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Software Project Management and Innovative

One day National Seminar on ‘Software Project Management and Innovative’

The Dept of Computer Science of Bharati Vidyaeeth Vidyapeeth Deemed University Yashwantrao Mohite College, Pune organized UGC sponsored National Seminar on ‘Software Project Management and Innovative Practices’ on Pune, 27th Feb., 2011:The Dept of Computer Science of Bharati Vidyaeeth Vidyapeeth Deemed University Yashwantrao Mohite College, Pune organized UGC sponsored National Seminar on ‘Software Project Management and Innovative Practices’. The Seminar was inaugurated at the hands of Hon’ble Shri. Uday Kothari, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Compulink System Ltd.; Pune. Prin. K. D. Jadhav was in the Chair. Dr. M. S. Prasad, Director MCA, Mrs. Manisha Jagdale was also present on the occasion.
Prof. Mrs. S. S. Shukla, the Organising Secretary and HoD, introduced the theme of the seminar and presented welcome speech . She also took a survey of the activities conducted since inception of the department. It is in the year 1997, the department was inaugurated at the hands of Padmshri Dr. Vijay Bhatkar and since then our students have been enlightened by great personalities in the field of computer science. Mr. Dipak Shikarpur, Dr. Sundarrajan are some of them. Introducing the theme of the seminar Mrs. Shukla said that that there is need to explore the opportunities in the filed of software technology. A project needs a vision and support of various resources and able minds. It is an outcome of integrated efforts of various agencies involved in a project. Each Project has several dimensions such as planning, risk, software configuration management and several others. The place of project manager is very unique in many respects. It encompasses the knowledge, techniques and tools necessary to manage the development of software products. In short project management is a discipline of planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. The traditional waterfall system of furnishing the requirements of the end user has turned into cyclic one as the entire system has undergone drastic change.
Prof. Mrs. P. R. Patil, Convener of the Seminar, introduced the Chief Guest, while Vice Principal Dr. H. P. Deshmukh presented a briefingabout the activities of the College for last three decades period. The volume of research papers written in the light of the theme of the seminar was released at the hands of Hon. Prin. K. D. Jadhav.
In his inaugural address Mr. Uday Kothari shared his experienceby saying that the Project Manager holds a key position for the effective execution of any project. At the outset he acquainted the students with the definitions of the key-terms of the topic. He said that project management requires not only knowledge but the application of that knowledge. Scope management, Time Management, Cost Management, Quality Management, Human Resource Management, Communication Management, Risk Management, Procurement Management and Integration Management are the basic knowledge areas every project manager should keep in mind and must have up-to-date information about it.
It was shocking to see that nearly 80% of the projects are over budgeted projects, delayed and never completed and this is the reason of their failure. “Software is something that can be changed anytime by anyone within no time” is the customary thinking of the client..There are several perspectives the project manager should take into account, they are the perspective of Customer, CEO, VP of Sales, CFO, Administration, HR and others. By and large there is common structure of problems but for many times a single component may create a threat for the entire project.
Scope, Schedule, Team, Budget and Technology are expected to go change at every moment of time. The project manager must have update knowledge of each of these changes taking place around him. The Project Manager should have information of the project perception by the marketing department, its understanding and expectation from the management, its design by the design cell, its actualization by the manufacturing department, and when implemented and the nature of the product as expected by the customer must be in tune with each other.
All these things clearly indicate that every project manager must be dynamic, ready for change and must have ability to visualize the problems. He must be ready with his own planning of disaster management. So a project manager should go for flexible design, its plan or one may call it as architectural plan. The object, technology, needs, and changes in it have to be anticipated by the project manager. He should also adopt solid processes and procedures. The Project manager should also see that there will be a regular changes of responsibilities assigned to the employees under him. There should be change in responsibilities assigned to the employees under him. Their skills, their potentials, their abilities can best be exploited only then when there are regular changes. It has one major benefit that you need not rely only on same man, whose unpredicted absence can bring the system in trouble. So rotation of responsibilities is must. It also keeps them refresh and every ready to deal with innovations. These rotations must be planned rotations. There could be a growth of accumulation of knowledge if we don’t change the responsibilities, but the amount of threat in it is more than its gain.
The project manager should always keep in mind:

Who is his target audience?
What is the target environment?
Security, performance, scalability, usability, volume, legalities, Data sensitivity, access rights etc.

The application designed and developed by the company may work in the company environment but it may not work in the environment of the end user. Many projects fail only on this account. It has been observed over years that the companies do not use quality test data for their project. A good data indicates several defects and errors in the project. If these mistakes or loopholes can be identified at the right time, there can be made necessary changes with the system. So use all the techniques to avoid the further problems, which will otherwise be out of our reach and will cause project failure.
The right use of right tool for right job is the most important principle the project manager should keep in mind. Selection of right and most appropriate technology requires knowledge of several other systems developed by others. He should have knowledge of the past techniques, present status of technology and future expectations of the market. Though not demanded by the customer, what other innovations can be possible within the domain and limitation of data can only be understood by the project manager. So its remains the duty of the project manager to make maximum and best utilization of the data.
He should develop a team and not group of people. Care has to be taken that no influential member is hijacking the project for their personal goal and objective. It should also be seen that maximum output should be there almost on all frontiers. The drawbacks of human nature, behavior, limitations, scopes, the roles of team members and their accountability should be checked from time to time. In short the project manager should prioritize the needs of the time and his customers.
Prof. Mrs. J. A. Dhanke proposed vote of thanks, while Prof. Mrs. S. R. Jagtap anchored the program.
The second session was graced by two resource persons. Initially Mr.Omprakash Rathi, Software Consultant, Mahindra Bristle Cone India Ltd, Mumbai gave presentation onProject Management in Industry & Innovative Application. He demonstrated the role of actual project management used in industry with case study. His session focused on the following points like Def Project : A project in business and science is a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.
Also he stressed on Purpose and objectives :

