question)
information identified by the Prj_Id, Doc Txt Id, Cat Id
and Common Cd Id field
Project_Managers 330 Stores Project Managers information identified by the
Prj_Mgr ld field
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Project Phase 332 Stores infonnation for all Project phase available
identified by the Prj Phse_Id field
Project_Status 334 Stores information for all Project status available
identified by the Prj_Stat Id field
Project_Type 336 Stores information for all Project type available identified
by the Proj_Typ_Id field
Technology_Platform 338 Stores information for all Technology Platform
available
identified by the Tech Plat Id field
Title_Logo 340 Stores Title and Logo information
User 342 Stores User information identified by the Login Id field
[0049] The operations of the preferred embodiment will now be explained with
reference to
Figs. 4-9. Figure 4 shows a flow chart of the operations of the preferred
embodiment. Figure
shows a main screen flow chart. Figure 6 shows an administration screen flow
chart.
Figure 7 shows a project initiation screen flow chart. Figure 8 shows an
active project screen
flow chart. Figure 9 shows a flow chart of the reports.
[0050] The PODS application Login page 402 protects the application and its
resources from
being accessed by unauthorized users. Only Active users are allowed to access
the
application. To access the application, the user is required to provide
his/her login name and
password. The login page is located in the root directory.
[0051] The login page is where the user types in his or her login name and
password to gain
access to the PODS application. The user can specify whether after successful
login to show
first the password maintenance page 404 to update his or her current password.
This can be
accomplished by checking the checkbox "Change my password after successful
login" before
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clicking on the Login button. If this is not checked, after successful login
the user is
transferred instead into the home page 406.
[0052] If the user typed in an invalid login naine or password, the login page
would display
the message "Invalid Login name/Password combination" to inform the user.
[0053] To validate the password supplied by the user, retrieve the hashed
password string in
the database for the login name supplied. Remove and keep the 2 salt
characters from the
hashed password string retrieved. Add the salt characters to the front of the
password string
supplied by the user to make a new password string. Use MD5 algorithm to hash
the new
password string into a new hashed password string and convert it to an ASCII
hex string,
creating a new "hexified" password string. Compare the new "hexified" password
string to
the hashed password string retrieved fiom the database. If the passwords
match, the user is
allowed to access the application; otherwise, the password supplied is
invalid, and login is
denied.
[0054] The home page 406, also lcnown as the Portfolio Suminary View Page, is
displayed
upon successful login. It contains two table summaries: Active Projects and
Completed
Projects. These tables show a general overview of the status of the different
projects. The
Active Projects table displays ongoing projects. The Completed Projects table
displays
finished projects. By default, the projects in the both tables are sorted by
project name in
ascending order. The data in both tables can also be sorted (ascending order)
by colunm
headings.
[0055] The Home page (Portfolio Summary view) provides a list of Active
Projects and
Completed Projects sorted by Project Name at the outset upon loading. The User
has the
option to sort the tables by clicking on the column headings. The content of
this page is
retrieved from the different tables in the database.
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[0056] The home page is located in the root directory and is protected through
user
authentication. All users are allowed to view this page once they have been
authenticated and
session is still valid.
[0057] The Create New Project page 408 allows the user to define a new
project. Both the
Project Name and description are required fields. The project ID is
automatically generated
upon creation of a new project.
[0058] The Create new project page is located in the root directory and is
protected through
user authentication. All users are allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[0059] The View Existing Project page 410 lists the Active Projects and
Completed/Cancelled Projects based on the search criteria defined by the user.
If no search
criteria is selected, it will display the projects grouped by Active and
Completed/Cancelled
status once the user clicks on the search button. To view Project details, the
user simply
double-clicks the preferred project and he/she will be redirected to the
Project Initiation -
General page.
[0060] The View Existing Project page 410 serves as a facility to filter
projects by Customer,
Project Manager, or Project Type. The Completed / Cancelled Projects list
enumerates all
projects that were finished or were called-off. The Active Projects list
enumerates all ongoing
projects. All projects in both lists can be double-clicked to show the page
that corresponds to
the current phase of the project.
[0061] The view existing project page 410 is located in the root directory and
is protected
through user authentication. All users are allowed to view this page once they
have been
authenticated and session is still valid.
[0062] The Project Initiation - General page 412 permits the user to define or
update the
Project Initiation - General details of a new or existing project. The save
button will appear
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for projects whose Project Initiation - General information has not yet been
defined.
Otherwise, an update button will appear. The user can save the data in the
database at any
point, at any level of completion, but can only advance to the next page once
all the fields
have been filled-up. After saving the data in the database and if all the
fields in the page have
been filled-up, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the next page
or go back to the
home page.
[0063] This page is located in the data attributes directory and is protected
through user
authentication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[0064] The Project Initiation - Assessment page 414 permits the user to define
or update the
Project Initiation - Assessment details of a new or existing project. The save
button will
appear for projects whose Project Initiation - Assessment infonnation has not
yet been
defined. Otherwise, an update button will appear. The user can save the data
in the database
at any point, at any level of completion, but can only advance to the next
page once all the
fields have been filled-up. After saving the data in the database and if all
the fields in the
page have been filled-up, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the
next page or go
back to the home page.
[0065] This page is located in the data attributes directory and is protected
through user
authentication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[0066] The Project Initiation - Assessment page provides users the facility to
define and/or
update general project assessment information. A set of determinants are
presented togetlier
with a set of possible answers to which the users can select from. There are
two (2) buttons
at the end of the page. These are the Save / Update button and the Clear
button. The Save
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button appears for newly-defined projects while the Update button appears for
projects whose
General Project Assessment information has already been defined.
[0067] The Project Initiation Assessment - Human Resources page 416 permits
the user to
define or update the Project Initiation Assessment - Human Resources details
of a new or
existing project. The save button will appear for projects whose Project
Initiation Assessment
- Human Resources information has not yet been defined. Otherwise, an update
button will
appear. There is a score corresponding to a question/answer combination which
will be used
to determine the color classification to be displayed in the reports. The user
can save the data
in the database at any point, at any level of completion, but can only advance
to the next page
once all the questions have been answered. After saving the data in the
database and if all the
questions in the page have been answered, the user will be asked if he wants
to proceed to the
next page or go back to the home page.
[0068] The Project Initiation Assessment - Human Resources page provides users
a series of
questions regarding the Human Resource aspect of a new project. A set of
answers for each
question are presented but only one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons
at the end of
the page. These are the Save / Update button and the Clear button. The Save
button appears
for newly-defined projects while the Update button appears for projects whose
Project
Initiation Assessment for Human Resource information has already been defined.
[0069] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page is located
in the
questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[0070] The Project Initiation Assessment - Quality page 418 permits the user
to define or
update the Project Initiation Assessment - Quality details of a new or
existing project. The
save button will appear for projects whose Project Initiation Assessment -
Quality
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information has not yet been defined. Otherwise, an update button will appear.
There is a
score corresponding to a question/answer combination which will be used to
determine the
color classification to be displayed in the reports. The user can save the
data in the database at
any point, at any level of completion, but can only advance to the next page
once all the
questions have been answered. After saving the data in the database and if all
the questions in
the page have been answered, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to
the next page or
go back to the home page.
