Project Constraints

1. Resources: These are the people available. For this project we have an loosely defined pool of people who can commit time. The important thing to remember is that human resources can not be turned on like a tap. Even if we could recruit more people to a project it would take them a finite time to get up to speed with the problems and technologies involved. This is mitigated to some degree if we adopt existing technologies and solutions. Once the project is in full swing it is difficult to add human resources and easy to lose them.
2. Timescale: Time appears to be finite. This project, like any other, is bounded by a specific TimeLine which is fixed.
3. Quality: Whether the product does what it says on the tin! This is a non-negotiable. The result has to do what is specified in the scoping process.
4. Scope: What it says on the tin. This is the specification for the system. What it will and won't do. (see MoSCoW below.) This is the only thing that can be varied throughout the project. Managing scope is therefore the most important thing to do. It may be necessary to abandon areas of interest in order to be sure of delivering Quality with the available resources in the timescale. This is particularly difficult when development is being driven by voluntary effort but should be borne in mind by all involved i.e. one solution to any problem is not to solve it but to put effort into something more important.

-- RogerHyam - 21 Oct 2005