Are we able to define clear, measurable objectives that identify what is to be achieved?
Are the objectives reasonable, achievable and measurable?
Do the sponsors and other stakeholders all understand and agree?
Scope :Is the project addressing the overall business change (ie people, process and technology elements), or just the technology?
Should the results be delivered as a single "big bang", or could there be stages or phases of delivery?
Is it clear what other projects or initiatives are in planned or in progress that could impact upon this project? Will they compete for resources? Will they make our business solution a moving target? Will we require interim solutions?

Improper communication among employees can lead to misunderstandings and negatively impact the performance of the firm. A project manager can be a bridge among the diversified branches of project undertaking.
Finally he stated that Project management is an essential segment in every organization. Be it, the small scale enterprises or corporate giants, project management has the power to transform the market standing of a company and help it soar high in the sky.
Mrs Manisha Jagdale, Marketing Manager, Synechron Pune guided on “Business development and Marketing”. She stressed on the role of project manager in marketing of software products in very interesting manner. The right business development strategies can help your credit union improve member satisfaction, build repeat business, and achieve superior business performance. Business development is the key to building your credit union’s future—use our training and resources to ensure that you’re making the best strategic choices.
Before you can win proposals, you must position your business with the right marketing efforts. A business development program includes marketing assessments to identify your target markets, relationship marketing, lead generation and qualification, sales, customer and competitive intelligence gathering, and ultimately proposal writing. If you don't position yourself with the right business development and marketing efforts, your chances of winning the proposal are greatly diminished. Here are some marketing and business development tips.
Business development for project managers provides an approach to business development that technical staff can easily follow. If you have project managers who have been given responsibility for growth or sales but don't have the right background to feel comfortable with it. Most companies already have a business development process. Improvements are incremental and build on what's there. When you are introducing a business development process to an organization that has never had one or are completely starting over, it's much more difficult. If you change your perspective, you might see a big difference in your ability to gather the right information you need to win a business opportunity.
In the Third session, first speaker was Mr.Sarang Munshi, Associate Manager, Accenture, Pune. He delivered talk on “Project Management: Role of Effective Communication” .He in his lecture imbibed the importance of Effective communication More than just the content of a message, communication happens in body language, vocal tone and facial expressions. Written communication also carries a tone, and its professionalism and courtesy aids the preventability of its underlying ideas. He explained different types of communication :
Verbal Communications : When conversing with a colleague, acquaintance or family member, a communicator wants to impart information and also create rapport. To create a comfortable environment for verbal communications, remember that conversation is dialogue and not a monologue. Let all parties speak equally, and don't dominate the conversation. Listening and being interested in the other person's point of view aids effective communication.
Written Communications :When a communication must take place in writing, whether by email, post mail, or printed posted item, it must still effectively convey the intended message while creating credibility for the writer. Using proper grammar and spelling, while keeping the tone of the communication appropriate to its message, aids the writer in conveying a point. A thank you letter should be warm and friendly, while a business memorandum will stick to the facts, but both should display clarity and thoughtfulness.
Misconceptions
Disagreement is an acceptable subject for communication. The goal of effective communication is not to avoid disagreements, but to be amicable. When disagreeing with a party, be sure to listen completely to her point of view, then express factual points in a calm manner that describes the points of disagreement.
He explained the importance of communication like.

Expressing
Education
Building Relationships
Entertainment:
Decision-making.

Second speaker in the third session was Mr.Vaman Jawdekar, Project Consultant PICT, Pune. He elaborated on “Project Management Information System” . Waman Jawdekar said that a management information system (MIS) is a system that provides information needed to manage organizations effectively. Management information systems are regarded to be a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. He explained that MIS used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems.
Mr.Jawdekar told the importance of following in management information system

Management
Business Intelligence
Business Performance Management
Business rules
Data Mining
Predictive analytics
Purchase order request
Enterprise Information System
Enterprise Architecture
Information technology governance
Information technology management
Knowledge management
Management by objectives

He highlighted the concept of dash board and score card with case study. Dr.M.S.Prasad was the chairperson for the session.
The seminar concluded with valedictory function in which vote of thanks was proposed by Mrs.Y.V.Bhapkar. The seminar ended with the valedictory function. The function was graced by Dr. M.S. Prasad ,Former Director ,IMED , Pune .Mrs. S. S. Shukla extended warm welcome to all the participants and also thanked them for making the Seminar a grand success. The certificates of participation were presented by Dr.M.S.Prasad . 39 delegates and 143 students had registered for the seminar.