book

Righting Software

by Juval Lowy

December 2019

Intermediate to advanced

480 pages

12h 41m

English

Addison-Wesley Professional

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How This Book Is OrganizedSome Assumptions About the ReaderWhat You Need to Use This BookConventions Used in This BookAdditional Online ResourcesAcknowledgments
What Is The Method?What The Method Is Not

Avoid Functional DecompositionVolatility-Based DecompositionIdentifying Volatility
Use Cases and RequirementsLayered ApproachTypical LayersClassification GuidelinesSubsystems and ServicesOpen and Closed Architectures
Requirements and ChangesComposable DesignThere Is No FeatureHandling Change
System OverviewThe Anti-Design EffortBusiness AlignmentThe ArchitectureDesign ValidationWhat’s Next?
Why Project Design?
Defining SuccessProject Initial StaffingEducated DecisionsServices and DevelopersEffort EstimationsCritical Path AnalysisScheduling ActivitiesProject CostEarned Value PlanningRoles and Responsibilities
The Network DiagramFloatsFloats-Based Scheduling
Accelerating Software ProjectsSchedule CompressionTime–Cost CurveAvoiding Classic MistakesProject Cost ElementsNetwork Compression
Choosing OptionsTime–Risk CurveRisk ModelingCompression and RiskRisk DecompressionRisk Metrics
The MissionFinding the Normal SolutionNetwork CompressionEfficiency AnalysisTime–Cost CurvePlanning and RiskSDP Review
God ActivitiesRisk Crossover PointFinding the Decompression TargetGeometric RiskExecution ComplexityVery Large ProjectsSmall ProjectsDesign by Layers
EstimationsDependencies and Project NetworkThe Normal SolutionCompressed SolutionDesign by LayersSubcritical SolutionComparing the OptionsPlanning and RiskPreparing for the SDP Review
When to Design a ProjectGeneral GuidelinesDesign of Project DesignIn PerspectiveThe Hand-OffIn PracticeDebriefing Project DesignAbout Quality
Activity Life Cycle and StatusProject StatusTracking Progress and EffortProjectionsProjections and Corrective ActionsMore on Projections
Is This a Good Design?Modularity and CostServices and ContractsFactoring ContractsContract Design MetricsThe Contract Design Challenge
The Prime DirectiveDirectivesSystem Design GuidelinesProject Design GuidelinesProject Tracking GuidelinesService Contract Design Guidelines

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10. Risk

As demonstrated in Chapter 9, every project always has several design options that offer different combinations of time and cost. Some of these options will likely be more aggressive or riskier than other options. In essence, each project design option is a point in a three-dimensional space whose axes are time, cost, and risk. Decision makers should be able to take the risk into account when choosing a project design option—in fact, they must be able to do so. When you design a project, you must be able to quantify the risk of the options.

Most people recognize the risk axis but tend to ignore it since they cannot measure or quantify it. This invariably leads to poor results caused by applying a two-dimensional model (time and cost) ...