Wonderland Task Viewer

Our objective for this project was to implement a productivity tool for a virtual team project room using the Sun Microsystems Project Wonderland software. More specifically, we created an application that would allow for teams using the Project Wonderland software to discuss, manage and view task data from within Project Wonderland itself. In order to do this we had to create a Graphical User Interface (GUI) within Project Wonderland that a user could interact with, as well as implement a system that could communicate with an external task management application such as SourceForge(R)

The AAF and Shibboleth

The Australian Access Project is a DEST-funded project to implement a trust federation for Australian higher education and research. Macquarie University is leading the Shibboleth component of this project, building on the existing testbed federation and development work conducted in the Meta Access Management System (MAMS) project (also funded by DEST). The Shibboleth software was developed by Internet 2, and provides a mechanism for “Identity Providers” to securely share identity attributes with “Service Providers” to allow for access to protected resources, collaborative workspaces and other shared services. The MAMS project also developed a Shibboleth-based “Virtual Organisation” system (“IAMSuite”) to allow for the creation and management of distributed research teams, including access to protected resources and services. This presentation provides an overview of work conducted within the MAMS project, an update on the progress of the Shibboleth component of the AAF, and the use of virtual organisations (based on IAMSuite) within this trust federation

Supporting Virtual Software Projects on the Web

A growing share of all software development project work is being done by geographically distributed teams. To satisfy shorter product design cycles, expert team members for a development project may need to be r ecruited globally. Yet to avoid extensive travelling or r eplacement costs, distributed project work is preferred. Current-generation software engineering tools and ass ociated systems, processes, and methods were for the most part developed to be used within a single enterprise. Major innovations have lately been introduced to enable groupware applications on the Internet to support global collaboration. However, their deployment for distributed software projects requires further research. In partic ular, groupware methods must seamlessly be integrated with project and product management systems to make them attractive for industry. In this position paper we outline the major challenges concerning distributed (virtual) software projects. Based on our experiences with software process modeling and enactment environments, we then propose approaches to solve those challenges

A web-based project management system: sign-off documents management system (SOMs)

On-time delivery is vital for software industry. However, for several decades, the software industry continues to be afflicted by missing the scheduled deadline.[1],[7] There are numerous studies conducted suggested that the delay in process validation and verification is one of the main cause which postpone the entire processes due to task dependency and the inefficient project management practices. Most of the project management teams are running on the traditional method of emailing and posting of the sign-off documents, calling the person-in-charge as a reminder to sign-off which is proven ineffective and inefficient as there is always a delay in receiving the verified sign-off documents. This paper is intended to present an integrated solution: a sign-off documents management system (SOMs) for project based business processes that meant to solve the issues within the inter-organizational process as mentioned above. SOMs serves as a platform to collect the verified sign-off documentations from the clients. This research specifically study on the building of a project management framework which integrates the planning, scheduling, communicating, and sharing functions under a single platform. This is done by employing the computer-based sign-off documents management paradigm as the center of developing SOMs where a virtual control tower are used to handle with computerize reminders alert displayed on the personalized dashboard ( Butner,2006) and a Project Management Information System (PMIS) plans and schedules the sign-off and track their execution when neede

Die Betrachtung der Earned Value Methodik im agilen Projektumfeld hinsichtlich des Projekterfolgs

The Earned Value analysis has proven to be beneficial in waterfall and located software projects for monitoring the project management triangle. Nowadays, more and more virtual and agile project teams are used to manage the software requirements process. However, it remains unclear whether using the Earned Value metrics’ general positive effect generates project success in such an area too as additional challenges arise like communication or coordination difficulties. This thesis examines the assumption of a positive influence of the Earned Value technique on the project success during the software requirements process within a virtual, global project team in an agile software project environment. In addition, it should be clarified whether coordination and communication elements moderate this effect. The research is achieved with a sample size of 190,051 international people, mainly extracted from the consulting company Capgemini. Therefore, a mixed methods approach is used which consists of a partially-standardized and structured online survey as well as non-standardized and semi-structured guided interviews. The analyses of the latter ones are based on Mayring’s content analysis. This dissertation has not revealed any evidence of a positive influence on the project success by the Earned Value analysis during the requirements process in virtual project teams of an agile software project. This outcome is based on an inconsistent view of how to successfully apply this project controlling approach, whereby the subjective perception of project success played an important role. In this particular context, the Earned Value metrics reached their practical limits due to certain challenges named within this research. Although, the moderation analysis showed no significant effects of communication or coordination on the relation between the Earned Value method and the project success during the requirements process in a virtual agile software project team, a positive tendency emerged from both dimensions. The thesis presents some prerequisites that must be fulfilled in order to weaken or even reduce the problems in the application of the Earned Value analysis in this research context. Lastly, consistent definitions as well as standardized utilization understandings are required for a successful implementation of the Earned Value controlling instrument in this particular field

Bringing Global Sourcing into the Classroom: Experiential Learning via Software Development Project

Global sourcing of software development has imposed new skill requirements on Information Technology (IT) personnel. In the U.S., this has resulted in a paradigm shift from technical to softer skills such as communications and virtual team management. Higher education institutions must, consequently, initiate innovative curriculum transformations to better prepare students for these emerging workforce needs. This paper describes one such venture between Marquette University (MU), U.S.A. and Management Development Institute (MDI), India, wherein IT students at MU collaborated with Management Information Systems (MIS) students at MDI on an offshore software development project. The class environment replicated an offshore client/vendor relationship in a fully virtual setting while integrating communications and virtual team management with traditional IT project management principles. Course measures indicated that students benefited from this project, gained first-hand experience in the process of software offshoring, and learned skills critical for conduct of global business. For faculty considering such initiatives, we describe the design and administration of this class over two semesters, lessons learned from our engagement, and factors critical to success of such initiatives and those detrimental to their sustenance

Team to Market (T2M): Creating High Performance Teams in the Digital Age

1. Teams are the essential means of product or service delivery and the fundamental building blocks of modern organisations. An effective team can produce results far outperforming a collection of even the most talented individuals when team members coalesce and jell into a single, well-functioning, fully-aligned organism. This report advances the notion of “Team to Market” (T2M) to help business leaders and knowledge workers understand, create and lead high performance teams in the digital age

Project Quality of Offshore Virtual Teams Engaged in Software Requirements Analysis: An Exploratory Comparative Study

The off-shore software development companies in countries such as India use a global delivery model in which initial requirement analysis phase of software projects get executed at client locations to leverage frequent and deep interaction between user and developer teams. Subsequent phases such as design, coding and testing are completed at off-shore locations. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in off-shoring even requirements analysis phase using computer mediated communication. We conducted an exploratory research study involving students from Management Development Institute (MDI), India and Marquette University (MU), USA to determine quality of such off-shored requirements analysis projects. Our findings suggest that project quality of teams engaged in pure off-shore mode is comparable to that of teams engaged in collocated mode. However, the effect of controls such as user project monitoring on the quality of off-shored projects needs to be studied further