ARMPD - Lecture No.30( Risk Management)

Risk Management

Topics of Discussion

•       What is a Risk?
•        Types of Risk
•        Risk Continuum
•        Risk management process
•        What proactive steps which can be taken to avoid it. 

        Activities in Class      

                                     

         -  Discussed The term risk and the types of Risk

         -  Discussed some situations where people take Risk in order to achieve some objective.                              

         - Discussed about the Risk management Process.

 

     Reflection of the Lecture

     Today’s lecture was all about Risk Management. The lecturer explained that Risk taking is a part of every human endeavor. If people aren’t risk takers we wouldn’t have evolve and industrial revolution would have never occurred without it. When the lecturer asked us to define the term risk I came up with my own definition to define it. I presented my definition as “A Risk is an action which has a positive or a negative outcome”. I learnt that there are 3 types of Risk which exists. Namely, Risk detection, avoidance and acceptance. These 3 steps are common for any action taken as a risk by human. Risk management is important for students when it comes for assignments and exams because there is a limited time frame which you need to stick into and within that time frame the appropriate outcome should be delivered. Therefore it is important for all students to manage the Risk.  Figure 31 explains about the Risk management cycle which is applicable for any type of Risk. When a person wants to take a Risk and if he/she follows the above cycle Risk management could be achieved at an optimum level. I also learned how to identify a specific Risk. This lesson I taught today isn’t only applicable on projects but our day to day operations where we try to achieve goals through risk taking.

ARMPD - Lecture No. 29(Software Development Methodologies)

Software Development Methodologies

Topics of Discussion

•          What is a software development methodology
•          Types of methodologies
•         Benefits and drawbacks of methodologies
•      Importance of using a methodology.

Today the lecture was about software development methodologies and i was looking forward to see how the lecture is gonna be carried out because it was done by another lecturer. 

Software development methodologies are important when it comes to creation of software. No matter what the methodology you choose it is important to follow the steps in each methodology in order to achieve the desired outcome. However the developer should choose the appropriate methodology according to the requirement.

Although these methodologies have been learnt in brief in previous modules until The lecturer explained each an every methodology in detail I didn’t have a clear picture of the benefits and drawbacks of each methodology. 

Reflection of the lecture

The lecturer explained that software development methodologies are developed in order to cater to more projects and it doesn’t mention only about a system but also it talks about the process as well. For example if you need to prepare a cake you need to follow a process and you cannot avoid steps in the process. If you do avoid the steps then the cake will not be a success. However in methodologies there are certain steps that can be done simultaneously and there are certain steps that should be done in a sequential manner.above shows about the SDLC which has been evolved around the methodology. I also learnt about the things to consider when selecting a methodology such as scope, Deliverables, Constraints, User involvement and the nature of the project. Overall It was a very successful lecture which contributes majorly towards our final year project.

ARMPD- Lecture No. 28 (Project Management part 2)

Project Management part 2

Today's lecture was an extension of the previous project management lecture. In the project management part 1 lecture we discussed 

• what is a project?
• what is project management?
• Four Phases of Project Management
• Defining Goals
• Project Management Triangle
• How to manage a Project?.

The lecturer carried out the lecture further after discussing the above areas. Today he explained us the importance of breaking down the project into tasks and allocating time and resources to each task. 

The project plan should consist of the following

- How the project is going to be carried out

-  The deliverable of the project 

- The duration of each sub-stage\stage

- Scheduling (Gannt chart, PERT charts and Critical path analysis)

- Tools and techniques

- Change the calendar to reflect time you work on your project.

To allocate time resources to each of the tasks we need to do proper scheduling through a Gannt chart or a PERT Chart. He gave us an activity to do in class. He gave an scenario and asked us to prepare a PERT chart and find out the Critical path, Earliest Starting Time and Latest Finishing time.

After finding the answers to the above he explained that Critical path is the all nodes with 0 slack. Meaning these activities cannot be delayed at any cost. However non critical activities can be slacked or be delayed if necessary.

Next he explained what can be expected from a Project Manager or a Project Supervisor

- Regular Meetings with the Lecturer

- Advice about planing your project

- Advice about the Research Area and resources to find information

However he also explained that students should not expect the supervisor to work for them. 

Reflection of the lecture

Today's lecture was a extend of the previous lecture which we did on Project management. Comparing with the previous lecture in the second lecture there wasn't much areas to cover however from the areas we covered today i got a very thorough knowledge about what should be expected from a Project Supervisor in our Final year. This was very important as students make a negative relationship with the supervisors at the start of the project by not knowing what they should be expecting from the supervisor. It is very important that all students should build a positive relationship with the Project Supervisors and not give them a bad impression. Another important area i refreshed from today's lecture was PERT Chart which is used for scheduling. When relating my idea to the previous lecture of Time Management the important lesson i learned was not to waste time and be more Organized. PERT chart is ideal for Project Scheduling and it will help to manage the time  in a better way. After preparing the PERT chart i got to know that the Critical Activities should not be delayed at any cost which is very important. However another important area i learned today is to manage the project plan. It is a very vital factor in project management. Overall the lecture gave us wide knowledge about Project management and i hope to implement these techniques i learned in my Final year projects.

