ITC505: Comparative Analysis of Project Management Methodologies

This report provides a comparative analysis of project management methodologies, focusing on the Waterfall and Agile models. It discusses the role of project methodologies in project management, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each model. The report also explores how the chosen Waterfall methodology and its processes relate to the Project Life Cycle (PLC) and System Development Life Cycle (SDLC), emphasizing the importance of understanding these relationships for effective project execution. The document concludes by summarizing the key aspects of project design, strategy, governance, and supply within the context of the chosen methodology, making it a valuable resource for students studying project management. Desklib provides access to this and many other solved assignments for students.

Guru Bala Vankadara 11613712
ITC505
ICT Project Management
Assessment item 1
Project Management Methodologies
Student Name: Guru Bala Vankadara
Student ID: 11613712
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Guru Bala Vankadara 11613712
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
What is a Project Methodology?................................................................................................3
Role of Project methodology in Project management................................................................3
Two selected methodologies are compared and contrasted.......................................................4
Identify how your chosen methodology and processes relate to the project life cycle (PLC)...6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8
List of Figures
Figure 1 Waterfall v/s Agile.......................................................................................................5
Figure 2 PLC and SDLC............................................................................................................7
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Introduction
There are many project management methodologies which could be applied to varied
projects. It is important because it helps in getting disciplined work with all the possible
techniques, rules, practices and procedures. Here we have chosen Waterfall as the suitable
methodology because of its suitability for the project. Its advantages, disadvantages are also
discussed along with the relationship between PLC and SDLC.
What is a Project Methodology?
According to Maikel, XiXi, Sander and Wil, Project Methodology guides any organisation
who is processing projects been aimed at improvising compliance or performance to
regulations and rules. With the help of Project methodology, goals are converted to concrete
research queries which are iteratively answered and refined. The methodology has six stages
which relate itself to many different output and input objects having following types like data
objects, models and goal-related objects. The four-goal related things are performance
findings, compliance findings, research questions and improvement ideas in order to get to
the goal. Two types of models are considered here which are process model and analytic
model. Process model demonstrates the activities ordered in a process and Analytic model
provides insight into the stages or processes (Eck, et-al, 2015).
Role of Project methodology in Project management
Projects are now termed as important instruments when it comes to positive change and
development in any company or organisation. A new model is required to have more efficient
operations in organizations which are project-driven and for this most suitable will be
Waterfall model. The characteristics and role which needs to be proposed for improvement in
the effectiveness of organization project methodology are stated below.
 Project methodology supports offload administrative burdens like software operations
and reporting.
 Enforcement and development of methods and standards to ensure best practices
taking place in the organisation.
 It helps in enhancing professional certification and encouraging individual skills.
Also, proper assistance can be given to the staff for the purpose of project
management.
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Guru Bala Vankadara 11613712
 Mentoring and consulting professional project methodology expertise like project
planning and proposal development (Dai & Wells, 2004).
The Waterfall model has lots of specific aspects in terms of team building as it has three
simple principles like the low degree of client involvement, sequential assembly of product
realization and strong documentation.
Achievements through the Methodology
 It will standardize the process decomposition into the activities and phases, and the
documents (artefacts) which flow from each stage to the next
 It provides with detailed recommendations and guidelines of how to move through the
process of development.
Two selected methodologies are compared and contrasted.
Among many methodologies, I have chosen Waterfall model over the Agile model. I will be
discussing both models and then compare them.
Waterfall Model
A significant amount of energy and time is invested in refining and improvement. This
methodology has been reached to a stable and mature stage also it has addressed
implementation conditions and various development issues. It has been reported as the
successful development approach both for complex and large projects in small and large
software projects. It has been divided into five phases which are requirements analysis and
definition, system and software design, implementation and unit testing, integration and
system testing, operation and maintenance. Its principle is to start with any stage until the
earlier stage is been finished (Huo, et-al, 2004).
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Figure 1 Waterfall v/s Agile
Waterfall model has advantages like it is easy and simple to use and comprehend. It is simple
to accomplish because of the model rigidity and every phase has a review stage and particular
deliverables. Phases here do not overlap and needs to be processed one at a time and thus
works well when requirements are known prior. Here the product definition tends to be
stable, no ambiguous requirements and technology are properly understood.
Agile Methodology
It is a kind of incremental model where software is established in rapid cycles occasioning in
small incremental releases. It is used typically for time critical applications and here
interactions and people are emphasized instead of tools and process. It can regularly update
with the change in circumstances but here lack of emphasis is on documentation and
designing (Palmquist, et-al, 2013).
