This article deals with the impact of employing cloud computing architectures in the field of software systems development. We analyze the individual influence of the cloud computing model characteristics on the project development process.

Paul POCATILU

English

Research Papers in Economics

Page 16  Oeconomics of Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2Q 2010 
 
Project management for cloud computing 
development  
 
 
Paul POCATILU, PhD, Associate Professor 
Department of Economic Informatics 
Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania 
E-mail: ppaul[at]ase[dot]ro 
 
 
Abstract:  This  article  deals  with  the  impact  of  employing  cloud 
computing  architectures  in  the  field  of  software  systems 
development.  We  analyze  the  individual  influence  of  the 
cloud  computing  model  characteristics  on  the  project 
development process. 
Keywords: Cloud computing, Project management  
 
 
1. Introduction 
  A  cloud  computing  based  development  project  is  a  temporary 
endeavour  undertaken  to  create  a  unique  system  (both  hardware  and 
software) that will be running on a cloud computing architecture. High 
quality cloud computing based development projects deliver the required 
product  within  scope,  on  time  and  within  budget.  It  is  the  project 
manager’s duty to skilfully balance the competing demands for project 
quality,  project  duration  and  cost  of  resources  in  order  to  be  able  to 
deliver the system as planned. 
At  the  top  level  view,  cloud  computing  based  development  of  e-Page 17  Oeconomics of Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2Q 2010 
 
learning  systems  follows  the  same  pattern  as  any  other  software 
development project  
Namely,  cloud  computing  development  project  management 
comprises of the following process groups (see figure 4): 
  Project initiation 
  Project planning 
  Project execution 
  Project monitoring and controlling 
  Project closing 
 
Subsequent sections of this article will go into great details of the 
project management process groups. More than this, a set of e-learning 
cloud computing performance metrics will be advanced for each of the 
following process groups. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1—Cloud computing project management  Page 18  Oeconomics of Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2Q 2010 
 
2. Project initiation process group  
The  initiation  of  an  e-learning  system  development  project  using 
cloud computing architecture comprises of developing the project charter 
and the development of the preliminary project scope statement. 
The  project  charter  represents  the  document  that  formally 
authorizes  the  development  project  and  endows  project  manager  with 
the authority to employ organizational resources to project activities. 
Preliminary  project  scope  statement  defines  what  needs  to  be 
accomplished,  i.e.  the  functional  specifications  of  the  future  e-learning 
system and the project objectives that have to be met. 
At this stage special care should be given to the strong correlation 
between  the  project  objectives  and  project  scope.  It  is  important  to 
quantitatively measure the efficiency of the project objectives as they will 
have a crucial impact upon the efficiency of the future e-learning cloud 
computing system. 
 
3. Project planning process group 
The  very  nature  of  a  cloud  computing  business  model  and  of  its 
technical  architecture  makes  the  planning  of  a  cloud  computing  based 
project different than any other IT development project. Considering the 
cloud computing infrastructure will be rented from the service provider, 
the project manager’s focus moves from choosing the right technology to 
choosing  the  right  vendor.  Instead  of  concentrating  on  the  computing 
power  of  the  architecture  and  the  costs  of  scaling  up  the  e-learning 
system,  the  project  manager  will  be  looking  at  such  parameters  as 
service  availability,  data  security,  backup  and  contingency  plans  the 
cloud computing vendor offers, etc. 
The more business oriented and less technical nature of the cloud Page 19  Oeconomics of Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2Q 2010 
 