[0071] The Project Initiation Assessment - Quality page displays a set of
questions regarding
the Quality aspect of a new project. A set of answers for each question are
presented but only
one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These
are the Save /
Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for newly-defined
projects
while the Update button appears for projects whose Project Initiation
Assessment for Quality
information has already been defined.
[0072] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page will be
located in the
questioimaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been autlienticated and session is
still valid.
[0073] The Project Initiation Assessment - Risk page 420 permits the user to
define or
update the Project Initiation Assessment - Risk details of a new or existing
project. The save
button will appear for projects whose Project Initiation Assessment - Risk
information has
not yet been defined. Otherwise, an update button will appear. There is a
score corresponding
to a question/answer coinbination which will be used to determine the color
classification to
be displayed in the reports. The user can save the data in the database at any
point, at any
level of completion, but can only advance to the next page once all the
questions have been
answered. After saving the data in the database and if all the questions in
the page have been
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answered, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the next page or go
back to the
home page.
[0074] The Project Initiation Assessment - Risk page displays a set of
questions regarding
the Risk aspect of a new project. A set of answers for each question are
presented but only
one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These
are the Save /
Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for newly-defined
projects
while the Update button appears for projects whose Project Initiation
Assessment for Risk
information has already been defined.
[0075] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page will be
located in the
questioimaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[0076] The Project Initiation Assessment - Schedule page 422 permits the user
to define or
update the Project Initiation Assessment - Schedule details of a new or
existing project. The
save button will appear for projects whose Project Initiation Assessment -
Schedule
information has not yet been defined. Otherwise, an update button will appear.
There is a
score coiTesponding to a question/answer combination which will be used to
determine the
color classification to be displayed in the reports. The user can save the
data in the database at
any point, at any level of completion, but can only advance to the next page
once all the
questions have been answered. After saving the data in the database and if all
the questions in
the page have been answered, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to
the next page or
go back to the home page.
[0077] The Project Initiation Assessment - Schedule page displays a set of
questions
regarding the Schedule aspect of a new project. A set of answers for each
question are
presented but only one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end
of the page.
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These are the Save / Update button and the Clear button. The Save button
appears for newly-
defined projects while the Update button appears for projects whose Project
Initiation
Assessment for Schedule information has already been defined.
[0078] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page is located
in the
questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[0079] The Project Initiation Assessment - Scope page 424 permits the user to
define or
update the Project Initiation Assessment - Scope details of a new or existing
project. The
save button will appear for projects whose Project Initiation Assessment -
Scope information
has not yet been defined. Otherwise, an update button will appear. There is a
score
corresponding to a question/answer combination which will be used to determine
the color
classification to be displayed in the reports. The user can save the data in
the database at any
point, at any level of completion, but can only advance to the next page once
all the questions
have been answered. After saving the data in the database and if all the
questions in the page
have been answered, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the next
page or go back
to the home page.
[0080] The Project Initiation Assessment - Scope page displays a set of
questions regarding
the Scope aspect of a new project. A set of answers for each question are
presented but only
one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These
are the Save /
Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for newly-defined
projects
while the Update button appears for projects whose Project Initiation
Assessment for Scope
information has already been defined.
[0081] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page is located
in the
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questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[0082] The Project Initiation- Baselines 426 page permits the user to define
or update the
Project Initiation- Baselines details of a new or existing project. The save
button will appear
for projects whose Project Initiation- Baselines information has not yet been
defined.
Otherwise, an update button will appear. The user can save the data in the
database at any
point, at any level of completion, but can only advance to the next page once
all the fields
have been filled-up. After saving the data in the database and if all the
fields in the page have
been filled-up, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the next page
or go back to the
home page.
[0083] The Project Initiation - Baselines page serves as a facility where
users can define and
/ or update information like planned start date, planned hours budget and
planned staffing
size for each phase of a project. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the
page. These are
the Save / Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for
newly-defined
projects while the Update button appears for projects whose Project Initiation
Baseline
information has already been defined.
[0084] This page is located in the data attributes directory and is protected
through user
authentication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[0085] The Active Project - General page 428 permits the user to define or
update the Active
Project - General details of an active project. The save button will appear
for active projects
whose Active Project - General information has not yet been defined.
Otherwise, an update
button will appear. The user can save the data in the database at any point,
at any level of
completion, but can only advance to the next page once all the fields have
been filled-up.
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After saving the data in the database and if all the fields in the page have
been filled-up, the
user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the next page or go back to the
home page.
[0086] This page will be located in the data attributes directory and is
protected through user
authentication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[0087] The Active Project - General page displays the details and basic
information of an
active project. This serves as a facility where each detail item can be
updated to reflect
current changes in the status of the project (still active / completed /
cancelled), project cost
to date and others. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These
are the Save /
Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for active
projects whose
general information has not yet been defined while the Update button appears
for active
projects whose general information has been previously defined.
[0088] The Active Project - Cost page 430 permits the user to define or update
the Active
Project - Cost details of an active project. The save button will appear for
active projects
whose Active Project - Cost information has not yet been defined. Otherwise,
an update
button will appear. There is a score coiTesponding to a question/answer
combination which
will be used to determine the color classification to be displayed in the
reports. The user can
save the data in the database at any point, at any level of completion, but
can only advance to
the next page once all the questions have been answered. After saving the data
in the database
and if all the questions in the page have been answered, the user will be
asked if he wants to
proceed to the next page or go back to the home page.
[0089] The Active Project - Cost page displays specific questions regarding
the Cost aspect
of an active project. A set of answers for each question are presented but
only one can be
selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These are the Save
/ Update button
and the Clear button The Save button appears for active projects whose cost
information has
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not yet been defined while the Update button appears for active projects whose
cost
information has been previously defined.
[0090] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page is located
in the
questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[0091] The Active Project - Human Resources page 432 permits the user to
define or update
the Active Project - Human Resources details of an active project. The save
button will
appear for active projects whose Active Project - Human Resources information
has not yet
been defined. Otherwise, an update button will appear. There is a score
corresponding to a
question/answer combination which will be used to determine the color
classification to be
displayed in the reports. The user can save the data in the database at any
point, at any level
of completion, but can only advance to the next page once all the questions
have been
answered. After saving the data in the database and if all the questions in
the page have been
answered, the user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the next page or go
back to the
home page.
[0092] The Active Project - Human Resources page displays specific questions
regarding the
Huinan resources aspect of an active project. A set of answers for each
question are presented
but only one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the
page. These are the
Save / Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for active
projects whose
human resources information has not yet been defined. The Update button
appears for active
projects whose Human Resources information has been previously defined.
[0093] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page is located
in the
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questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[0094] The Active Project - Quality page 434 permits the user to define or
update the Active
Project - Quality details of an active project. The save button will appear
for active projects
whose Active Project - Quality information has not yet been defined.
Otherwise, an update
button will appear. There is a score corresponding to a question/answer
combination which
will be used to determine the color classification to be displayed in the
reports. The user can
save the data in the database at any point, at any level of completion, but
can only advance to
the next page once all the questions have been answered. After saving the data
in the database
and if all the questions in the page have been answered, the user will be
asked if he wants to
proceed to the next page or go back to the home page.
