Project Management: Configuration Management

Configuration management focuses on establishing and maintaining the consistency of a system or product's performance with its requirements, design and operational information.  By identifying the functional and physical attributes of the system or product at various points in time -- and by regularly updating those attributes using a defined change control process -- a system or product's integrity and traceability are maintained and controled throughout the development life cycle.  Project configuration management (PCM) is the collective body of processes, activities, tools and methodologies used to manage these items during the project life cycle, and this management system helps to insure that the post-project functionality is documented. 

Throughout the life of a project, information is needed to help direct and manage the project.  Creating, modifying and storing these items is an important part of the project.  The following items are typically under the control of the PCM process:

• Project Artifacts - project documents, such as the project charter, statement of work, project management plan, WBS, project schedule etc..., are all project artifacts that need to be stored for reference purposes (both during and after a project)
• Structure - since these project artifacts are important collections of project related information, a method of structuring these documents is needed.  Information must be organized in an efficient way, allowing for the easy retrieval, storage and use of the information
• Item Identification - items selected are typically at a level of significance to present the project manager or sponsor with recognizable points of achievements
• Taxonomy Scheme - unique identification and naming conventions must be applied to all project artifacts such that all configuration management items can be tracked and cataloged

Applying configuration management principles to project artifacts ensures:

• The correct version of the item is in use by the project team
• Changes to items are only made by authorized individuals
• A planned means of notifying stakeholders of approved changes is in place
• A record is kept to support auditing and project closure activities

Project Management: Estimation

Project estimating - the act of creating a quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome of a project activity, cost and effort.

Effective project estimating is a key contributor to the successful planning and delivery of proejct objectives.  A project uses the cost, resource and duration estimates along with the expected benefits to build the business case for the project.  The initial estimates are used to baseline the project against the ongoing actual cost, resource and duration estimates.  Accuracy is the key here.  Project sponsors need to be able to trust that their project managers can deliver accurate and objective estimates for their projects.  This is achieved using widely recognized and consistenly applied estimation standards. 

There are several common characteristics of a good estimates.  They are:

• Clear identification of task - the estimator need to be provided with the description, ground rules, assumptions and technical/performance characteristics of each task
• Broad participation in preparing estimates - all stakeholders should be involved, and data should be independently verified for accuracy and reliability
• Availability of valid data - numerous sources of suitable and relevant data should be used when coming up with the estimates
• Standardized structure for the estimate - a standard work breakdown structure should be used, which will result in easier comparisons to similar projects
• Provisions for uncertainties - uncertainties need to be identified and contingencies need to be incorporated in the estimate in order to cover the effect of the known and unknown
• Independent review of estimates - this is critical in establishing confidence in the estimate
• Revision of estimates for significant changes - large changes that affect costs can significantly influence project decisions & therefore re-estimation should take place when large scale changes in the project occur

There are a number of methods in which a project manager may go about providing estimates:

• Analogous estimation - a top down estimation technique, which uses similar projects as a basis for developing estimates for the current project
• Historical analysis - a bottom up estimation technique, which uses similar projects as a basis for developing estimates for the current project
• Parametric estimation - the use of parameters, multiplied by the number of hours for each parameter, to create a total estimation for the project
• Bottom-up estimation - gathering all the low level deliverables, activities, tasks and estimates and rolling them up to get a total for the project
• 3 point estimation - a weighted average estimate based on the optimistic, pessimistic and most likely estimate
• Rolling wave estimation - an iterative approach whereby the estimator refines his/her estimate as details for the activities become more available
• Expert Judgement - relying on the expertise of those who have performed similar work in the past
• Delphi estimation - a combination of expert judgement and history, whereby experts share their estimates with each other until a consensus is reached

Project estimation standards occur throughout the life of the project in the following life cycle stages:

• Prepare the estimate - this stage is the creation of the estimating approach, which includes the identification of activities, determining the techniques to be used to estimate, identifying the estimating team, preparing estimating inputs, and documenting any constraints to the estimates
• Create the estimate - this is the stage when estimating activity resources, activity durations, and costs are performed for the project
• Manage estimates - this stage involves many activities that are used to manage the estimate, including the change control process, calibrating the forecast and comparing actual results to the baseline
• Improve estimating process - as the project progresses, lessons learned are applied to the standard project estimation life cycle so that improvements can be utilized in future project estimations