Customer Reviews

Effective Software Project Management (Wiley Desktop Editions)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many project managers read the PMBOK and received Project Management training. Then they came to manage software development projects. They began to use their new PM tools and, still, many of them failed miserably! The book "Software Project Secrets" by George Stepanek explained why.

This book aims to fill a gap in the software development arena. It?s really the first book which have the goal to set out strategies for the integration of project management and systems development approaches (and the solution to the problem explained in the firt paragraph).

Dr. Wysocky gives 5 SDPM strategies:

- Linear
- Incremental
- Iterative
- Adaptive (taken from Dr. Wisocki book called "Effective Project Management, 3rd Edition" which I read also)
- Extreme

Each strategy have 7 chapters which mostly follows the PMBOK processes. For example: Iterative SDPM Strategy (a summary of the other chapters), The Iterative SDPM Scoping Phase, The Iterative SDPM Planning Phase, The Iterative SDPM Launching Phase, The Iterative SDPM Monitoring and Controlling Phase, The Iterative SDPM Closing Phase, The Iterative SDPM Strategy Summary.

For someone like me, who already read a lot of agile software development and agile project management books, little is really new stuff. But I will benefit a lot from this book, mainly because will be a good reference to teach my students and team members about good software project management.

There are some things which I believe could result in an even more complete book (maybe in the next edition) and which resulted in my 4 stars review. I will give some pointers to someone who want to have a deep treatment of the subjects below:

- The choice of strategies is based mainly in how is our knowledge of the goal and the solution to the project. Dr. Wysocki splits the solution in requirements, functions and features. The problem is there is very little explanation about these different levels of solution. Only on pages 85-87 and 315 we have a small example. But it is not very detailed, even on the dowload area of the book. I believe more and better examples will help a lot, specially to project managers entering the field of software development and to students, to find out how to choose the best strategy for the circumstances given. I believe the book lost a lot of its power because of the little guidance on how to choose the strategy and examples to help identify the situations.

- Sometimes I had the impression of repetition in some chapters. But when I reached the end of the book I saw the impossibility to do otherwise. Some information about each process inevitably repeats.

- The other thing I believe could be helpful is to talk about the importance and how to: estimate software projects, refactoring, unit testing, version control, change management and issue tracking, testing process, etc. To complement this book I recomend "Applied Software Project Management" by Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene and also "Ship it! A Practical Guide to Successful Software Projects" by Jared Richardson, William Gwaltney.

In summary, a very good book which finally open the stage to the necessity of merging PM and systems development processes. An important book to project managers who really want to do a difference (in favour of the light side of the Force :-) ! ) for the software team they will lead!

I have taken many courses in project management who's techniques are more geared towards defined or construction style projects and so are most books out there in the market, this book is a refreshing departure from the norm as it integrates SDLC (s) both traditional and modern with project management processes. The author gives good insight in choosing the appropriate SDLC for a given situation and then elaborates for the chosen SDLC how to set expectations, milestones and deliverables for: requirements, WBS, cost, stakeholders etc. The book does a good job at conveying the essence of the SDLC(s) and Project Management techniques however, depending on your background, I recommend that you read two books, one on SDLC (Craig Larman's Agile & Iterative development ISBN 0131111558) and the other on Project Management (Kathy Schwalbe's Information Technology Project Management ISBN: 0619215267) prior to reading this book.

This book tends to be more on the soft side of project management, which is important, however to give good balance I feel that the next edition could add more hardcore techniques and metrics. All in all, a very useful book for team leads, analysts, and managers involved in Software Development.

In a few words, this book belongs in the library of anyone who claims to be a project manager! Dr. Wysocki's perspective represents the "avant-garde" of software development research and thinking. The content is: highly relevant - wonderfully practical - immediately applicable. I am a Project Manager consultant and instructor and this material has already made a difference in how I approach projects and how I communicate about project management... "A must-read!" Franck J. Gerard of Mount Laurel, New Jersey

Software is hard to manage. As I write this, the new Vista operating system from Microsoft has just been delayed again. If Microsoft can't manage a software project to get it on schedule, who could.

This book makes the statement that the disciplines of software development and project management are converging. That the techniques that have been developed and refined in the project management area over recent years have reached a point where the uncertainty inherent in software projects can be accommodated.

The book is written as a comprehensive reference for professional software development project managers, and for those who aspire to that profession. The main thrust of the book is the development of a body of knowledge he calls SDPM (Software Development Project Management). The book is by no means a manual on the Agile software system, but it does discuss Agile and its function in SDPM.

This is a pioneering book that brings some sense into the software development arena.

The premise of the book is excellent. Don't cram every project into a one-size fits all methodology. Recognize the software development lifecycle (SDLC) can range from a linear waterfall method to pure agile. The unique characteristics of your business environment and your project determine what approach is appropriate.

I would give 5 stars if the author had presented this idea, provided his summary of the SDLCs and outlined his SDLC selection approach. The idea seems simple, but it is important and often missed.

Unfortunately, he follows with hundreds of pages detailing basic theory of project management, customized slightly for each SDLC. The resulting repition is highly confusing (due to the minor variations) and ensures the reader will remember nothing more than the first few chapters of the book.

Read the first section and skip the rest. The details of a SDLC are only learned through experience.

Didn't impress me too much. But I am a hard person for that. And I am too practical, to see huge value in too-much-general-knowledge-and-theory book. It's not that book is bad or something. Just it was not for me.

I'm really sorry that I purchased this book. It's huge and absolutely without any sense. The author repeats very well known things and makes the process of reading very difficult because he changed almost all commonly used terms to his own interpretation. Anyway, I don't advise even to buy it.