computing based project activities can be immediately observed in the 
project  scope  planning,  project  work  breakdown  structure,  activity 
identification and sequencing, activity duration estimation and schedule 
development.  This  is  because  the  service  provider  takes  on  this  initial 
burden and then offers on-demand virtualized processing power.  
Cost  estimation  and  cost  budgeting  project  processes  are  highly 
biased because of the cloud computing architecture. The service supplier 
absorbs up-front costs and spreads the costs over a longer period and 
over  several  cloud  computing  customers.  Thus,  the  initial  capital 
expenditure  of  the  project  is  converted  to  ongoing  operational 
expenditure of the e-leaning system maintenance.  
Using  cloud  computing  instead  of  investments  in  datacenters 
(hardware  and  software  licenses)  will  result  in  a  shift  from  capital 
expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx). 
Quality planning project process involves creating test plans for the 
future e-learning system. The tests should take into consideration both 
intrinsic system features and performance testing on the cloud computing 
architecture. 
Human  resource  planning  entails  allocating  both  legacy  software 
development personnel and cloud computing engineers that are aware of 
the peculiarities of these platforms. 
Communications  planning  means  deciding  what  project  processes 
and tools will be used for timely and appropriate generation, collection, 
distribution,  storage  and  retrieval  of project  information.  More exactly, 
this  means  setting  up  the  reports  that  have  to  be  generated,  their 
content  and  frequency.  Also,  this  implies  setting  up  a  bug  tracking 
system for recording all the issues that arise during e-learning system 
development. 
 Page 20  Oeconomics of Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2Q 2010 
 
4. Project execution process group 
Executing  the  project  means  directing  and  managing  the  project 
development and performing ongoing quality assurance. For a successful 
cloud  computing  based  e-learning  system  to  be  developed,  legacy 
software development techniques can be successfully employed. That is 
source  control  software,  build  scripts  for  building  the  deployment 
package  and  automated  tests  for  regression  testing.  Project  criticality 
analysis  techniques  can  be  easily  employed  in  order  to  enhance  the 
project development quality. 
 
5. Project monitoring and controlling process group 
The monitoring and controlling processes are performed during the 
entire project lifecycle in order to take preventive and corrective actions 
so  as  to  meet  the  established  project  performance  goals.  Continuous 
monitoring  gives  the  project  management  team  insights  regarding 
project health and identifies any areas that might need special attention. 
The cloud computing based e-learning systems are no different than 
other  software  development  projects.  More  exactly,  monitoring  and 
controlling processes are concerned with: 
  Assessing project current performance. 
  Comparing planned and actual project performance. 
  Analyzing, tracking and monitoring identified project risks. 
  Provide accurate information regarding project status report. 
  Provide updated project costs and schedule information. 
  Manage ongoing feature change requests. 
 
Earned value management method is a valuable tool for monitoring Page 21  Oeconomics of Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2Q 2010 
 
project  progress  and  for  anticipating  and  mitigating  any  problems  the 
project may sustain. 
 
6. Project closing process group 
Project closing involves finalizing all project activities and performing 
the acceptance and delivery of the final e-learning system. During this 
stage the project scope is checked against the initial objectives, the e-
learning  system  installation  and  maintenance  is  documented,  the 
acceptance  testing  of  the  final  product  is  performed  and  the  formal 
closing of the project is executed. 
 
Conclusions 
The  development  of  e-learning  solution  cannot  ignore  the  cloud 
computing trends. 
There  are  many  benefits  from  using  the  cloud  computing  for  e-
learning systems.  Also, there are some disadvantages  that have to be 
taken into account. 
Using  cloud  computing  for  e-learning  solutions  influences  the  way 
the e-learning software projects are managed. There are specific tasks 
that deal with finding providers for cloud computing, depending on the 
requirements  (infrastructure,  platform  or  services).  Also,  the  cost  and 
risk management influences the way the e-learning solutions based on 
cloud computing are managed.  
A metrics system  needs to be developed in order to measure the 
efficiency of cloud computing based e-learning solutions. 
The Academy of Economic Studies from Bucharest uses a e-learning 
solution based on Moodle and it has its own datacenter that can be in the 
future a platform for cloud computing. Page 22  Oeconomics of Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2Q 2010 
 
 
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Project management for cloud computing development

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