ARMPD- Lecture No. 27 (Project Management)

Project Management

Today's lecture was about Managing the Projects. The lecturer asked us to explained what Project is before moving into project management.

What is a Project?

A Project consist of a particular Time Frame, Budget and  the ultimate objective of a Project is to work towards the goals and achieve it.

What is a Project Management?

Next we discussed what Project Management is. According to mpug :

" Project management is the science (and art) of organizing the components of a project, whether the project is development of a new product, the launch of a new service, a marketing campaign, or a wedding. A project isn't something that's part of normal business operations. It's typically created once, it's temporary, and it's specific.  A project consumes resources (whether people, cash, materials, or time), and it has funding limits".

 In the discussion we found out that Project Management has four processes.

1. Initiation stage
2. Planning Stage
3. Executing  Stage
4. Monitoring and controlling  Stage
5. Closure 

Initiation

In this stage the project manager explains to his/her team what the project is and what the users hope to achieve by undertaking the project. Initiation stage includes project deliverable meaning the outcomes of the project.

Planning Stage

In  the planning stage the project manager lists all activities and task related to the tasks including how the tasks are related, duration of each task will and how each task is tied to a specific deadline.

Executing  Stage

In this stage project manager is aware of how much resources and budget the project has been allocated. He will assign the resources and allocate the budget to various other tasks in the project.

Monitoring and Controlling  Stage

The project manager is the person in charge of updating all the project plans to reflect actual time elapsed for each and every task. The project manager is able to identify how well the project is progressing overall by keeping up with the details of progress.

Closure

In the stage the project manager and business owner combines the project team and those who have an interest in the deliverable of the project(stakeholders)

Project scope and Feasibility was the next topic we discussed in class.

Project scope will clearly identify the boundaries meaning what the project will do and will not do while Feasibility study checks whether the project is worthwhile to pursue. Under Feasibility 

- Operational Feasibility

- Economic Feasibility

- Schedule Feasibility

Defining Goals/Aims

The goals should Consist of SMART factors discussed in the previous lectures.

Once a project has started the PM has to monitor the  changes and check the impact on planned time, cost and quality of the product

The project management Triangle

In the project management Triangle there are 3 main important factors.

- Scope

- Time

- Cost

The project managers have to balance these 3 constraints if they want to get a positive and a quality deliverable out of the project. If u increase scope you might want to adjust the cost and time according to it in order to balance it so that it will not go out of shape.

Then we discussed about how to  manage the projects. Under that we discussed few important point such as 

- identify what activities your going to perform

- Work to series of check points(time to time check quality assurance)

- Control project

- Ensure projects scheduled at earliest possible date with least drain on resources.

ARMPD- Lecture No. 26 (Our Field Trip To Virtusa)

Great Memories and Experiences in Virtusa 

 

Today's lecture was conducted in a different place, in a different way. Our lecture Mr.Eranjan Padumadasa organized a field trip to Virtusa one of the software developing giants in the globe. first of all my heartfelt  gratitude goes to him for organizing such thing for the benefit of the students. It was my dream to go to Virtusa but i never got a chance because we need to get special permission to enter. Finallly i got the opportunity to participate in this special occasion and i would like to share my experience with you guys.

First of all i would like to share some information i gathered about the Virtusa Company background. There were a couple of lectures conducted by the employees at virtusa and the information was gathered from that fashion

Virtusa is a US company but they have branches located in Asia and in Europe. The organization consist of more than 6000 World Class Professionals within the organization and 89 active clients who give significant amount of business to Virtusa.  The companies aim is to achieve its 40 billion Rupee revenue target in year 2015

They believe that the above target is within their reach because they can bid a 100 million project because of the large size of the company and any client would have confidence if they go through the company profile of Virtusa. Also the company has a good family culture their employees work as a whole unit/family to achieve their goals where coordination is the key. These are some of their main strengths i identified in Virtusa. Here are some of the other main information i gathered during lectures,

Operating Income - 23.9 million

Compound growth rate - 10 year revenue 32.47%

Loyal Customers - IBM, Standard Charted, National Geographic, British Telecom

Awards - HRM Award, Forbes 2011 award and many more

Some of the CSR activities done by the company 

1. Virtusa provided a total of 21000 campus training hours across Sri-Lanka
2. They have build a system for S.Joesph and they made it open source and its completely free of charge. Meaning it is free for the schools for them to use. This is one of their main CSR activities conducted.

when looking at the above statistics it is clearly seen that Virtusa is one of the biggest companies in software Development and I m glad to make a Visit for such a company and its a privileged. The Following is a project done by the company to British Telecom.

Name - Telecom Fault Management

Technology used - i phone, android, blackberry mobile software

                             Java, WS02 ESB

User Experience - Traffic fines on your mobile.

