The following template is based on IEEE 1058.1-1987.
This material is copied and/or adapted from the Survival Guide Website at www.construx.com/survivalguide/.

Software Project Management Plan (SPMP) template

Outline

Detailed Contents

Outline

Revision Chart
Preface
Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Project Overview
1.2 Project Deliverables
1.3 Evolution of the Software Project Management Plan
1.4 Reference Materials
1.5 Definitions and Acronyms
2. Project Organization
2.1 Process Model
2.2 Organizational Structure
2.3 Organizational Boundaries and Interfaces
2.4 Project Responsibilities
3. Managerial Process
3.1 Management Objectives and Priorities
3.2 Assumptions, Dependencies, and Constraints
3.3 Risk Management
3.4 Monitoring and Controlling Mechanisms
3.5 Staffing Plan
4. Technical Process
4.1 Methods, Tools, and Techniques
4.2 Software Documentation
4.3 Project Support Functions
5. Work Packages, Schedule, and Budget
5.1 Work Packages
5.2 Dependencies
5.3 Resource Requirements
5.4 Budget and Resource Allocation
5.5 Schedule
6. Additional Components

7. Index

8. Appendices

Detailed Contents

Revision Chart

This chart contains a history of this document’s revisions. The entries below are provided solely for purposes of illustration. Entries should be deleted until the revision they refer to has actually been created.

The document itself should be stored in revision control, and a brief description of each version should be entered in the revision control system. That brief description can be repeated in this section. Revisions do not need to be described elsewhere in the document except inasmuch as they explain the development plan itself.
 
 
Version Primary Author(s) Description of Version Date Completed
Draft TBD Initial draft created for distribution and review comments TBD
Preliminary TBD Second draft incorporating initial review comments, distributed for final review TBD
Final TBD First complete draft, which is placed under change control TBD
Revision 1 TBD Revised draft, revised according to the change control process and maintained under change control TBD
Revision 2 TBD Revised draft, revised according to the change control process and maintained under change control TBD
etc. TBD TBD TBD

Preface

The preface contains an introduction to the document. It is optional and can be deleted if desired.

Contents

List the document contents by page number.

List of Figures

List the figures in the document by page number.

1.0 Introduction

This section should describe the project and the software product being to be built. No text is necessary between the heading above and the heading below unless otherwise desired.

1.1 Project Overview

Give a short summary of the project objectives, the software to be delivered, major activities, major deliverables, major milestones, required resources, and top-level schedule and budget. Describe the relationship of this project to other projects, if appropriate.

1.2 Project Deliverables

List all of the major items to be delivered to the customer (external customer, in-house user, etc.).

List the deliverables, delivery dates, delivery locations, delivery method (email, FTP, CD, etc.), and quantities necessary to satisfy the project’s requirements.

[Refer to course syllabus].

1.3 Evolution of the Software Project Management Plan

Describe how you expect this document to evolve over time. This section should be very similar to the "Revision Chart" earlier in the document. The revision chart should list what has already been done to this document. This section should list what is expected to be done to this document.

This chart contains a plan for the document’s revisions. The entries below are provided for purposes of illustration. The progression from "Draft" to "Preliminary" to "Final" and then through a section of "Revisions" is one typical approach.
 
 
Version Primary Author(s) Description of Version Date Expected
Draft TBD Initial draft created for distribution and review comments TBD
Preliminary TBD Second draft incorporating initial review comments, distributed for final review TBD
Final TBD First complete draft, which is placed under change control TBD
Revision 1 TBD Revised draft, revised according to the change control process and maintained under change control TBD
etc. TBD TBD TBD

1.4 Reference Materials

List all the documents and other materials referenced in this document. This section is like the bibliography in a published book.

1.5 Definitions and Acronyms

Provide definitions or references to all the definitions of the special terms and acronyms used within this document.

2.0 Project Organization

In this section, describe the process model (e.g., lifecycle model), the organizational structure (e.g., chain of command or management reporting structure), and responsibilities of individuals on the project.

No text is necessary between the heading above and the heading below unless otherwise desired.

2.1 Process Model

Describe the following items:
Work Product Name Planned Completion Date Placed Under Change Control? Deliverable to Customer? People Who Must Sign Off on the Work Product
Software Project Management Plan

This is the controlling document for managing a software project, and it defines the technical and managerial processes necessary to deliver the project requirements.

 TBD Yes No Project Manager, Engineering Lead, QA Lead, Documentation Lead
TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

You should consider including all of the top-level work products described in "Software Project Survival Guide", including:

The items in this section (and, in general, in this document) can be fully described here, or, if they are described in sufficient detail elsewhere, that description can simply be referenced here.  [Try to avoid redundancy with section 4.2].

