Software Project Management: The Manager\u27s View

As businesses become more dependent on information technology for their operations, IS managers are under increasing pressure to deliver quality applications software on time and within budget. Thus, in addition to their technical skills, they must master the necessary management skills to lead and control software development projects. The purpose of this tutorial is to present the fundamental concepts of modern project management and show how these concepts can be applied to software development projects. The tutorial presents a broad overview of current software project management practices that evolved over the years from a variety of complex projects. The subject is presented from the manager\u27s rather than from the developer\u27s perspective. The focus is on large and complex projects because these projects are the most challenging and in need of an effective project management discipline

Integrating Project Management and Change Management in an IS Curriculum

Because many new information systems (IS) projects involve business process reengineering, project managers need the necessary skills to manage development projects and organizational change. These concepts are inter-related. The MIS 2000 curriculum calls for them to be taught as a single course. The purpose of this paper is review the fundamental principles of project management and change management and show how these concepts can be integrated and taught in this IS course. The paper first presents a broad overview of current project management and change management trends and practices and then provides guidance for developing an integrated IS project and change management course

Effective Project Management for Software Development

The development of information systems, and software in particular, can benefit enormously from sound project management. Information systems are generally complex and their development takes place in a dynamic environment where business conditions and technologies change rapidly. In addition, users are often unsure of their needs and often changing requirements midway through the project. As a result, the whole software industry is plagued by cost overruns, late deliveries, poor reliability, and user dissatisfaction (Abel-Hamid and Madnick, 1991)

Voter-comparator-switch optimization study

The design optimization and simulation effort of the voter-comparator switch (VCS) element are described. The VCS is an adaptive voter element that performs failure detection and reconfiguration function in a computer system designed to tolerate any three single failures in a fail operational fail operational fail safe manner. Detailed logic equations were developed and the design was evaluated and refined using a logic level fault simulator

Towards a theory of information systems outsourcing risk

Information systems outsourcing risks are a vital component in the decision and management process associated to the provision of information systems and technology services by a provider to a customer. Although there is a rich literature on information systems outsourcing risks, the accumulated knowledge on this area is fragmented. In view of this situation, an argument is put forward on the usefulness of having a theory that integrates the various constructs related to information systems outsourcing risks. This study aims to contribute towards the synthesis of that theory, by proposing a conceptual scheme for interpreting the literature and presenting a preliminary version of a catalog of information systems outsourcing risks. Proposals for subsequent work towards the generation of the theory of information systems outsourcing risk are suggested

The Flamekeeper : The Confessional Purgation of the Soul in the Poetry of Robert Lowell

This essay is a critical textual analysis of the poetry of Robert Lowell with focus on religious symbolism used in his work, and the Catholic theology which informed it. This results in a new, contrasting interpretation to the conventional view that he had abandoned his religious focus by mid-career, while accounting for his own assessment that he had not. Insights gained through this analysis, combined with those relating to Lowell’s personal history, reframe his confessional poetry while bolstering this claim.  Through this study, poems selected from Lord Weary’s Castle, The Mills of the Kavanaughs, Life Studies and For the Union Dead are reinterpreted in order to explore the consequences of what Lowell could have intended with this stylistic modification, and discover the religiosity that he claimed was hidden. Lowell’s confessional poetry up until 1964 is examined and recast as the anguished wails of a Catholic soul in Purgatory. This fresh approach to one of America’s finest twentieth-century poets provides a novel foundation for the reinterpretation of the entirety of Lowell’s professional oeuvre

The Castle & The Keep : A Gender Study of the Lives and Written Works of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross

An examination of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, applying modern theories of gender and sexuality to the textual analysis of a selection of primary written works and biographical works, in order to determine the roles that they play, not only in the case of these two saints of the Catholic Church, but also within the mystical tradition as a whole