The Client as a Real Option in Successful Software Project Management

(The CPPM Model)

Rehan Akbar, Mohd Fadzil Hassan, *Azrai Abdullah, Sohail Safdar, Muhammad Aasim Qureshi Department of Computer and Information Sciences

*Department of Management and Humanities Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia

Abstract – Being able to understand the client’s perspectiveduring software project management is considered as therequired key skill of project managers. It deals with howclient feels thinks, behaves and expect. Project managerswith their experiences and skills can understand and practice it. The role of client in software developmentprojects is critical for project success. Besides thestandardized processes, client is the key factor of projectsuccess. Unfortunately, limited attention is given to this most important aspect of project management. Very limitedresearch works highlight this important factor. This paperdescribes the important role of client through a CPPMmodel and explains its various elements through modeldiagram. The model would help project managers inunderstanding the client’s behavior and its practicalimplementation. The paper describes how to apply this approach in projects and follow it through the projectlifecycle. A short qualitative case study of real projects is performed to validate the model. The outcome of the paperis the introduction of new project management approach. The research aims at giving the right direction to the projectmanagement activities by following client based approaches.

Keywords- Client’s Perspective; Process; Project management;

I. INTRODUCTION

Since last 15 years, improvements in the performanceof the software industry are quite constant. The Global Software Development (GSD) has introduced many new trends such as project outsourcing [1]. More advanced tools and technologies have been introduced in addition to the efficient light weight processes [2],[3] but their impact on improvement processes of projects isnot that much remarkable. The software development and project management are still facing problems and issues [2]. According to [7] neither any project nor any process is identical.

978-1-4577-1884-7/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE

On one side this has raised many questions on the existing approaches of software development and onthe other side abilities of the project managers have been questioned. Globalization (GSD) has tremendouslychanged the overall software development paradigms [4],[5]. It is observed that consequences of GSD has emerged in the form of project outsourcing and fast paced softwaredevelopment. It is found that the change in the pace of software development is due to the direct intervention ofclient in the software projects as a result of project outsourcing. In another research work, the involvement ofclient is a considered as a key success factor [6].

The agile based methodologies are widely in practice since the globalization of IT. Agile methodologies have increasingly replaced the traditional approaches and well established standards. Standards like CMMI and ISOare normally followed by large companies having ampleresources as compared to the small and medium size companies. It is also reported that project managers are not that much in favor of heavy weight approaches and standards, and consider them unnecessary [14].

The role and responsibilities of project manager in such rapidly changing scenarios is quite critical and debatable. It requires versatility, dynamism and diversification from this role. A project manager needs to be more proactive and functional at multiple ends. Taking careof many necessary, unnecessary and unwanted factors inthe vast interest of project is obligatory for a project manager. In the realm of these facts, some otherelements need to be taken care of by the projectmanagers as a part of their work. Considering andimplementing those factors is contributing towards project success.

This research identifies the client as one of the most important factor in software project management. The study in this paper emphasizes on using client’sperspective factor [8] for good project management.

Project managers intentionally and in more than 95%of the projects try to follow the client’s perspective. It might not be documented but more likely mind mapping. Majority of the project managers prefer client’s priorities and requirements over the established processes. Invarious studies such as [8] the importance of the role ofclient is described from various aspects. It is now the need to formally accept this fact and realize it as an important approach for successful project management.This element has been realized by the businessmanagement and HR personnel as their front line strategy[7]. All their policies and lines of action are formalized onthis factor. Unlike business management personnel, software development companies have ignored this important aspect. Normally projects in a software companies are at high risk and some of them are prematurely closed by the client [9]. It is reported in a study that 85% of the projects fail [10]. Weak project management is one of the reasons.

Weak project management is associated withincapabilities of the project managers. As we have mentioned that a project manager needs to take care of all those factors that are directly or indirectly related to the software project. Lack of attention, ignorance, carelessness and inability to foresee the importance of a factor usually creates problems for the projects. Good project managers with their experiences and skills canhave an idea of how important a factor is for a project. The factors which are applicable to one project may not be for others. Experience and perception are two attributes of a project manager by which he/she can analyze the situations and identify such factors. Client is identified asthe only factor which is equally important in all projects irrespective of their size and scope. Ignoring this element may cause mishandling in certain situations.

Understanding the client’s perspective and practicing it is the requirement of the software projects to be fulfilled by the project managers. In this study, this important aspect is analyzed and findings are made on how toeffectively use it in project management activities.

