Life Cycle Approach to Managing an AM/FM/GIS Project
Jay Stinson, PMP
Intergraph Corporation
Huntsville, Alabama 35894-0001 (LR24B1)
Abstract
When determining why projects fail or succeed, one may consider who managed the project which
project resources were available, and the methodology utilized by the team to assure a valid development
process. Experience indicates that a methodology that applies a disciplined, life-cycle approach offers
the best chance for success. This paper will discuss a project’s major phases: assess, define, design,
build, deliver, and maintain. It will discuss the project manager’s roles and how he or she can identifi
and manage high risk areas. In conclusion, we will discuss why projects fail and what we can do as
project managers to avoid the dangers.
Introduction
The three major components of a project are the life cycle process, project management and available
resources. By recognizing and managing these aspects, you will increase the chances of being
successfid. This approach will help ensure that you have precise user requirements, reasonable and
achievable expectations, correct technology choices, cost-effective and efilcient resource allocation, and
distinctly identified critical issues. All of this can be accomplished when the goals are well defined and
teamwork is paramount.
It is important to realize that the project manager is responsible for bringing together these three major
project components. IrI most companies, a project manager does not have direct managerial control over
the project personnel. Instead, team members are assigned to the project on an as-needed basis. This
means that a project manager cannot depend on positional power to get the job completed, but must
convince people that they need to perform the work.
Typically, a project manager has a minimum often years experience and is well-respected by company
executives. A project manager usually demonstrates ability in the following areas:
- Consultation. A project manager should have a working knowledge of the technoloW being
implemented. He or she must be able to discuss technical issues and make good business
decisions based on that information. The project manager must also have a good working
knowledge of the business being addressed by that technology.
- Sales. A project manager must be able to state convincing reasons to support the project.
Ability to sell the benefits of the project and work within the political system are very
important.
- Management. A project manager must have excellent organizational skills to administer a
project eftlciently. He or she must also demonstrate strong leadership skills, possess a
working knowledge of the different project phases, and define personal responsibilities
clearly.
Project Phases
Previously, we referred to the major phases of a project. This section will discuss the major activities
and deliverables for each phase. Prior to beginning the first phase (Assess), the company should develop
a Strategic Plan, positioning the project objectives in context with the overall corporate goals and
directives. Typically, a strategic plan develops a business case for fiture projects and the appropriate
sequencing of each project. This three-to-five-year plan will be used as a road map for the corporation’s
major system developments and integration efforts.
The company may select an outside vendor or integration company to start the project’s early phases. In
an AM/FM/GIS project clients can choose vendors initially, or they can hire an independent consultant
to lead them through the selection process. Selecting the primary technology providers prior to the
beginning of the assessment phase is recommended.
Assess Phase
The purpose of the Assess phase is to define or develop the following:
- High-level objectives and goals.
- The system’s benefits (business case).
- Diagrams of major systems and interface requirements (Context Diagram).
- Potential users of the system.
- The system platform (the operating system, such as Microsoft Windows NT; the relational
database system; and so on,),
- Internal and external resources.
- Major developmental activities and schedules (high-level Gantt chart).
- Budgetary estimates (Rough Order of Magnitude).
The result of the Assess phase is a document defining the overall project plan and budgetary estimates.
This assessment can then be presented to executive management for approval to proceed to the next
project phase.
Define Phase
The Define phase helps avoid a common pitfall in systems development: deciding “how” the system will
do the job before deciding “what” the system will do. The tendency is to jump into development without
delay. However, experience has shown that time spent in developing the functional requirements for a
system reaps great rewards later in the project’s life.
Many companies will conduct Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions with a select group of users and
developers to define the system requirements. During this phase, designers will develop more detailed
data flow and work flow diagrams along with end-user functional requirements, Information Systems
staff will focus on setting standards for technology issues such as software platforms, servers, client
stations, and network requirements,
The deliverable for this phase is a Functional Requirements Specification (FRS). By the end of this
phase, the external vendors should know the system requirements well enough to prepare a fixed-price
Scope of Work for designing and building the system.
Desire Phase
In the project’s Design Phase, the requirements and concepts from the Define Phase are refined and
embodied in a Detail Design that becomes the blueprint of the system. The design team should pay close
attention to design constraints, both business and technical, in order to produce a solution that meets the
fictional requirements and the business decision criteria laid out in the Strategic Plan and Assessment
document.
During the Design phase, a series of workshops will be held with subject-matter-experts (SMES) to
document how the system will be developed. Typically, the design teams are divided into several
functional groups. Engineering Design, Outage Management, Work Management and Financial are a
few of the business areas that could be involved in an AM/FM/GIS project.
The deliverable from the Design Phase is a comprehensive Detail Design Document (DDD). A peer
review or design review is recommended prior to final acceptance of the design. During this review
session, the lead designers would walk through the document to validate its viability as a reasonable
approach. This is an excellent opportunity to present any issues that management needs to resolve.
Build Phase
Armed with a clear set of requirements and a detail design, the development team can build the
AM/FM/GIS application and other necessary applications and interfaces. It is critical that the lead
project designers continue with the project as technical leads who will direct the development activity.
Documenting the entire design intent is sometimes impossible; therefore, the lead designers must act as
interpreters. This continuation of staff helps to ensure a smooth transition from phase to phase.
III order to avoid the “big bang” delivery at the end of this phase, a series of incremental deliveries is
recommended. This not only provides the project manager with direct feedback on the developers’
progress, but also allows the end users to verify the software by conducting unit tests. Incremental
deliveries will greatly enhance your ability to manage project schedules, control user expectations,
improve soflsvare quality, and provide direct feedback to your developers prior to final delivery.
During the Build phase, the project manager representing the client should turn his or her focus to
developing test plans and deployment schedules. These test plans will consist of fictional requirements
354?matrices and work flow scenarios that the system should support. Initial planning for the system
deployment should begin in order to assure that the infrastructure will be in place prior to deployment.
These activities could include purchases of client and server hardware and software, network
infrastructure, end-user training, a configuration management plan, and a support organization to manage
and maintain the system.
