CEDCON430 NOTES

PROJECT MANAGEMENT FIVE PROCESS GROUPS

• Project – creating a product, service, and result. - Initiating
Project Operations - Planning
- Temporary - repetitive and ongoing - Executing
- Deliver service - sustain business - Monitoring and Controlling
- Create unique - sustain business - Closing
Product
DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
• Project Characteristics
- has an established service. • Database – collection of related data.
- has a defined life span with a beginning and an • A database may be generated and maintained
end. manually, or it may be computerized.
- Requires across-the-organizational participation. • Database management system is a collection of
- Involves doing something never been done before. programs that enables users to create and maintain a
- Has specific time, cost, and performance database.
requirements. • DBMS is a general-purpose software system that
facilitates the processes of defining, constructing,
• Project Constraints manipulating, and sharing databases among various
- Schedule users and applications.
- Risks • Meta-data – the database definition stored in DBMS in
- Resources the form of a database catalog or dictionary.
- Budget • Manipulating a database includes functions such as
- Quality querying the database to retrieve specific data.
- Scope • Sharing a database allows multiple users and
programs to access the database
• Project Management – application of knowledge, skills, • An application program accesses the database
tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project • A query typically causes some data to be retrieved.
requirements.

• Program – a group of related projects, subprograms, and

program activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain
benefits not available from managing them individually.
Examples: Center of Excellence Program (Rewards &
Recognition, Knowledge Management System, Training &
Development, Marketing Tool)

• Portfolio – projects, programs, sub portfolios, and

operations managed as a group to achieve strategic
objectives.

• PMO – an organizational structure that standardizes

the project-related governance processes and
facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies,
tools, and techniques.
• Project Stakeholders – any individual who may affect,
be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a
decision, activity, or outcome of a project.

Project Manager Roles

a. Marshals resources for the project.
b. Liked directly to the customer service.
c. Provides direction, coordination, and integration to
the project team. Characteristics of the Database Approach
d. Responsible for performance and success of the 1. Self-describing nature of a database system
project. 2. Insulation between program and data, and data
abstraction
3. Support of multiple views of data
4. Sharing of data and multiuser transaction processing Example: relational data model, network and
hierarchial models
Actors on the Scene 3. Low Level or Physical Data Models
1. Database administrator (DBA) Describe the details of how data is stored on the
2. Database designers computer storage media.
3. End users - Access path is a structure that makes the search
4. System analysts and application programmers for a particular database record efficient.
- An index is an example of an access path that
Workers Behind the Scene allows direct access to data using a keyword.
1. DBMS system designers and implementers
2. Tool developers Database System Utilities
3. Operators and maintenance personnel 1. Loading
- Used to load existing data files into the database.
Advantages of Using the DBMS Approach 2. Backup
1. Controlling redundancy - Creates a backup copy of the database, usually by
2. Restricting unauthorized access dumping the entire database onto storage
3. Providing persistent storage for program objects medium.
4. Providing storage structures and search techniques for 3. Database Storage Reorganization
efficient query processing - Reorganize a set of database files into different file
5. Providing backup and recovery organizations
6. Providing multiple user interfaces 4. Performance Monitoring
7. Presenting complex relationships among data - Monitors a database usage and provides statistics
8. Enforcing integrity constraints to the DBA.
9. Permitting inferencing and actions using rules
Tools, Application Environments and Communication
Additional Implications Facilities
1. Potential for enforcing standards - Data Dictionary
2. Reduce application development time - Information Repository
3. Flexibility - Application Development Environments
4. Availability of up-to-date information - Communications Software
5. Economies of scale

Evolution of Database Systems

1. Monolithic Systems
2. Client/Server Systems
o Client Module – typically designed so that it will run
on a user workstation or personal computer.
o Server Module – typically handles data storage,
access, search and other functions

Data Abstraction – the suppression of details of data

organization and storage.
Data Model – collection of concepts that can be used to
describe the structure of a database

Categories of Data Models

1. High Level or Conceptual Data Models
Close to the way many users perceive data.
- Entity represents a real-world object or concept.
- Attribute represents some property of interest
that further describes the entity
- Relationships among two or more entities
represent an association among the entities.

2. Representation or Implementation Data Models

Provide concepts that may easily understood by end
users.