Social media used by the company

- Vingio

- VT

- Yammer

Some of the Benefits to the employees in Virtusa

Library

Food Court

Gymnasium

Dinner and transport after working. 

According to one of the employees who conducted the lecture in Virtusa :

Virusa is growing and it need more leadership, more teams, more people therefore everyone has a chance to go up the ladder. Goal is to gain 80% of the leadership skills within the organization and  it gives opportunities for the future employees who are willing to join the company.

Then next employee who was an expert in the Business process management(BPM) came in and explained us about the BPM  process and the technology  and languages used in the environment.

 According to him BPM process is

"Adding value to customer and  employee reducing cost, improving quality. it all comes under the BPM."

The lectures were concluded by another lecture conducted about the Phillips Fall tracker  project for patients done by Virtusa which is one of their main projects in recent times which brought them significant amount of profits to the company. 

Finally the field trip came to a success and if i were to rate the success i would say it is a 100% success for all the students because from what i heard they have enjoyed the trip and filled their minds with lots of knowledge throughout the trip. The Credit goes to our lecturer for arranging it. THANK YOU 

Reflection of the lectures

The experience i gained today from the trip to virtusa cannot be expressed in words because it was a once in a lifetime experience we got during our campus life. i learned many things from the lectures conducted in virtusa such as the company background, where it stands among the competitors, their clients , the corporate information (which cannot be gained even through their website if you visit) such as market growth, profit target, their family culture of the company, BPM process and the projects they have conducted successfully, the working environment, the technology they use to develop software, their organizational structure and how an employee is guided through the career path. This information cannot be accessed if this trip wasn't organized therefore it was a major success for all students. I am hoping to finish my degree with a first class and join virtusa and take on my career from their onwards. 

ARMPD- Lecture No. 25 (Harvard Referencing)

Harvard Referencing

Harvard referencing is an very important topic for individual who engage in academic projects especially  university students. It has been established to prevent students and other individuals from violating the copyrights and work done by other people. 

let us look at the difference between citation and referencing

(source : https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/tutorial/whatis1.html )

Citing

When you refer to another author's work in your work you must cite your source by providing the last name of the author and the year of publication.

Referencing

At the end of your work, under the heading References or Bibliography, write a full description of each source you have cited, listing them in alphabetical order by the author's last name.

Importance of Citing references

(source : https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/tutorial/whyis.html)

1. support your arguments and give your work a factual basis
2. protect yourself against charges of plagiarism
3. demonstrate to assessors or critics that you have carried out the necessary research
4. allow the reader to locate the material you consulted.
5. Accuracy and completeness are important. Keep track of all your sources throughout your research process.

It is important to learn the proper citing techniques so that you can include it to the project or the research which will show some sort of professionalism in your documentation. A reference is used to acknowledge someones work. If your referencing something there should be at least one citation for it otherwise don't use it.

Some of the statements that can be used in  proper citation is as follows,

• As stated by ABC(2012)
• According to ABC(2012)
• As per ABC(2012)
• In accordance with ABC(2012)

Golden Rules that we should follow.

- Don't always stick to one particular phrase to introduce a reference

- Have a variety or a mixture of these phrases

- Do not quote more than 3 lines.

- Always paraphrase

- If you have a multiple authors this is the way to cite it 

    (John,1999; Peter,2000; James,2009).

- Try to avoid anons

- If you are guessing something then 

   2012 C

- When Citing Interviews you need to mention its a personal communication

   ex - Pers.comm

Reflection of the lecture

Today's lecture discussed about the different Harvard referencing and citing methods individuals have to use when using someone else ideas. It is important to use the correct method of citing and referencing because it will protect from violating copy rights and other unethical activities. Today i realized the fact that i had many loop holes in referencing my previous module documentation and i found out that was the main reason for loosing some important marks. I also realized i should be more professional in preparing my documentation and conducting correct referencing and citing methods according to the Harvard system adds more value to the documentation.

ARMPD- Lecture No. 24 (Interview Skills part 2)

Interview Skills part 2

Today the lecture started off in a different manner. There were two lectures Mr Eranjan and Ms Manesha and the class room setting was arranged like a real interview environment. The two lecturers and two student candidates in class acted out a scenario in a way the other students in the class understands what exactly happens and what question they ask at a interview. some of the questions they asked were as follows,

- First of all tell us a little bit about you ?

- What will be your goal in another 5 years time?

- Tell us some of the strengths and weaknesses you have in you ?

- Why do you want this job?

- Why are you a good candidate for this job?

- What do you know about the organization?

- How much Salary you are willing to earn?

The lecturer explained us the importance of facing these question in a proper manner. If u fail to answer the questions in a proper manner it will give a bad impression of you to the interviewers which will lead to more negative points for your interview resulting in you losing out. Therefore he gave the answers for some of the above questions mentioned above so that we will get an idea of how to answer them. I have faced more than 2 interviews but i didn't have a in depth knowledge about the interview skills. However now i understand how important it is and i understand how to face the above mentioned questions in a  interview. Thanks to my lecturer.