Comparison between Waterfall and Agile
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Waterfall Model Agile Model
Project development phases like planning,
development, testing and many more etc. are
finished.
Agile follows the approach of iterative
development.
Here the phase of testing comes after the
phase of Building.
The phase of testing here is performed
simultaneously with programming or within
the same iteration as of programming.
It is an internal process and thus not requires
any customers.
It focuses on customer satisfaction.
It is a stringently sequential process
(Munassar, et-al, 2010).
It is collaborative software development
method (Awad, 2005).
Similarities between Waterfall and Agile
 Planning needs to be done before the project starts.
 Both of the models show dependency on the alike set of activity types.
 After analysis, designing is done (Thummadi, et-al, 2011).
Identify how your chosen methodology and processes relate to the project life cycle (PLC)
The PLC is described first in the image below; it focuses mainly on stages, procedures, tools,
understanding and skills for project management. SDLC whereas focuses on the
implementation and creation of the project product.
PLC stages are-
 Define Project Goal
 Plan Project
 Execute Project Plan
 Close Project
 Evaluate Project
SDLC stages are-
 Planning
 Analysis
 Design
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 Implementation
 Maintenance and Support (Gujjari, 2012).
Figure 2 PLC and SDLC
The SDLC is termed to be part of PLC because of many activities which occur during the
phase of execution for the development of information system. The end 2 stages of PLC,
evaluating and closing of the project takes place after the execution of information system.
The integration of system development and project management activities distinguishes types
of project (Ramnath, 2014).
Conclusion
The assignment of Project management methodology is done successfully by demonstrating
how to design, strategize, govern and supply the project. These stages must be completed
properly with proper execution prior to its completion. For this assignment, I have taken
Waterfall methodology and have compared it with agile methodology. Also, SDLC
(Waterfall model) and PLC relationship are demonstrated with the help of its phases.
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References
 Van Eck, M. L., Lu, X., Leemans, S. J., & van der Aalst, W. M. (2015). PM^2: A Process
Mining Project Methodology. In International Conference on Advanced Information
Systems Engineering, pp. 297-313. Retrieved From
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fef7/3560f6c622070beb6a6f3611f3fb954e4218.pdf
 Huo, M., Verner, J., Zhu, L., & Babar, M. A. (2004). Software quality and agile methods.
In Computer Software and Applications Conference, pp. 520-525. Retrieved From
https://ulir.ul.ie/bitstream/handle/10344/2144/2004_huo,m.pdf?sequence=2.
 Palmquist, S., Lapham, M. A., Garcia-Miller, S., Chick, T. A., & Ozkaya, I. (2013).
Parallel worlds: Agile and waterfall differences and similarities. Software Engineering
Institute, pp. 18-101. Retrieved From http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1761&context=sei
 Awad, M. A. (2005). A comparison between agile and traditional software development
methodologies. University of Western Australia. pp. 3-84. Retrieved From
http://pds10.egloos.com/pds/200808/13/85/A_comparision_between_Agile_and_Traditio
nal_SW_development_methodologies.pdf Munassar, N. M. A., & Govardhan. A., (2010). A Comparison Between Five Models Of
Software Engineering. International Journal of Computer Science Issues. pp. 94-364.
Retrieved From
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3a4a/2cb2328e2f416be0be012e5d580975943554.pdf#pa
ge=115
 Thummadi, B. V., Shiv. O., Berente, N., & Lyytinen, K., (2011). Enacted Software
Development Routines Based on Waterfall and Agile Software Methods: Socio-Technical
Event Sequence Study. National Science Foundation Grants. pp. 1-15. Retrieved From
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kalle_Lyytinen/publication/221581289_Enacted_So
ftware_Development_Routines_Based_on_Waterfall_and_Agile_Software_Methods_Soc
io-Technical_Event_Sequence_Study/links/0912f500f576a28a4d000000/Enacted-
Software-Development-Routines-Based-on-Waterfall-and-Agile-Software-Methods-
Socio-Technical-Event-Sequence-Study.pdf
 Gujjari, B., (2012). Project Life Cycle (PLC) and System Development Life Cycle
(SDLC). Retrieved from http://neurontesting.blogspot.in/2012/06/project-life-cycle-plc-
and-system.html
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 Ramnath, (2014). Explain the phases of Project Life Cycle. Compare it with SDLC.
Retrieved from http://www.ques10.com/p/4299/describe-project-life-cycle-and-its-
relation-with-/
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