Project Software Management Definition
As a software engineer, you usually take a software program that has already been developed, make improvements, and incremental changes to the software to make it better, or update it. As a software engineer, you may compare different software adjustment results, analyze those differences, and decide which to use.
In the early days of software development, software engineers had an easy task ahead of them. Usually, programs were simple and changes were easy to make and track. However, software today is increasingly complex. Software engineers who handle this type of work often make very minute changes; nonetheless, these changes can have big effect on the software in question. As such software engineers must keep track of any changes they make, no matter how small they are.
Undertaking the Development of Project Management Software
If you as a software engineer undertake the development of a software program and/or any ongoing changes to an existing program, you should keep the following guidelines in mind:
First, make note of any defect and make sure they can be traced back from where they had come (this is known as defect tracking).
Second, manage the hardware and software that hosts the system, which is known as environmental management.
Third, engage in build management; this means managing the process and tools to be used.
Fourth, make sure that those on your team follow your company's developmental processes in terms of software development, which is known as process management.
Fifth, ensure that all involved components are consistent and complete, which means that reviewing the work that has been done.
Sixth, record and report the programs components' status, known as status accounting.
Finally, determine the code that you are working with for the program itself, known as configuration identification.
Lifecycle Tools in Today's Software
As software development becomes ever more complex, lifecycle "tools" are fully integrated into software programs to provide the capabilities of the software itself in the functions it performs. The number of tools that a particular software program needs has increased as software itself has become more complex. One particular type of tool used in software development that has been around since the beginning of the industry is the version control tools.
Getting a Job Working with Project Management Software
If you want to work in project management with software, you will need college education in computer science or software engineering. You may need a graduate degree such as a master's degree for some positions. For a position like this, you must be familiar with all the major computer languages, such as XML, C++, and Java. In some cases, your employer will require you to have national certifications in these languages. Courses are available; in some cases, employers will pay for their employees to take these courses.
If you have a proper background as a programmer and show great promise as a software engineer, a good company might hire and train you further at their expense. In addition, your education will continue throughout your career even if you did not have the proper training to begin with, because new technologies will continually develop and need to be mastered.
Should You be in Project Software Management?
If you like working with computers and you think this type of work would be interesting, acquire background in computer science, mathematics and physics. You can also study computer programming and learn computer languages in your spare time to develop a background for this type of work. If you choose to pursue this type of career in college, a degree in computer science or in software engineering is preferred. Again, your education will have to continue once you leave college, both to get an advanced degree for many jobs and to keep up on continual technological changes.
Getting a job
These types of jobs are going to be very popular as Internet is becoming evermore popular and ubiquitous as a part of society. Once you have graduated from college, you can begin by contacting consulting firms or computer manufacturers; in some cases, working for the Federal Government is also a possibility. Online job sites, too, will have listings for those who want to begin in project software management.
When you begin, you will probably verify and test programs that are in development. Once you have been on the job for a while, you can begin to develop your own software and eventually become a supervisor for other team members.
Other Skills Necessary
You will also need to be good at communicating ideas to other people on your team. Some of those people may not have background in software management, so you will need to break computer terminology down into a language that other people can understand.
Compensation
In general, those who work to develop project management software do quite well, and make an average of about $80,000 a year as of 2006.