[0095] The Active Project - Quality page displays specific questions regarding
the Quality
aspect of an active project. A set of answers for each question are presented
but only one can
be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These are the
Save / Update
button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for active projects whose
Quality-
related information has not yet been defined. The Update button appears for
active projects
whose Quality-related information has been previously defined.
[0096] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page is located
in the
questionnaires directory and is protected througli user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[0097] The Active Project -.Rislc page 436 permits the user to define or
update the Active
Project - Risk details of an active project. The save button will appear for
active projects
whose Active Project - Risk information has not yet been defined. Otherwise,
an update
button will appear. There is a score corresponding to a question/answer
combination which
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will be used to determine the color classification to be displayed in the
reports. The user can
save the data in the database at any point, at any level of completion, but
can only advance to
the next page once all the questions have been answered. After saving the data
in the database
and if all the questions in the page have been answered, the user will be
asked if he wants to
proceed to the next page or go back to the home page.
[0098] The Active Project - Risk page displays specific questions regarding
the Risk aspect
of an active project. A set of answers for each question are presented but
only one can be
selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These are the Save
/ Update button
and the Clear button. The Save button appears for active projects whose Risk-
related
information has not yet been defined. The Update button appears for active
projects wliose
Risk-related information has been previously defined.
[0099] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved from the
different tables in the database based on the category. This page is located
in the
questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[00100] The Active Project - Schedule page 438 permits the user to define or
update
the Active Project - Schedule details of an active project. The save button
will appear for
active projects wliose Active Project - Schedule information has not yet been
defined.
Otherwise, an update button will appear. There is a score corresponding to a
question/answer
combination which will be used to determine the color classification to be
displayed in the
reports. The user can save the data in the database at any point, at any level
of completion,
but can only advance to the next page once all the questions have been
answered. After
saving the data in the database and if all the questions in the page have been
answered, the
user will be asked if he wants to proceed to the next page or go back to the
home page.
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[00101] The Active Project - Schedule page displays specific questions
regarding the
Schedule aspect of an active project. A set of answers for each question are
presented but
only one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page.
These are the Save
/ Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for active
projects whose
Schedule-related information has not yet been defined. The Update button
appears for active
projects whose Schedule-related inforination has been previously defined.
[00102] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved
from the different tables in the database based on the category. This page
will be located in
the questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[00103] The Active Project - Scope page 440 permits the user to define or
update the
Active Project - Scope details of an active project. The save button will
appear for active
projects whose Active Project - Scope information has not yet been defined.
Otherwise, an
update button will appear. There is a score corresponding to a question/answer
combination
which will be used to determine the color classification to be displayed in
the reports. The
user can save the data in the database at any point, at any level of
completion, but can only
advance to the next page once all the questions have been answered. After
saving the data in
the database and if all the questions in the page have been answered, the user
will be asked if
he wants to proceed to the next page or go back to the home page.
[00104] The Active Project - Scope page displays specific questions regarding
the
Scope aspect of an active project. A set of answers for each question are
presented but only
one can be selected. There are two (2) buttons at the end of the page. These
are the Save /
Update button and the Clear button. The Save button appears for active
projects whose
Scope-related information has not yet been defined. The Update button appears
for active
projects wliose Scope-related information has been previously defined.
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[00105] The contents of this page are dynamically loaded based on the data
retrieved
from the different tables in the database based on the category. This page
will be located in
the questionnaires directory and is protected through user authentication. All
users will be
allowed to view this page once they have been authenticated and session is
still valid.
[00106] The Password Maintenance page 404 (shown twice in Fig. 4 for ease of
following) allows all types of users to update his/her password after a
successful login
provided that they have clicked on the Change Password option from the login
page 402. The
password page will be located in the root directory and is protected through
user
authentication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[00107] The Security page 442 allows the security (SEC)-privileged users to
update
the password of other users using the Password maintenance page 404 and to
add, update or
delete (deactivate only in the database) a user using the User maintenance
page 444. For the
Password Maintenance page 404, all fields are required to be filled up by the
user. For the
User maintenance page 444, all fields are also required to be filled up when
adding or
updating user inforination. The Login ID is automatically generated upon
creation of a new
user. To delete a user, simply set the Active Status to No. For non SEC-
privileged and non-
ADMIN privileged user, set the Admin and Sec privilege flag to No
respectively.
[00108] The Security page 442 contains the Password and User Maintenance tools
and
is only accessible for users with the SEC privilege. The User Maintenance
feature provides
SEC-privileged users the functionality to add, update or delete (deactivated
only in the
database) users. To update or delete a user, simply enter the login name and
click the search
button to retrieve user data, then make the necessary changes and click the
save button to
update changes. To add a user, fill up all the required fields and click the
save button to add
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the user. The Password Maintenance feature provides SEC-privileged users the
functionality
to change other user's passwords.
[00109] The password field will be hashed using the MD5 algorithm before
saving the
data in the database. To store a password in the database, a random set of two
salt characters
will'be generated and added to the front of the password supplied to make a
new password
string. The new password string is then hashed using the MD5 algorithm to
obtain a new
hashed password string converted to an ASCII hex string creating a "hexified"
password
string. The salt characters are then added to the front of the "hexified"
password string and
then stored in the database.
[00110] The security page will be located in the root directory and is
protected through
user authentication. Only users with SEC privileges will be allowed to view
this page once
they have been authenticated and session is still valid.
[00111] The Add Customer/Manager page 446 allows ADMIN-privileged users to add
a customer or project manager. To add a customer, simply fill in the customer
name and click
on the Enter customer button. The customer ID is automatically generated upon
creation of a
new customer. To add a project manager, fill in the project manager first name
and last name
and click on the Enter Project Manager button. The project manager ID is
automatically
generated upon creation of a new project manager.
[00112] The Add Customer / Manager page is only accessible to users with the
ADMIN privilege. The Add Customer function 448 allows ADMIN-privileged users
to add a
new customer to the system. The Add Project Manager function 450 allows ADMIN-
privileged users to add a new project manager to the system.
[00113] This Add Customer/Manager page will be located in the root directory
and is
protected through user authentication. Only users with ADMIN privileges will
be allowed to
view this page once they have been autlienticated and session is still valid.
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[00114] The Project Initiation - Summary Report page 452 allows users to
filter the
newly-initiated project reports (not yet active) by Customer Name, Project
Name, Project
Manager, and Project Type. The user also has the option to select which type
of Project
Initiation report to generate (the available options include Identification /
Team Dynamics /
Assessment Info report 454, Project Stated Risk Info report 456, and Plaimed
Project
Baseline Info report 458). After selection, clicking on the Create Report
button initiates
creation of an online report. Clicking on the Clear button resets to default
values all the input
controls.
[00115] The Project Initiation Summary Report allows users to filter the newly-
initiated project reports (not yet active) by Customer Name, Project Name,
Project Manager,
and Project Type. The user has also the option to select which type of Project
Initiation report
to generate. The available Project Initiation reports include Identification /
Team Dynamics /
Assessment Info, Project Stated Risk Info, and Plamied Project Baseline Info.
