Virtual Project Management

Virtual Project Management: Software Solutions for Today and the Future explores the technical management issues involved in the revolutionary new way of building complex software intensive systems faster and cheaper by employing the power of distributed operations. The book examines the implementation issues that cut deep inside present day collocated engineering organizations and recommends practical and affordable actions to aid organizations seeking increased productivity through distributed operations.The demand for integrated solutions constructed from a combination of existing and newly developed software increases daily. Many organizations find themselves with shortages of the critical skills necessary to compete in many of these newly created markets. Employing virtual collaborative development provides a dramatic increase in a company's opportunities to successfully compete. Virtual collaboration provides a broader skill and product knowledge base coupled with a deeper pool of personnel to potentially employ. It removes two of the major barriers - company affiliation and physical location. Virtual Project Management: Software Solutions for Today and the Future focuses on critical characteristics underlying how work actually gets done in traditional collocated engineering environments. It examines the changes taking place on virtual projects through a series of anecdotes based on real project experiences. The book provides an 8 step practical and affordable plan that can be used as a framework in either setting up and executing a new virtual project, or in instituting improvements to a project that has drifted off course. Others have lived through the pain of learning lessons the hard way. You don't need to follow their path. The insights and solutions offered by Paul McMahon answer the questions virtual project leaders will be asking well into the 21st century.

"…addresses one of the most challenging problems facing modern software development in an Internet world."-Dr. Jeffrey S. Poulin, Chief Technology Officer, Atlas Commerce"…hits a grand slam in Chapter Seven!"-Bob Epps, Manager, Architecture Integration Technology Center, Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems "I got "hooked" and couldn't put it down…This book will guide managers to make collaboration-at-a-distance a far smoother, more reliable operation. It introduces just the right amount of rigor; it discusses methods for preventing things from falling through the cracks; it shows managers how to deal with the many very real human emotional reactions in working with collaborators (especially competitors) with whom communication is necessarily restricted; and it illuminates the strong role of informal communication."-William S. Bennett, Independent Consultant, Author: "Visualizing Software: A Graphical Notation for Analysis, Design, and Discussion,""I would highly recommend that Engineering/Program Managers read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section in Appendix J…This book will help you understand the inevitable problems and put you on track with effective techniques to create an efficient and successful collaborative team on day one of the contract; earlier if you implement the recommendations during the proposal phase."-Bruce Crandall, Program and Technology Development Manager, TRW Corporation"The cultural semantics in today's global economy is a big deal. The notion of using a common project memory (RFPM) makes a lot of sense to those of us that grew up in a culture that embraces collaboration."-Dr. Frank Tsui, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Southern Polytechnic State University, Chief Technology Officer, River Logic, Inc."A timely answer to a pressing management dilemma - how to bring distributed critical skills together without collocation…accurately hits the "high nail" issues facing today's management challenge of collaborative development…excellent job in highlighting both the potential pitfalls as well as recommended formulas for success."-Bob Wuestner, General Manager NLX Corporation