Certified Software Project Manager
Body of Knowledge and References For Exam

1. Principles of Software Project (Mandatory)
2. Risk Management
3. People Management (includes Communications)
4. Schedule and Budget Management
5. Project Control
6. Business Requirements
7. Status Reporting and Measurement
8. Software Development Processes
9. Verification and Validation
10. Software Environment/Tools
11. Configuration Management

• Vocabulary, concepts and principles of Software Project Management.
• Broad overview of the other domains.
• Major emphasis on the role of the Project Manager from start of a software development project to the conclusion.

Domain Description

• Principles of risk
• Risk analysis
• Understanding of the risks that are unique or emphasized in software projects
• How to quantify risks
• Tradeoffs associated with emphasizing one software characteristic versus another
• Internal Control & Security.

Domain Description

• An understanding of how to man a software development project. 
• How to train individuals in the skills needed for software development. 
• All human resource issues associated with managing a project. 
• Customer Liaison. 
• Communication. 
• Teams, Groups, Leadership, Role of Senior Management. 
• Negotiation. 
• Processes used to interact with customers/users throughout the software development lifecycle - knowledge of how to assess customer attitudes about development, including concepts such as customer surveys, focus groups, assessment questionnaires, and how to assist customers in the acceptance testing aspects of software development. Emphasis is on service level agreements or equivalent. Procurement Management.
• Internal Control & Security. 

 Domain Description

• Principles on how to create a software project budget and schedule using either manual processes or automated packages. 
• Associated Techniques such as critical path, resource lending and re-calibration when changes are made to the project plan resources, budget, schedule and/or risk. 
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Estimation – FPA and other methods Cost & Budget Management.

 Domain Description

• Relationship of control to risk.
• Types of control that can be incorporated into project management (i.e., preventative, detective, and corrective).
• Understanding of the principles of quality control.
• How quality control is used throughout the project to assure the processes are utilized correctly, the entrance and exit criteria are correct, and that problems are identified early in the process.
• Status reporting.
• Scope management.
• Change control plan

 Domain Description

• How requirements are defined,
• Attributes of a good requirement.
• Processes that can be used to define good requirements like - Joint Application Development (JAD).
• Change management.
• How to trace requirements throughout the software development effort using techniques such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

 Domain Description

• Principles of measurement and how they apply to managing a software development project.
• How to develop reports that indicate the status of development of a software project (e.g., what percent of the project has been completed versus what percent of the time has been expended).
• Familiarity with measurement concepts such as key indicators and project management dashboards.
• What was measured in the project.
• Managing the status of the project time.

 Domain Description

• Understanding of how processes are developed and improved, including the components of a process which are policy, standards, procedures (i.e., do and check procedures), and guidelines.
• Understanding of the importance of entrance and exit criteria at each stage of software development.
• Types of software development processes (e.g., waterfall and spiral development processes).
• Understanding of the major phases of software development.
• Types of deliverables produced during each phase, and the objective of each deliverable.
• Prototyping.

 Domain Description

• Understanding of the process of software testing from the initiation of the project through the final culmination of a project (i.e. the "V" concept of testing).
• Various types of validation testing, such as reviews and inspections.
• Various types of verification testing, including unit testing, string of integration testing, system testing, and user acceptance testing.
• Understanding of a software test plan and how that test plan integrates into the project plan.
• Understanding of defects, defect management, defect description, and defect prioritization.
• Types of reporting that are most commonly associated with software testing.

 Domain Description 

• Understanding of the type of environment that should be established to effectively develop software systems.
• Selection of specific software development processes and the tools associated with that process.
• A general understanding of the types of tools most commonly associated with software development.
• Training that is most commonly associated with preparing individuals to effectively develop software.

 Domain Description

• How the various components of software development are controlled such as releases, library management, and coordination of changes throughout multiple software development projects/applications.
• Activities associated with software maintenance/enhancements and how changes to a software system should be controlled throughout development and operation of a software project.
• Change control.
• Integration management.
• Configuration Management Board.

General Bibliographic References

IMPORTANT: It is each candidate's responsibility to stay current in the field and to be aware of published works and materials available for professional study and development. Software Certifications recommends that candidates for certification continually research and stay aware of current literature and trends in the field. There are many valuable references that have not been listed here. These references are offered for informational purposes only.

Bennatan, E. M. On Time Within Budget: Software Project Management Practices and Techniques. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Third Edition, 2000.

De Baar, Bas. The Microwave Way to Software Project Management. Writers Club Press, 2002.

Futrell, Robert T. Quality Software Project Management. Prentice Hall, First Edition, 2002.

Henry, Joel. Software Project Management: A Real-World Guide to Success. Addison-Wesley, First Edition, 2003.

Highsmith, Jim. Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products. Addison-Wesley, 2004.

Hughes, Bob & Mike Cottrell. Software Project Management. McGraw-Hill Companies, 2002.

Jalote, Pankaj. Software Project Management in Practice. Addison-Wesley, First Edition, 2002.

Lecky-Thompson, Guy W. Corporate Software Project Management. Charles River Books, 2005.

Lewin, Marsha D. Better Software Project Management: A Primer for Success. John Wiley & Sons, First Edition, 2001.

Mandanis, Greg & Allen Wyatt. Software Project Management Kit for Dummies. For Dummies, 2000.

Paulish, Daniel J. Architecture-Centric Software Project Management: A Practical Guide. Addison-Wesley, First Edition, 2001.

Project Management Institute. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Project Management Institute, 2004.

Taylor, James. Managing Information Technology Projects: Applying Project Management Strategies to Software, Hardware, and Integration Initiatives. American Management Association, 2003.

Wysocki, Robert K. & Rudd McGary. Effective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme. John Wiley & Sons, Third Edition, 2003.