[00116] This page will be located in the reports directory and is protected
through user
authentication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[00117] The Project Initiation - Identification I Team Dynamics / Assessment
Report
454 shows the general assessment of the project in terms of Schedule, Scope,
Risk, Human
Resources, and Quality. Assessments are based on the information provided by
the users
from the Project Initiation pages.
[00118] The Project Initiation - Project Stated Risk Report 456 shows the
assessment
of potential risk items per project. This includes Technology, Delivery Date,
Quality,
Customer Satisfaction, Constraints and other miscellaneous risk items,
including Critical
Success Factors to be observed both for the customer and the developing
organization.
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[00119] The Project Initiation - Plaimed Project Baseline Report 458 shows
planning
values which include start date, end date, hours budget, and staff size for
each phase of a
project.
[00120] The Project Initiation - Details Report 460 serves as the facility for
users to
select a specific project to which different information which include
Constraints 462, Risk
466, Critical Success Factors for Customer 468, Critical Success Factor for
Developing
Organization 470, Technologies 472, Asset Requirements 474, Special
Communication
Requirements 476, and Other Comments 478 can be viewed instantaneously.
[00121] This page will be located in the reports directory and is protected
through user
authentication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[00122] The Active Project report page 480 allows users to filter the active
project
reports by Customer Name, Project Name, Project Manager, Project Type and
Status. There
is an option to select which type of Project report to generate. The available
reporting options
include Identification / Project Details / Project Management Info, Analysis
and Business
Design Planning vs. Actual, Technical Design and Construction Planning vs.
Actual, Testing
and Implementation Plaiming vs. Actual, and Assessment.
[00123] This page is located in the reports directory and is protected through
user
autlientication. All users will be allowed to view this page once they have
been authenticated
and session is still valid.
[00124] The Project - Identification / Project Details / Project Management
Report 482
shows merging values from the identification and project details report and
the project
management information report. Issue tracking report values are included.
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[00125] The Project - Analysis / Business Design Report 484 displays "Planned"
values compared against "Actual" values for Start Date, End date, Hours
Budget, and Staff
Size of the Analysis and Business Design phases of active projects.
[00126] The Project - Technical Design / Construction Report 486 displays
"Planned"
values compared against "Actual" values for Start Date, End date, Hours
Budget, and Staff
Size of the Technical Design and Construction phases of active projects.
[00127] The Project - Testing / Implementation Report 488 displays "Planned"
values
compared against "Actual" values of Start Date, End date, Hours Budget, and
Staff Size of
the Testing and Implementation phases of active projects.
[00128] The Project - Assessment Report 490 displays comparisons between
current
and previous assessment of Schedule, Scope, Risk, Human Resources, Quality and
Cost of
active projects.
[00129] Figure 5 shows a main screen flow chart. The user can log in, using
the login
screen 402, or change the password using the "change password" screen 404, and
is brought
to the home page 406. The home page 406 includes a list of options 502
including the
following: return to home page 504, create a new project 506, view an existing
project 508,
project initiation 510, reports 512, administration 514, and logout 516.
[00130] Figure 6 shows an administration screen flow chart of events that
occur when
the user chooses the adininistration option 514 of Fig. 5. From an
administration page 602, a
SEC privileged user can go in step 604 to the security page 442, while an
admin privileged
user can go in step 606 to the add customer/manager page 446.
[00131] Figure 7 shows a project initiation screen flow chart of events that
occur when
the user chooses the project initiation option 510 of Fig. 5. From the Project
Initiation -
General page 412, the user can go to a list of options 702, including home
504, create new
project 506, view existing project 508, baseline statistics 426, active
project 428, and reports
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512. The user can alternatively go to the Project Initiation - Assessment page
404 and thence
to human resources 416, quality 418, risk 420, schedule 422, and scope 424.
[00132] Figure 8 shows an active project screen flow chart. From the active
project
page 428, the user can go to the cost 430, human resources 432, quality 434,
risk 436,
schedule 438, and scope 440. Alternatively, the user can go to a list of
options 802, including
home 504, create new project 506, view existing project 508, project
initiation - genera1412,
project initiation - assessment 414, baseline statistics 426, reports 512, and
logout 516.
[00133] Figure 9 shows a flow chart of the reports when the user selects the
reports
option 512. From the reports option 512, the user can go to the project
initiation suinmary
report 452, the project initiation detail reports 460, or the active project
report 480. The user
can alternatively go to a list of options 902 including home 504, create new
project 506, view
existing project 508, project initiation 510, and logout 516.
[00134] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of a hardware configuration 1000
on
which the preferred embodiment can be implemented. Those skilled in the art
who have
reviewed the present disclosure will readily appreciate that other suitable
hardware can be
used instead. It will also be understood that trademarks are used for
identification purposes
only. A Microsoft Windows NT Server platform 1002 runs Microsoft Internet
Information
Server (IIS) and a standard OLE DB Connection to a database server 1004
ruiming Microsost
SQL Server 2000. The server 1002 communicates via standard protocols 1006 such
as HTTP
and TCP/IP with various clients, shown as client 1 1008-1, client 2 1008-2,
client 3 1008-3,
and client 4 1008-4. The communication can take place over the Internet, an
intranet, or any
other suitable network.
[00135] Additional details on the functionality of the preferred embodiment
will now
be set forth. Language lilce "needs," "must," and "requires" refer to the
preferred
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embodiment only and are not intended, nor should they be construed, as
limitations on the
invention as a wllole.
[00136] Security for the PMO provides for user authentication as well as
authorization
for data entry/update and reporting.
[00137] The security mechanism addresses the following scenarios:
= Stand-alone operation (all security is handled within the PMO application)
= Integration with TracerTM Version 2 Release 1.x or greater security
= Ability to integrate with other security mechanisms without modification to
the core of the application (e.g., LDAP for based authorization and
authentication, other proprietary mechanisms).
= Local Hosting of the PMO System for several Remote Customers which
would include:
o Segregation of Administrator rights, so that an admin in one account
can not access another organization/company's admin funetions.
o Segregation of users according to organizational/company boundaries.
o Access to the PMO system for anywhere, at any time.
[00138] Access is limited to authenticated (a login mechanism) and PMO
authorized
users.
[00139] The authorization mechanism must support user groups (or user
classes).
[00140] Project data and reports are restricted to specifically authorized
users or
groups for each project.
[00141] The ability exists to log and track the users that log in to and use
the PMO in
order to monitor utilization.
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[00142] The PMO has a tailorable question pool that can be adjusted for each
organization using the PMO. A base question pool, with the capability to
select or reject the
use of various questions, is included in the product. In addition to the
global question pool, a
mechanism for adding new, organization specific questions must be available.
The definition
of new questions must support the risk analysis and health reporting the same
as if the
questions are part of the base question pool.
[00143] Questions are tiered (layered), as well as classified according to the
project
type. Each project is given a "tier control level" that dictates the question
depth. The line of
questioning is controllable at both a project and a global level, allowing the
question "depth"
to be set with the project. The questions are also dictated by the project
type, and the
classification of each question according to project type (e.g., new
development questions are
only be presented for projects that are classified as new development; level 2
or deeper
questions are only be presented for projects which have be set to that level
or deeper).
[00144] All questions are assigned levels, project types, risk categories,
life-cycle
timing, risk factors (for each possible answer), and reactions to answers
including but not
limited to: If other questions will be opened or closed, if status will
change, and if a
notification will be activated, all depending on certain answers.