This paper reproduces the spider web model of client’s perspective [8], and reshapes it in the context of project management. The proposed model is based on the study of real projects; findings are based on experiences of project managers and their observations. The Client’s Perspective based Project Management (CPPM) model ispresented which is based on the model presented by [8]. The paper emphasizes on considering client’s perspective as an important approach for successful project management.

II. CLIENT’S PERSPECTIVEAccording to a study of business management

sciences, understanding the perspective of clientis considered as the key skill of successful business managers [6]. [11] has highlighted it in an article bysaying that putting yourself in client’s shoes. Practicing the client’s perspective during software development projects is similar to the business management projects with few technical exceptions. In today’s IT, understanding this concept and practicing it is the requirement of new emerging development paradigms. We have described this concept on the foundations provided by business studies in the context of IT projects.

A. Understanding the Client’s PerspectiveThe concept is simple enough to understand and

practice. It means think in the way client thinks. It is more likely a mind reading of the client. It could only be achieved with experience and skills of a project manager[8]. Project manager need to be more keen, analytical, good observer and critical in this regard.

The client’s perspective requires that each project management activity should be accordingto the requirements of the client. Project management process should be those which satisfies client and moreover, client wants them to be adopted.

[11] has also emphasized on business managers to understand and practice it. Relating it to the software projects, it is observed that requirements of the client, priorities and preferences become more important for aproject manager as compare to processes. Expectations of client need to be taken care of throughout the project life cycle. Shortly we can classify it as client -oriented softwaredevelopment and project management.

The success and overwhelming response to agile-based methodologies is also attributed to the client factor on which agile models are based. Software engineering researchers might have some concerns with client oriented practices versus process based. This approach among software engineering researchers is new. It is hard to transform existingprocesses into client based processes. This is a realisticapproach which is missing from the existing works presented on software engineering and projectmanagement practices.

Good and experienced project managers always planand form their strategies by anticipating client. Theymodify the project plans and update the schedules according to the changing requirements. Changing and uncertain behavior of client demands from the project managers to adopt the flexible processes, modify them and improve accordingly to achieve the satisfaction of the client.

B. Practicing the Client’s PerspectiveIt is found that the requirements in software projects

change frequently. Sophisticated processes and practices are adopted by the project managers to handle them. Client normally creates benchmarks of the performance of the software team in making its plans and suggestingfuture requirements. The frequency of changing andupdating requirements vary significantly with respect to the size of the project. Project duration plays a significant role in this regard [12]. Good project managers alwaysfollow the approach of planning according to the client’s expectations. They adopt only that processes for which client is mainly concerned such as requirement tracking procedures, tasks allocation etc.

[8] has described how to maintain and practice client’s perspective as:

• There should not be communication gap between client and project team particularly project manager. Communication mediums such as phone calls, emails, chatting sessions, meetings should be adopted.

• Documentation

• Previous experience with the same client.

In addition to these, the frequency ofinteraction with the client should be high. How muchfrequent the interaction would be, that much easy it would be to analyze and understand the client.

Project planning according to the client’s perspective is like a war strategy which is made by anticipatingand spying on opponent’s resources and movements [8]. It is observed that understanding the client’s perspective during initial phases of the project has a technical advantage over other factors at later stagesof the project. Understanding, practicing and maintaining client’s perspective makes project more successful and ensures smooth progress of the project.

III. THE CPPM MODEL During this study, we studied a number of researchworks. It was observed that rarely any researcher havepaid attention to this important aspect of project management. No proper model or framework on client’sperspective was found except very limited description onthe role of client. We have adopted the client’s perspective model [8], reproduced and modified it in our work according to the project management requirements. The new proposed Client’s Perspective based Project Management (CPPM) model is designed by mapping project management practices on client’s perspective model [8] as shown in figure 1.The model is designed based on the extractions of analysis of real projects, archival data of projects, discussions with the project managers, experience and literature study.

The CPPM model emphasizes that projectplanning, scheduling and management activities should be based on the client’s perspective elements as described earlier and also by [8]. A number of researchers have emphasized on the client’s interaction methodology during software projects.

The outer and inner circles of CPPM model as shown in figure 1 represents the project management for each phase and activity of software processes throughout the project. The core functionality of the model is based on the concept of spider web model [8].

The model emphasizes that all project management activities that a project manager performs should be client oriented. Adopt and modify the processes as client requires. Adopt a process that client wants, leave a process, modify a process, replace a process and tailoring of the process should be done as how client wants them to be. The details on spider web model can be seen in [8].

