Multi-Project Management In Software Engineering
Software organizations are fundamentally multi-project oriented in order to remain competitive in the industry. However, unlike the traditional project management that describes single projects with sequencing of a critical series of activities, contemporary project management involves the interdependencies of various concurrent projects that are of different sizes, priorities, resource requirements from a common pool, and progress levels. The ability to manage this kind of complexity will determine the success or failure of an organization.
In order to enhance the management competence in this kind of environment, the project top management team should possess both the quality and skill of business strategic management and tactical management. Business management focuses on relating business strategic vision in the organization. It defines an efficient management framework which structures and supports the project team members, ensuring the projects are carried out inline with the organizational goals and objectives. Tactical management, on the other hand, deals with the appropriate technical method and approach to ensure the organizational objectives are being achieved. It is the tactics that produce quantifiable results that rely strongly on resource sharing, planning, prioritization, and project interdependencies.
Tactical management in software engineering represents the techniques within an organization conducted to ensure the successful development and delivery of the products to the customers. It is common enough to be usable within different project teams, and flexible enough to be tailored for individual projects when the need arises. One of the methods to utilize efficient tactical management is simulation in a multi-project environment. The simulation model for a multi-project organization should be built upon a foundation of a multi-project network that is flexible enough to accommodate the interdependencies of various concurrent projects. In this research, System Dynamics theory will be used for the modeling of the simulation, and Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) will be applied on the formation of a multi-project network
Simulations can be used to explore the tactical management of multi-project in a variety of ways. For example, “What will happen to Project A completion date if Project B were delayed?” “What are the effects of resource contention on individual projects?” and “What are the consequences of the high turnover rate of Resource C on the projects that utilize it?”. All these questions can be answered with a formal simulation model. Hence, there is a clear need for effective software multi-project management, and the multi-project simulation model can provide the following benefits to the project managers:
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Managers can assess the effects of resource contention on various projects.
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Managers can understand the interdependencies of the multi-projects, the causal relationships influencing various projects, and the consequences on every project completion date.
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Managers can consider different “what-if” scenarios for assessing the effects of different management policies on project schedule and resource utilization.
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New managers can use the model as a simulator to train themselves with different conditions without the expense of learning using a real project.
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