[00145] The Question Pool has a Maintenance function built into the program
that
allows for creating, changing, and removing questions from the Pool. This
function will be
open only to users with certain access permissions, and will allow the end
user to manage and
create their own questions as- well as the pre-packaged question set. This
includes
notifications that will detail any continuity issues that may arise when a
question is deleted.
There is also some consideration as to predicting potential conflicts between
questions as new
ones are added to the system.
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[00146] The user can create custom questions sets that will apply to certain
project
types. In order to accomplish this, there needs to be a system to allow for
the dynamic
building of question sets from the complete question pool. This system can
identify
relationships between questions, so that when the user goes to save their new
question set,
they can be notified if they picked one question from the middle of hierarchy
of questions,
that there are other questions that should come with it.
[00147] The Maintenance function contains a function that will allow for the
display of
the different question sets based upon which project type they are assigned
to. A user would
come to this section, select a project type, and the program displays the list
of questions that
are assigned to that type.
[00148] The Maintenance function has a Periodic Review section. This is based
off of
the date created field attached to each question. The user will select an
interval at which
Questions will be marked for review, showing that the questions should be
revisited to
determine if they are still applicable or need to be edited. Once they have
reviewed and
updated if necessary, they will be able to marlc the question as approved and
it will not be
flagged until the interval has passed again.
[00149] The Project Profile and Inventory provides a list of all projects
under the PMO
and profiles describing general and some technical aspects of each project.
Use of the
inventory provides information on past and current projects, their results,
and allows
comparison of project performance with other projects based on profile
information.
[00150] The system has a means of adding, updating, and deleting project
profile
information by properly authorized users. Each operation (add, update, delete)
is discretely
assignable to authorized users.
[00151] The project asset classes are based on the MIT model for
classification. The
meanings of the classes are described below.
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[00152] Infrastructure provides a shared, standardized capability base for the
enterprise. Infrastructure projects lead to greater business flexibility and
integration.
Infrastructure investments are moderately risky because of their technologies'
(typically) long
life-spans and technical uncertainty.
[00153] Transactional initiatives process and automate the basic transactions
of the
company. They intend to reduce costs and increase productivity. Usually these
kinds of
projects have and internal rates of return between 25 and 40 percent. These
investments have
the least risk of the four classes.
[00154] Informational systems provide information for managing the coinpany.
Their
payoff comes from shorter time-to-market, superior quality, and the ability to
set premium
prices. They are moderately risky because companies often have difficulty
acting on
information to generate business value.
[00155] Strategic systems are typically external-facing. Payoff is in sales
growth,
competitive advantage, and stronger marlcet positioning. These are high risk.
Typically, 10%
will have great results, but 50% will not break even.
[00156] There is the ability to Custom Define a new Project Asset Class
scheme, as
well as edit the Pre-Packaged solution in case the original system does not
fit the user's
business, or in case they already have a pre-existing method to handle this
data.
[00157] The program has functionality.that will allow and manage the situation
where
two or more projects combine into one project at any given point in the
projects' life cycles.
[00158] The adverse also needs to be handled, where the situation occurs that
one
project splits into multiple separate projects.
[00159] Performance tracking provides information over the life of a project
as to how
it is performing against task completion, costs, schedule (milestones),
quality, and customer
satisfaction. The tracking uses defined thresholds and indicators to identify
when a
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performance area is showing signs of trouble, and coupled with the risk
analysis, helps to
determine not only when action is needed, but what kind of action as well.
Performance
tracking requires storing data attributes (measurements) and sets of
measurements for each
project.
[00160] The PMO must support integration: with TracerTM or integration with
Microsoft Project as a means of automating appropriate data gathering and
calculations, and
it must also support manual, stand-alone data collection.
[00161] The Earsaed Value Mai2agenaefzt measures, tracked in the performance
data are
key indicators showing the performance of the project, as well as providing
budget and
schedule projections for the project. Earned value management is based on the
following
general measurements.
[00162] Status Date: The date associated with the measures being analyzed.
[00163] Planned Value (formerly Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled or BCWS): the
cost of the work scheduled or planned to be completed in a certain time period
according to
plan.
[00164] Earned Value (formerly Budgeted Cost of Work Performed or BCWP): the
planned cost of the work done up to a defined point in the project.
[00165] Actual Cost (formerly Actual Cost of Work Performed or ACWP): the
actual
cost of worlc up to a defined point in the project.
[00166] Budget At Completion: the sum of all costs allocated to the project.
[00167] Planned Duration: the number of days the project is scheduled to be
performed over.
[00168] Schedule Variance: (Answers: How far ahead or behind on the
schedule?).
[00169] Cost Variance: (Answers: How far ahead or behind on the budget?)
[00170] Schedule Performance Index (SPI). (Answers: Is the project on
schedule?).
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[00171] When calculating the SPI, it can be done in two different ways:
[00172] Cuinulative - Going from the start of the project to the SD (Status
Date).
[00173] Averaged - Average over a recent period of time up to the SD. For
example,
3 month and 6 month averages are meaningful between 25% and 100% coinpletion
for a
project of adequate size to allow such durations; shorter duration projects
can use smaller
periods of time like 1 and 3 montli averages. The cuinulative SPI is given the
identifier
SPL,,,,,,, while the averaged SPI is given identifiers SPI1, SPI3, SPI6 for 1,
3, and 6 month
averages respectively.
[00174] Cost Performance Index (CPI): (This is the inverse of the performance
ratio
(AC/EV) used by CAI. (Answers: Is the project on budget?).
[00175] When calculating the CPI, it can be done in two different ways:
[00176] Cumulative - Going from the start of the project to the SD (Status
Date).
[00177] Averaged - Averages over a recent period of time up to the SD. For
example,
3 month and 6 month averages are meaningful between 25% and 100% completion
for a
project of adequate size to allow such durations; shorter duration projects
can use smaller
periods of time like 1 and 3 month averages. The cumulative CPI is given the
identifier
CPI,õr,,, while the averaged CPI is given identifiers CPI1, CPI3, CPI6 for 1,
3, and 6 month
averages respectively.
[00178] Cost Schedule Index (CSI). Also know as the Critical Iizdex.
CSI=CPIxSPI.
The farther from 1.0 the index is, the less likely the chances of recovery.
Specifically:
[00179] 0.9<CSI<1.2: Good.
[00180] 0.8<CSI<09 or 1.2<CSI<1.3: Check and take action.
[00181] CSI<0.8 or CSI>1.3: Serious problems exist, with little chance of
recovering
the schedule/budget.
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[00182] The CSI is either a cumulative CSI or an averaged CSI, depending on
which
SPI and CPI are used. The choice of the SPI and CPI for the calculation must
be the same;
they will either be the cumulative or one of the (same) averages, e.g., it is
incorrect to use
SPII and CPI3:
[00183] Estimate To Complete. The remaining budget
[00184] Estimate At Completion. The calculated estimate for the project budget
needed to complete the work (based on project performance indexes)
[00185] The index can be any one of the SPI, CPI, or CSI. Preference is for
CPI or
CSI. CPI gives the "most likely" EAC, and CSI gives a "pessimistic" EAC. Both
the
cumulative or averaged index can be used, and it is useful to be able to
compare indexes to
each other to establish a small range of possible outcomes.
