Effective Software Project Management

The Linear SDPM Strategy

The Linear SDPM strategy is the simplest and most intuitive of the five strategies discussed in this book. It assumes having as nearly perfect information about goal and solution as can reasonably be expected. The strategy is based on that assumption and does not easily accommodate any deviations. The Linear project management life cycle consists of five phases performed in a linear fashion. Figure 3-1 provides an overview of the Linear SDPM strategy. Chapters 4–9 will explore these phases in more detail.

Figure 3-1. The Linear SDPM strategy

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Scope Phase

First, note that the scoping phases for both the linear software development life cycle and the project management life cycle are concurrent. They are also integrated. Depending on the nature and size of the project, the scoping phase can be anything from a few hours across the table by the customer and the project manager to a week-long planned agenda meeting attended by the core project team and several representatives from the customer side. For the simpler case, the Conditions of Satisfaction (see Appendix D) would work quite nicely. For the more demanding case, the week-long planned agenda meeting might cover project scope, business case, requirements gathering, Project Overview Statement (see Appendix C), and a high-level project schedule with perhaps milestones identified. ...