Course Code CS 372

Description Software Engineering

College / Department:
School of Undergraduate Studies Assignment No. 2

ASSIGNMENT 2(Project Management) Page 1 of 1

Practical Case Analysis

The Project Hand - off Method

Dragan Z. Milosevic, Russ J. Martinelli, and James M. Waddell
Hospi-Tek is a medical equipment manufacturing company who has historically used aproject hand-off approach to develop
its products. They are currently under intense time to market pressure from their primary competitor, forcing senior
management to reevaluate this approach.
A HAND - OFF METHOD
Under the project hand - off method, the Hospi - Tek product development effort began with the architectural team who
developed an architectural concept and derived the high - level requirements of the medical device from the work of the
product marketing team. The architectural concept and specifications were then handed - off to the hardware engineering
team, who assumed ownership of the project. The engineering team developed the hardware requirements, engineering
specifications, and the product design, which were then handed - off to the manufacturing team, who assumed ownership
of the project. The manufacturing team developed the manufacturing processes, retooled the factor, and produced the
physical product. The product and project ownership were then handed - off to downstream engineering teams, such as
the software development team. The software team developed the software stack, then handed - off the combined
hardware/ software product, as well as project ownership, to the validations and test team. Finally, the validations and test
team performed product - and component - level testing to ensure the product achieved the functional, quality, usability,
and reliability requirements. Management of the project was accomplished through a project management - only model,
with multiple project managers in control of the project as it progressed through the development life cycle. Thus, a project
manager with the functional expertise specific to the phase of development the product was currently in assumed
ownership of the project.

JUDGEMENT
The hand - off method of development is common in smaller, less mature, and technically focused companies in which
true project management value is usually not well understood and the engineering functions reign king. Unfortunately, this
method is not scalable, and as a company begins to succeed and grow, product and process complexity requires the
management team to look at alternative methods to structure and manage its product development efforts.

Discussion items
1. Why (by implementing the hand - off method) are there multiple project managers in control of the project as it
progresses through the development life cycle?
2. Do you agree with the judgment that the hand - off method is popular in companies where true project management
value is usually not well understood? Why or why not?
3. What are the pros and cons of the hand - off method?
Assessment Rubric:

Criteria (%) 5 4 2-3 1

Accuracy Accurate, Accurate user User requirements Insufficient user
comprehensive, and requirements and and technical requirements and
sufficiently specific technical specification cover technical
user requirements specification that only some aspects specification:
and technical cover most aspects of the system, and meeting the stated
specification. of the system. miss some requirements and
significant aspects, specifications does
or characterize not solve the stated
them inaccurately. problem.
Organization All information is Can find Information difficult Very hard to find
easy to find and information with to locate. information.
important points slight effort.
stand out
Completeness All major system Most major system Only some system Non-representative,
components are components are components are or missing system
identified. identified. identified. Some components.
major components
are missing.

Grammar and There are no errors There are 1-3 errors There are 4-5 errors There are more
Spelling in spelling, in spelling, in spelling, than 5 errors in
punctuation or punctuation or punctuation or spelling,
grammar in the final grammar in the grammar in the punctuation or
draft of the final draft of the final draft of the grammar in the
documentation. documentation. documentation. final draft
documentation.

1. Why (by implementing the hand - off method) are there multiple project managers in control of the project as it
progresses through the development life cycle?
Yes, there are multiple project managers in control of the project as it progressed through the development life
cycle. With them, the management of the project was accomplished through a project management model. Hence, a project
manager with the functional expertise specific to the phase of development the product was currently in assumed ownership
of the project. And from here we can understand each phase has own project manager who will be responsible for everything
at the time.

Multiple Project Managers signifies that each project manager was given set of tasks which forms a project in itself.
Having multiple project managers assigned the completion of the project leads to various benefits such as no
misunderstandings, each project manager knows his own scope and the activities to be completed. Project deliverables
ensured, each project manager is delegated the set of activities and is responsible for the completion of the same. Issues
address immediately, any grievance or problem associated with the scope of activities of the project manager can be
immediately addressed and looked into. Project piece is well understood, each project manager knows its outline of activities
and hence when brought in together, the whole project fits better.
2. Do you agree with the judgment that the hand - off method is popular in companies where true project management
value is usually not well understood? Why or why not?

I agree, it was clearly stated there that hand-off method of development is usually in smaller, less mature, and
technically the companies focused into it although the true project management value is not well understood. The method
is not scalable and as company begins to success and grow, products and processes on this method can’t be guaranteed
a clever vision for the organization to help managers make the right decisions.

3. What are the pros and cons of the hand - off method?

Hand- off method by definition are finite, their impact should continue after they have been completed. The
consequence is one may question what the point of the project was in the first place. Many projects roll themselves into
operations. The company should now be using the information or system that resulted from the project. A transitional period
will often take team members directly from the project into their roles in the daily operations of the company.

Another pro is the quality of the product, validations and test performed product and component, level testing to
ensure the product achieved the functional, quality, usability and reliability requirements. On the other hand, the organization
needs information that resulted from the project and because this method includes multiple project managers in control of
the project, there is a possibility that the information will be shown late.

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