[00186] Forecast At Completion: Calculated estimate for the project budget
needed to
complete the work. This is traditionally the way many projects forecast the
cost. The EAC is
a better indicator (FAC is typically very low in its forecast).
[00187] Plaiined Duration: The calculated duration of the project according to
the
baseline
[00188] Forecasted Duration: The calculated estimate for the remaining
duration of
the project
[00189] Variance At Completion: The calculated variance of the project's
forecasted
completion vs. the budgeted completion
[00190] Percent Complete: The percent of the budget that has been completed
[00191] Planned Percent Complete: The percent of the budget that is planned to
be
completed.
[00192] Percent Spent: The percent of the budget that has actually been used.
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[00193] To Complete Performance Index (Baseline): Required cost performance
to,
meet the baseline (original budget).
[00194] Improvement Ratio (Baseline): Required cost performance improvement to
meet the baseline (original budget), given by
[00195] IRb CPIb -1
[00196] Required OverTime: Required overtime to recover the schedule variance,
given by
[00197] ROT = I
[00198] Estimated Completion Date: Estimated date when the work will be
completed
based on schedule performance, given by
[00199] ECD - Cus Date + PlannedEndDate - Cuf Date
SPI
[00200] Automatic risk analysis and reporting based largely on research by the
SEI
reported in the Taxonofny-Based Risk Identification (document CMU/SEI-93-TR-6,
published by Carnegie Mellon University, June 1993, hereby incorporated by
reference in its
entirety into the present disclosure). Using question responses and
quantitative data
(attributes) from projects, risk factors are be automatically assessed,
reported and tracked for
each project.
[00201] Each Question and data attribute has an assigned risk category, and is
assigned
a risk weight that can be with positive or negative. The risks are aggregated
into the
categories defined in SEI-93-TR-6, and used to provide an assessment of the
areas of risk in
the project.
[00202] The risk analysis also provides guidance on both mitigating/avoiding
certain
risks and guidance on addressing realized risks. Mitigation strategies are
taken from Capers
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Jones' work, Assessment and Control of Software Risks (ISBN 0-13-741406-4)
(hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present disclosure).
[00203] The question pool is tiered so that the level of detail in the
questioning for a
project can be adjusted to an appropriate level.
[00204] Each question and data attribute is assigned a risk factor either
based upon a
particular answer, or particular value. These factors are combined to produce
a risk score in
each area of risk classification.
[00205] The Risk Analysis is reported as part of the Health and Status
Analysis, giving
a stop light (Green, Yellow, and Red) indicator of each of the risk areas. The
indicator can be
clicked on to drill down to see the elements that make-up that risk value.
Each risk element
can also be drilled down into to see more and more detail about the risk. In
addition, each
risk element provides guidance on risk mitigation approaches.
[00206] The risk classifications assigned to each question and attribute are
those used
for aggregating information related to the software risks as identified in
Taxononay-Based
Risk Identification (document CMU/SEI-93-TR-6).
[00207] Each classification is broken down into a set of elements, that
further organize
the questions and attributes. Each element is then broken down to a risk
attribute. The
following subsections show the structure.
[00208] Product Engineering refers to the technical aspects of the worlc to be
performed.
[00209] Requirenaen.ts cover both quality of the requirements and the
difficulty of
implementing a system that satisfies the requirements.
[00210] Are the requirements changing even as the product is being produced?
[00211] Are the requirements missing or incompletely specified?
[00212] Are the requirements unclear or in need of interpretation?
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[00213] Will the requirements lead to the product the customer has in mind?
[00214] Are the requirements feasible from an analytical point of view?
[00215] Do the requirements specify something never done before, or that the
company has never done before?
[00216] Do the requirements specify a product larger, more complex, or
requiring a
larger organization than is in the experience of the company?
[00217] Design. covers the design and feasibility of algoritlims, functions or
performance requirements, and internal and external product interfaces.
[00218] Are there any potential problems in meeting functionality
requirements?
[00219] Are the designs unclear or in need of interpretation?
[00220] Will the design and/or implementation be difficult to achieve?
[00221] Are the internal interfaces (hardware and software) well defined and
controlled?
[00222] Are there stringent response time or throughput requirements?
[00223] Is the product difficult or impossible to test?
[00224] Are there tight constraints on the target hardware?
[00225] Are there problems with software used in the project, but not
developed by the
project?
[00226] Code and Unit Test deals with the quality and stability of software or
interface
specifications, and constraints that may present implementation or testing
difficulties.
[00227] Is the implementation of the design difficult or impossible?
[00228] Are the specified level and time for unit testing adequate?
[00229] Are there any problems with coding and implementation?
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[00230] Integration and Test covers integration and test planning, execution,
and
facilities for both the contractual product and for the integration of the
product into the
system or site environment.
[00231] Is the integration and test environment adequate?
[00232] Is the interface definition inadequate, facilities inadequate, time
insufficient?
[00233] System integration uncoordinated, poor interface definition, or
inadequate
facilities?
[00234] Engineering Specialties covers special requirements that are usually
addressed
by specialists, and those often on a part-time basis for the project.
[00235] Will the implementation be difficult to understand or maintain?
[00236] Are the reliability or availability requirements difficult to meet?
[00237] Are the safety requirements infeasible and not demonstrable?
[00238] Are the security requirements more stringent than the current state or
the
practice or project experience?
[00239] Will the system be difficult to use because of a poor human interface
definition?
[00240] Is the documentation adequate to design, implement, and test
thesystem?
[00241] The methods, procedures, and tools used to produce the product.
[00242] The Developnaent Process refers to the process by which the project
proposes
to perform the work specified by the requirements.
[00243] Will the implementation be difficult to understand or maintain?
[00244] Is the process suited to the development model (e.g., waterfall,
spiral,
prototyping, etc.)?
[00245] Is the software development process enforced, monitored, and
controlled using
measurements? Are distributed development sites coordinated?
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[00246] Are the project members experienced in use of the process? Is the
process
understood by all staff members?
[00247] Are there mechanisms for controlling changes to the product?
[00248] The Development System addresses the hardware and software tools and
supporting equipment used in product development.
[00249] Is there sufficient workstation processing power, memory, or storage
capacity?
[00250] Does the developinent system support all phases, activities, and
functions?
[00251] How easy is the development system to use?
[00252] Is there little prior company or project meniber experience with the
development system?
[00253] Does the system suffer from software bugs, down-time, insufficient
built-in
backup?
[00254] Is there timely expert or vendor support for the system?
[00255] Are the definition and acceptance requirements defined for delivering
the
development system to the customer budgeted?
[00256] The Managenaent Process deals with risks associated with planning,
monitoring, and controlling budget and schedule; controlling factors in
defining,
implementing, and testing the product; managing project personnel; and
handling external
organizations.
[00257] Is the planning timely, technical leads included, contingency planning
done?
[00258] Are the roles and reporting relationships clear?
[00259] Are the managers experienced in software development, software
management, the application domain, the development process, or on large
projects?
[00260] Is there poor interface with customer, other contractors, senior
and/or peer
managers?