In the CPPM model, client’s perspective based project management is recommended for each iteration, and phase of the project. This has represented through separate circles covering each iteration as shown infigure 1.

Project managers should manage each phase of the project keeping in view the requirements and expectations of client. Client management is an important aspect of project management. In addition to the project manager, the software team must also realize the importance of this aspect.

From the analysis of the projects running in a company and informal meetings with the project managers, it is identified that a project manager should have the following attributes in order to follow the new proposed approach:

i. Early adopter ii. Vigilant iii. Strong decision making iv. Determined v. Courage to take risks vi. Innovative vii. Change maker

The concept of client’s perspective is not that much hard to adopt practically in those projects which are already running. A project manager with these attributes and strong decision making power can adopt this new generation approach and start practicing it in its own project. Though risks are involved at early stage but at later stages improvements in the project progress and satisfaction of client are remarkable.

A comprehensive case study is performed to validate the model. Two projects in a software company were closely analyzed as “observer participant” and informal interviews [13] were conducted with the project managers. In the next section, the findings of the case study are summarized.

IV. CASE STUDY

The model has been validated through a case study of real projects based on qualitative techniques. The embedded type case study is selected and data is collected through observations as a participant observer. The model is implemented as a process in real projects. The projectdocumentation including project schedule, plans, requirement gathering and tracking processes and project management documentation is made as a result. Coding technique is used to derive results from the qualitative data. The names of both projects have been changed due to the company’s privacy policy. The informal sessions of interview type discussions were held with the project managers. See table 1 & 2 for details. Theaverage experience of each project manager was more than 5 years. Both projects were outsourced and belonged to different domains. The company was following agilebased methodologies. The informal sessions of

interviews with project managers were conducted at different occasions throughout the project lifecycle.

The CPPM model was adopted and practiced by the both project managers in their projects and observations were recorded in the form of project documentation.

It was observed that clients in both projects were more interested in the following minimum set of processes:

i. Project plan & scheduleii. Resource allocation iii. Updates to the client

Both clients were wanted to know only the current project plan and delivery dates, how tasks are allocatedto the team resources and frequently updating client ondaily basis about the current progress, problems and issues.Client wanted to know how resources are fully utilized whom he/she was paying, coding progress and delivery dates.

Both project managers defined minimum set of processes to fulfill such requirements of the clients. Gradually with the release of each iteration the confidence of the client increased and its satisfaction on the teamperformance was better as we had observed 3 months earlier in the same projects. The model is still in use in the projects and observations are still being made.

TABLE 1. TEAM INFORMATION

Attributes GChat Project SocialNet ProjectTeam Size 8-10 persons 6-8 personsTeam Structure Hierarchical HierarchicalPM Skill Level High HighExperience 5+ years 5+ years

TABLE 2. TECHNICAL DETAILS

Attributes GChat Project SocialNet ProjectProject Type Web application Web applicationDuration of Project > 1.5 years >1 yearProject Scope Well defined Improper scopeInterview Type Informal InformalDuration of Interview 20 min/session 20 min/session

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In both projects where client’s perspective approachwas used, the satisfaction of client was observed as the qualitative criteria to evaluate it. Four criteria of client’ssatisfaction such as happy, unhappy, satisfied, and happy& satisfied were defined. The client was observed as happy and satisfied with the project manager and team of GChat project. The processes were being followed asrequired by the client. Client was kept aware of everydetail of the project throughout and it builds up his confidence in the whole project team. While in case of socialnet project the client remained unhappy throughout the project. Though the same approach was used in this project but probably the client’s perspectivecould not be identified and followed in the project and resulted into the closure of the project. The reason was identified later in the project analysis. More than one person acting as client and their priority based changing requirements kept the team in uncertain states. Project manager could not follow up with all the acting clients at the same time. Inspite he had successfully defined the processes as required by all of them buttheir behavior was normally unsupportive. It had alreadybeen realized that the project will not complete its life. The project manager very positively had understood that clients want to get completed some modules of the project from his team and then will take over the project bythemselves to carry on. This actually was the client’s perspective in this project. It proved that client’s perspective is not limited to only some sort of processes but could be anything. The result does not mean that it is always true for all the projects.

According to our analysis, this approach plays animportant role in the progress and success of the projects. The role of client being the most critical one in projects [6], [8], [11] following this approach can easily be handled and managed up to his/her expectations.

As compared to existing approaches, models and frameworks of process improvement and project management [15], [16], [17] this approach is based onrealistic elements of software projects and does not emphasize on following unnecessary work during the project management. The model is still under evaluation and further results would be published in future work.