2.2 Organizational Structure

Describe the internal management structure of the project. Use org charts, matrix diagrams, or other appropriate notations to describe the lines of authority, responsibility, and communication within the project.
[It is NOT necessary to show the organization of the entire company, only this project].
[This section lists project roles or jobs, but does not mention who is assigned to them.  Actual personnel assignments are shown in section 3.5].
[Refer to Job Descriptions].

2.3 Organizational Boundaries and Interfaces

Describe the relationships between the project and each of the following organizations: This list should include a description of a specific person or project role that is responsible for maintaining the interface between the project and each of these other organizations.

[In CPE 205 the two important interfaces are Analyst -> Customer and Team Leader -> Course Instructor].

2.4 Project Responsibilities

[Refer to Job Descriptions]. Identify and describe each major project function and activity, and identify the person(s) responsible for each function and activity. If appropriate, you might use a table like the one below, otherwise just write a narrative description.
 
  Manager QA Analyst Designer User Interface
Liaison Responsibility VP Engineering    Customer  Software engineering lab   
Document Responsibility SPMP SQAP SRS SDD UI Prototype
Other Responsibilities   FTR's      

3.0 Managerial Process

Describe management objectives, priorities, project assumptions, dependencies, constraints, risk management techniques, monitoring and controlling mechanisms, and the staffing plan.

No text is necessary between the heading above and the heading below unless otherwise desired.

3.1 Management Objectives and Priorities

Describe the philosophy, goals, and priorities for management during the project. Consider including the following items:

3.2 Assumptions, Dependencies, and Constraints

Describe the assumptions upon which the project plans are based, the dependencies of the project plans, and the constraints upon the project plans (e.g., schedule, budget, quality, functionality, etc.)

3.3 Risk Management

Describe how risks will be identified, tracked and monitored. Identify the risk manager and his/her duties. The actual risks themselves are contained in a separate document, the Risks List, that will be updated weekly. Place a link here to the Risks List.

3.4 Monitoring and Controlling Mechanisms

Describe how project cost, schedule, quality, and functionality will be tracked throughout the project. Consider describing the following:

3.5 Staffing Plan

Describe the numbers and types of personnel needed to conduct the project. Describe the required skill levels, start times, duration on the project, method of obtaining the personnel, training required, and phasing out of project personnel. [Once staff have been hired, list their names and roles here.]

4.0 Technical Process

This section describes the top-level technical processes used on the project including the technical methods, tools, and techniques; major software documents; and supporting activities such as configuration management and quality assurance.

No text is necessary between the heading above and the heading below unless otherwise desired.

4.1 Methods, Tools, and Techniques

Describe the following:

4.2 Software Documentation

List the documents that will be developed for the project, including milestones, reviews, and signoffs for each document. If they are described in sufficient detail elsewhere, that description can simply be referenced here. The documentation list might include the follow documents:

4.3 Project Support Functions

Describe or give references to other documents that describe the plans for functions that support the software development effort, including configuration management, quality assurance, and end user documentation. Whether included in this document or described elsewhere, the plans for these supporting functions should be developed in as much detail as the plans for the software itself are. (This includes responsibilities, resource requirements, schedule, budget, and so on.)

5.0 Work Packages, Schedule, and Budget

No text is necessary between the heading above and the heading below unless otherwise desired.

5.1 Work Packages

Describe the work package (i.e., task or collection of tasks) that must be completed to complete the software. Identify each work package with a unique number, and provide a diagram showing the breakdown of work packages into sub-packages.

5.2 Dependencies

Describe the dependencies both among work packages and between the project’s work packages and external events.

5.3 Resource Requirements

Describe the resources required for the project week by week or month by month, depending on the length of the project. Describe the numbers and type of personnel that are used, number of computers and software used, office facilities used, training needed, budget used, and so on over the whole course of the project.

5.4 Budget and Resource Allocation

Describe the portion of the project’s budget allocated to different functions (e.g., engineering, quality assurance, documentation, management). Describe how the budget will be expended over the course of the project.

5.5 Schedule

Describe the schedule for the various project functions, activities, and tasks, taking into account the various dependencies and required milestone dates and deliverable dates. You can express schedules either as absolute calendar dates or as times relative to key project milestones (e.g., "requirements signed off + 60 days").

[The schedule is updated frequently and may be more appropriately maintained as a separate document, in which case include a link here. ]

6.0 Additional Components

Include additional components needed to manage your specific project. Possibilities include subcontractor management plans, security plans, training plans, hardware procurement plans, facilities plans, installation plans, cutover plans, and software maintenance plans.

7.0 Index

The index is optional according to the IEEE standard. If the document is made available in electronic form, readers can search for terms electronically.

8.0 Appendices

Include supporting detail that would be too distracting to include in the main body of the document.

This material is copied and/or adapted from the Survival Guide Website at www.construx.com/survivalguide/. This material is copyright © 1993-1998 Steven C. McConnell. Permission is hereby given to copy, adapt, and distribute this material as long as this notice is included on all such materials and the materials are not sold, licensed, or otherwise distributed for commercial gain.