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[00261] Managenaent Methods refers to methods for managing botll the
development
of the product and project personnel.
[00262] Are management measurements defined and development progress tracked?
[00263] Are project personnel trained and used appropriately?
[00264] Are there adequate procedures and resources to assure product quality?
[00265] Are the change procedures and version control (including installation
sites)
adequate?
[00266] Work Environment deals with the subjective aspects of the environment.
[00267] Is there a lack of orientation toward quality work?
[00268] Is there a lack of team spirit? Does conflict resolution require
management
intervention?
[00269] Is there poor awareness of mission or goals, poor cormnunication of
technical
information among peers and managers?
[00270] Is there a non-productive, non-creative atmosphere? Do people feel
that there
is no recognition or reward for superior work?
[00271] Project ConstNaints is called Pf ognam. Constraints in SEI-93-TR-6.
The
contractual, organizational, and operational factors within which the software
is developed,
but which are generally outside of the direct control of the local management.
[00272] Resources address resources that the project is dependent on but are
outside
the project's control to obtain and maintain.
[00273] Is the schedule adequate and stable?
[00274] Is the staff inexperienced, laclcing domain lcnowledge, lacking
skills, or
understaffed?
[00275] Is the funding insufficient or unstable?
[00276] Are the facilities adequate for building and delivering the product?
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[00277] Contract deals with risks associated with the project contract.
[00278] Is the contract type a source of risk to the project?
[00279] Does the contract cause any restrictions?
[00280] Does the project have any dependencies on outside products or
services?
[00281] Is the scope of the contract too broad and lacking specificity?
[00282] Project batef faces deals with the various interfaces with entities
and
organizations outside the product development itself.
[00283] Are there any customer problems such as: lengthy document approval
cycle,
poor communication, and inadequate domain expertise?
[00284] Are there any problems with associate contractors such as inadequately
defined or unstable interfaces, poor communication, or lack of cooperation?
[00285] Is the project dependent on subcontractors for any critical areas?
[00286] Is the project facing difficulties with its Prime Contractor?
[00287] Is there a lack of support or micro management from upper management?
[00288] Are vendors responsive to project needs?
[00289] Are politics causing a problem for the project?
[00290] The Portfolio Health and Status Analysis provide a simple, high level
view of
the performance data, and indicate on-track, drifting, or off-track. Each
project in the
portfolio is shown, and the ability to drill down to greater detail on each
project allows
managers and executives the ability to see the project at just the level they
need to follow and
manage the results.
[00291] The basis of the healtli and status analysis is a number of attributes
for the
execution of the project, along with attributes for calculated performance
limits. The various
thresholds and limits are used to calculate and assign a heath status for the
relevant measure.
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The status is to be displayed in a "stoplight" fashion: green, yellow, and
red; for ok/on-track,
drifting, and trouble respectively.
[00292] Financial data is tracked and displayed for each project, with the
ability to
control time periods, and organization units and roll-ups. The data includes
general expenses,
payroll, and project revenue/income.
[00293] The financials are displayable by business (organizational) unit, with
the
ability to combine organizational units into a composite view. The
organizational units to be
combined are selectable by the user, and selections persist across application
sessions.
[00294] All financials must have the ability to be displayed at resolutions
of: weekly,
monthly quarterly, and yearly, with an optional ability to show the previous
year against the
current year (with the same time resolution).
[00295] Key Goal Tracking allows an organization to list and conveniently
report the
current status of its key goals. A key goal is a quantifiable target of
achievement that can be
monitored and the status of meeting said goal can be displayed based upon
data, e.g.: 25%
Cost Reduction, 99.2% SLA Met.
[00296] - Each key goal has an assignable owner, that is, the person who is
responsible
for tracking and updating the status of the key goal.
[00297] There is a Key Goal maintenance page where Key Goals can be created,
edited
and deleted. The Key Goal owner and administrators have the ability to update
the health
status of the goal, using a "stop-light" indicator (green, yellow, and red),
as specified earlier
for displaying of various health status indicators. From this maintenance
page, the owner and
administrators will be able to define checlcpoints along the course to
satisfying the Key Goal,
which will include a deadline for each. Once created, these checkpoints will
exist under the
Key Goal and can be checked off once they are completed. If the deadline on a
checkpoint
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has passed without being completed, the status of that Key Goal needs to be
set to Red.
Checkpoints can be added, edited and removed at any time.
[00298] Objective Tracking allows an organization to list and conveniently
report the
current status of its objectives. An objective is, unlike a Key Goal, a non-
quantified target of
achievement. While an objective may be monitored and tracked, a status
decision for an
objective is based more upon the reporting manager's thouglits on progress,
than upon data,
e.g.: SLA Improvements, Increase Level 1 Helpdesk Resolution.
[00299] As with the Key Goals, there is a maintenance page with a system to
track
tasks within each objective. Each objective has an assigned owner, who is able
to update the
tasks within the objective. Each task within the objectives will have a
description, a deadline
date, and a check box to be checked once the task has been completed. If the
deadline on a
task has passed without being completed, the status of that objective needs to
be set to Red.
Tasks can be added, edited and removed at any time by the Objective owner or
an
administrator.
[00300] Multi-level reporting allows varying details levels of the projects to
be
reported, from easy to read "stop-light" type charts, to line and bar graphs,
to data sheets.
These reports allow managers and executives to see appropriate detail levels
for each project
and area of interest.
[00301] Each user, wlien logging in to the PMO, will be presented witli a view
of the
various analysis, risk, and data components that they have selected to see.
[00302] There is a standard view provided for users who have not customized
their
view. The standard view will show information about what would encompass the
set of items
that fall under that user's area of responsibility as defined by the
authorizations given the
particular user.
[00303] A project manager will see an overview of all projects he is
responsible for.
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[00304] An IT manager will see a higher level summary of the projects that are
under
his control, with the ability to drill down to the project level as desired.
[00305] Executive managers will see a summary of the entire portfolio, with
the ability
to drill down to the project level as desired.
[00306] In addition to the standard reports and views, the PMO must support ad
hoc
reporting (using tools like e.g., Crystal Reports).
[00307] Using the MIT model of portfolio asset classification, the balance of
the
portfolio across Infrastructure, Transactional, Informational, and Strategic
classifications is
determined for traclcing and comparison against the company's strategic focus.
[00308] The analysis uses a portfolio pyramid that is described by the
following
descriptions. At the base are the infrastructure investments. Built on that
base are the
transactional systems (which need a reliable infrastructure). At the top are
the information
producing and strategic systems.
[00309] The PMO, using the data gathered, along with this model, will analyze
the
investment distribution. This distribution is used to evaluate the orientation
of the IT
portfolio and determine the level of alignment with the company's strategic
focus.
[00310] There needs to be the ability to Custom Define a new Portfolio Balance
scheme, as well as edit the Pre-Packaged solution in case the original system
does not fit the
user's business, or in case they already have a pre-existing metliod to handle
this data.
[00311] There needs to be a second Portfolio Balance Analysis system that will
allow
the balance of all current projects to be displayed based off the Business
Area field in the
Project Profile. This will allow the user to see the distribution of the
Portfolio based on the
business areas the projects are operating beneath.