VI. CONCLUSIONTraditional and agile based methodologies though are

well established and mature approaches of software development, but rapidly changing scenarios have raised the need of small light weight approaches. Ignored and hidden aspects of project management need to be formallyaddressed. The role of client in project managementactivities is critical. It is the time to realize its importance and devising future processes and models based on this factor.

The CPPM model encompasses project management with client orientation for the first time.Unintentionally, the software development activities in the companies are already client centric and interests of clientare always taken care of. The need is to realize itsimportance formally. More contribution from the researchers and industry professionals is required to produce a realistic work in this area.

VII. FUTURE WORKThe concept of project management through client’s

perspective approach is quite a new area of research in thesoftware engineering and project management. Comprehensive work on this aspect needs to be done. Identification of various factors affecting the projectmanagement and finding their solution through a framework of client’s perspective would be our next plan. The researchers need to be more explorative and realistic in order to find the further aspects of this important element of project success.

REFERENCES[1] N.M. Rao, “Challenges in Execution of Outsourcing Contracts,”

ISEC’09, February 23-26, 2009, pp. 75-79.[2] R. Akbar and M.F. Hassan, “Limitations and Measures in

Outsourcing Projects to Geographically Distributed Offshore Teams,” ITSIM 2010. Pp. 1581-1585.

[3] R. Akbar, M. Haris, M. Naeem, “Agile Framework for GloballyDistributed Development Environment (The DAD Model),” 2008,Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Applied Informatics andCommunications, Rhodes, Greece, pp. 423-428, ISBN~ ISSN: 1790-5109, 978-960-6766-94-7.

[4] N. Ramasubbu, and R.K. Balan, “Globally Distributed SoftwareDevelopment Project Performance: An Empirical Analysis,” ESEC-FSE’07, Sept. 3-7, 2007, pp. 125-134.

[5] J. Cho, “Globalization and Global Software Development,” Issuesin Information System, Vol. VIII, No. 2, 2007, pp. 287-290.

[6] G.G. Gable, and W.W. Chin, “Client Versus Consultant Influence on Client Involvement In Computer System Selection Projects: A Two Actor Model of The Theory of Planned Behavior,” 22nd

International Conference on Information Systems, 2001, pp. 249- 260.

[7] F. Dai, and T. Li, “Tailoring Software Evolution Process,” 8th ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking, and Parallel/Distributed Computing, 2007, pp. 782-787.

[8] R. Akbar, M.F. Hassan, S. Safdar, M.A. Qureshi, “Client’sPerspective: Realization as a New Generation Process for SoftwareProject Development and Management,” ICCSN’10, 2010, pp. 191-195.

[9] B. Boehm, “Project Termination Doesn’t Equal Project Failure,”2000, IEEE Computer, IEEE Computer Society, vol. 33, pp. 94-96.

[10] N. Feng, M. Li and H. Gao, “A Software Project Risk AnalysisModel Based on Evidential Reasoning Approach,” 2009, World Congress on Software Engineering, IEEE Computer Society, IEEE.

[11] J. Hills, “Putting Yourself in Client’s Shoes A Little AppreciatedSkill that can Boost the Success of HR people,” 2007, HumanResource Management International Digest, Vol. 15, No. 7, pp. 35- 38.

[12] W. Scacchi, “Process Models in Software Engineering,” 2001,Final version to appear in, J.J. Marciniak (ed.), Encyclopedia ofSoftware Engineering, 2nd Edition, December 2001, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York.

[13] P. Runeson, and M. Host, “Guidelines for Connducting andReporting Case Study Research in Software engineering,” 2009,Empirical Software Engineering, 14:131-164.

[14] Y. Xiaoguang, W. Xiaogang, L. Linpin, and C. Zhuoning,“Research on Organizational-level Software Process Improvement Model and Its Implementation,” 2008, International Symposium on Computer Science and Computational Technology, pp. 285-289.

[15] C.S. Wu, W.C. Chang, and I.K. Sethi, “A Metric-Based Multi-Agent System for Software Project Management,”2009, 8th IEEE/ACIS International Conference onComputer and Information Science, pp. 3-8.

[16] F. Azam, H. Gull, S. Bibi, and S. Amjad, “Back & Forth (B n F)Software Process Model, 2010, Second International Conference on Computer Engineering and Applications, pp.426-430.

[17] V.R. Basili, and H.D. Rombach, “Tailoring the SoftwareEvolution Process To Project Goals and Environnments,”1987, ACM, pp. 345-357.