[00312] This is a dynainically generated display method, since the number of
Business
Areas varies between different users. Once viewing the distribution, the user
can select any
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of the Business Areas and be directed to a list of all the projects within the
Business Area, in
the format described in the Portfolio Surnmary View, detailed later in this
document.
[00313] The Effort Distribution Analysis provides a manager with the ability
to place a
general effort breakdown of the project in the system for analysis and project
plan validation.
The effort breakdown is based on a table of percentages of total effort for
each major phase in
the lifecycle, based on aggregate measures of completed projects. Such a table
is tunable and
verified by the application such that all roll-ups come to the correct
percentages, and the total
for the table rolls-up to 100%.
[00314] Using the percentages listed in the table, the system will determine
if the
projects breakdown is reasonable, within a defined threshold for each phase.
The indicators
are a "stop-light" view of each phase (green, yellow, red) to show where
phases may be under
or over estimated.
[00315] There is an updateable library of project templates, including
instructions and
samples. The library is browsable by the user and allow viewing and
downloading of the
templates. Completed templates is uploadable to the system and assigned to
(associated with)
the particular project to which they pertain. The projects docuinents are
viewable or
downloadable by any appropriately authorized user.
[00316] The templates include:
= Project Plan
= Project Charter
= Software Development Plan
= Quality Plan
= Configuration Management Plan
= Testing Plan
= Issue Traclcing Log
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= Risk Plan
= PMO Monthly Report
= Project Status Report
= Individual Status Report
[00317] There is a PMO homepage, known as a Dasliboard view, which is the
initial
screen that users will see when they move into the PMO software. It is meant
to give a quick,
informative overview of the data stored within the PMO. The Dasliboard will
need to display
data, such as, but not limited to:
= Graphs
= Key Goals
= Objectives
= List of Projects
= Status Indicators where necessary
[00318] For any stop light indicator throughout the program that is determined
via
analysis of values, a method must be created to display in which direction
these items are
varying from the baseline.
[00319] On the Dasliboard main page, if the mouse pointer hovers over one of
the
Projects, a pop-up appears to give an overview of the 6 project facet stop
light indicators.
[00320] The "Project Details" screen is displayed when the user clicks on one
of the
links populating the Projects List.
[00321] All facets of the project are displayed with their coiTesponding stop
liglit
indicators. Each facet is listed as a link to its corresponding data display.
Whichever graph
or data form is being displayed at the current time is highlighted in this
list in an obvious
manner. Additionally, the saine highlighting is applied to which view the user
is currently
accessing.
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[00322] The limits for each facet needs to be manually changeable, and needs
to be
saved once changed.
[00323] The project infoimation such as the sponsor, manager, location, and
project
type is displayed.
[00324] Throughout all of the graphs being shown for the project facets,
coloring and
format are uniform.
[00325] There are always two sets of data displayed for the graphs, the
Actual, and the
Baseline. The yellow and red thresholds will also be graphed, but these will
be based upon a
percentage or fixed value, enumerated separately by the user. The graph will
have a line for
both Actual and Baseline, as well as a variance line both above and below the
baseline for the
yellow and red thresholds.
[00326] The graph, by default, displays 26 weeks. This number is able to be
changed
within the program to show a user defined date range on a project by project
basis. Weeks
start on the Sunday of a given week.
[00327] The customer satisfaction and quality graphs do not utilize a baseline
but
rather definable target zones. The attributes associated with these graphs in
addition to
displaying the zones are the contaimnent percent. The yellow and red lines
will denote target
zones.
[00328] The graph, by default, displays 26 weeks. This number can be changed
within
the program to show a user defined date range on a project by project basis.
Weeks start on
the Sunday of a given week.
[00329] Input screens for all data and limits (or thresholds) are required.
[00330] Graphing is dynamic; that is, it includes a functionality that allows
for the user
to either define custom graphs, or overlay existing graphs in order to analyze
how changes in
one graph influence others.
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[00331] If data entry for the six project facets remains manual, place all
data entry for
the facets on one page for quick entry of weekly data.
[00332] Financial graphs can be displayed in three manners.
= Quarterly - The financial data will be displayed by the quarter for the
current
year.
= Monthly - The financial data will be displayed by month for the current
year.
= Date Range - The financial data will be displayed in a monthly or quarterly
view based upon the dates specified by the user.
[00333] The data for the financial graph are input and stored in some fashion,
either
automatically by working with Tracer, or by manual input on the part of the
project manager.
[00334] There is also a financial graph to display the cumulative totals over
the period
chosen by the administrator.
[00335] Database tables are created to hold required data for displaying the
dashboard
items. This will include the items being tracked, as well as the detailed data
for determining
the status.
[00336] The system has data supplied weekly, and be able to report on those
data on a
week-by-week basis. Each portfolio project will have an arbitrary number of
weeks of
baseline or planned data points, one set for each week for each area. All
project/reporting
areas will record weekly data point each area (for use in comparing to the
baseline, or
indicate the current health/status).
[00337] The system warns users before they can delete Projects, Key Goals, and
Objectives.
[00338] This program is very graphic intensive, wit11 at least 6 graphs per
project. In
order to keep users navigating steadily through the data via any connection,
graphics size
must be kept to a minimum.
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[00339] "Portfolio Summary View" will be is a separate page that the user can
access
from the main page. Perhaps have the icon located at the top of the Portfolio
list, next to the
label 'Portfolio'. That page will provide a general overview of basic facts
regarding all of
the projects inside the system. The projects will be sorted into one of two
headings, Active
and Completed.
[00340] All active projects are listed under the "Active" heading and contain
the
following:
= Name - The name of the project.
= Overall Status - The red/green/yellow status of the project.
= Cost to date - The cumulative cost of the project as listed in the financial
section of the project.
= Estimated Cost to Complete - This will be a dollar amount, input by the
project manager that estimates how much cost is still needed to finish the
project, entered on a regular basis.
= Project Start - This can be based off the project start date listed in the
project
creation screen, and just restated here.
= Estimated Completion Date - Estimated date when the project can be
considered completed.
[00341] All completed projects are listed under the "Completed" heading and
contain
the following:
= Name - The name of the project.
= Total Cost - The total cost of the project, based on the sum of the entries
to the
financial section of each project.
= Initial Budget - A reiteration of what the initial budget was set at from
the
Project Creation screen.
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= On Budget? - This will be one of the red or green indicators. Green meaning
less than 10% over initial budget, and red meaning over budget + 10%.
= Actual Completion Date - Can be drawn from the Project creation screen
when a project is completed.
= Scheduled Completion Date - a reiteration of the original date the project
was
scheduled to be completed upon set on the Project Creation screen.
= On Schedule? - This will be one of the red or green indicators. Green
meaning ahead of schedule or on schedule up to + 2 weeks, and red meaning
after schedule + 2 weeks.
[00342] While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in
detail
above, those skilled in the art who have reviewed the present disclosure will
readily
appreciate that other embodiments can be realized within the scope of the
present invention.
For example, numerical values are illustrative rather than limiting, as are
recitations of
specific hardware, software, and programming techniques. Also, the features of
the invention
can be implemented in a different order from that disclosed herein. Therefore,
the present
invention should be construed as limited only by the appended claims.
