Master’s course in Open Source Project Management & Business Development
The researchers from the Department of Economics, Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technical University of Sofia joined forces with the team behind OS.University in order to share with the student community their observations and findings when it comes to the successful collaboration around open source initiatives. The course that originates out of this partnership is designed by prof. Ognyan Andreev — Dean of the Faculty of Management, and is led by Dr. Hristian Daskalov, Head of Research at OS.University.
“Open Source Project Management & Business Development” is a course of choice for “Big Data Analysis” Master’s students at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics & Informatics at TU Sofia. The master’s program focuses on the development of software for big data analysis with application in social networks, the IT security ecosystem, intelligent systems. The contents of the course on O.S. management are open to students from other programs and universities, as well, who can enroll through its OSU course page.
Here’s what some of the scientific reviewers are saying about the qualities of the underlying open-source management research behind the content of the course. The below are extracts from reviews of the doctoral dissertation “Research of the Critical Success Factors in Open Source Project Stakeholder Management” (by Dr. Hristian Daskalov), concerning the importance of the work from scientific and practical standpoints:
The content of the research is indicative for the comprehensive work, performed by the author in respect of the exploration of the methodological aspects of stakeholder management and identification of critical success factors. The author systemizes the existing theoretical approaches in a framework of a focused literature review and clarification of conceptual issues, on the basis of which formulations are derived, regarding the characteristics of open source technological projects. (…) The high degree of applicability of the achieved results in the managerial practice, particularly for the development of open source projects, should be appreciated. — Prof. Matilda Alexandrova
The research under discussion contains an original scientific and applied research, oriented towards the problem of the successful management of stakeholder relations in open source projects. This is an in-depth survey that fits into the general trend of Industry 4.0 entering all spheres of our existence and is focused on an area that is insufficiently studied and where there is a lack of in-depth scientific and scientific-practical developments on the issue. Therefore, I believe that the topic is becoming crucial in today’s globalization and competition intensification, especially with the increasing role of digitization and online solutions, and even more so — free open source solutions. This issue is becoming fundamental in both the business and the public sphere. — Prof. Eng. Ognyan Andreev
Undoubtedly, the topic of the research can be defined as relevant in today’s pandemic conditions — a growing need for digitization of business and business solutions. The need to use open source software solutions allows not only for faster penetration of innovations in the world of business and educational institutions, but also allows for their continuous improvement and development, according to the changing needs of stakeholders and organizations, as well as according to the change and advancement of technology. The researcher presented and argued appropriately the need to develop adequate models for stakeholder management (SLM) in open source technology projects. Confirmation of the relevance of the topic can be found in the growing public attention to the management of stakeholders in technological developments with shared intellectual products (open source). — Prof. Nikolay Sterev
The contributions are of such a nature that, in addition to their theoretical usefulness, they can also be used in practice. In addition to the above points outlined, their practical applicability to Industry 4.0 can be emphasized, given the fact that Industry 4.0 includes a change towards open-based industrial development and the emergence of new shared technologies and means of production, as well as an ongoing merger of information and production technologies. The results of the research can find applicability in an unlimited range of projects for development and optimization of software and hardware products. — Prof. Eng. Yordanka Angelova
Based on the review of the research, its setup and implementation, it can be concluded that the methodology applied in the research allows for the successful execution of the main tasks in front of the author. The interpretation of the obtained results is done in a way that gives us grounds to assume that the conclusions made reflect the logical conditionality of the studied phenomena, related to the critical factors exploration in open source projects’ stakeholder management. — Assoc. Prof. Ivan Boevsky
The aim of the “Open Source Project Management & Business Development” course is for students to learn and be able to apply the basic methods and mechanisms by which the project manager is able to:
- Define the specific goal of the individual project and the resulting strategy for its implementation;
- Know how to present and justify the project, as well as to motivate the team for its implementation;
- Plan in time and allocate the work for the implementation of the open project;
- Select and plan the shared resources (human, financial, material, equipment, etc.) and optimize their use in the project;
- Control and update “on the go” the implementation of the open project.
The course introduces students to the main business models, management methods and mechanisms, knowledge of which is a prerequisite for successful IT project management and in particular — open source project management in communities and organizations, operating in the field of IT production and services, with strong focus on R&D and the implementation of technological, product and management innovations.
In addition to the introductory topics in the field of project and operations management, the curriculum is comprised of IT-specific topics such as Agile Project Management, Scrum, Extreme Programming, Lean Project Management, Community Management and other topics, which all have application in open source development studies (and beyond).
The only prerequisites are related to the presence of fundamental knowledge in the area of information technology and management sciences: software engineering, operations management, project management.
ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- АНДРЕЕВ, О. (2006). Мениджмънт на проекти, Софттрейд;
- Даскалов, Х. (2014). Стейкхолдър мениджмънт при проекти, програми и стратегии в образованието, науката и иновациите, Военно издателство;
- BREWER, J & DITTMAN K. (2018). Methods of IT Project Management, Purdue University Press, 3rd ed.;
- Kerzner, H. (2017), Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Wiley Publisher, 12 th ed.;
- Larson, E. & Gray C. (2020). Project Management: The Managerial Process, Irwin/ McGraw — Hill, 8th ed.;
- Project Management Institute, USA, (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOKâ Guide), 6th Edition;
- SCHIEF, M. (2014). Business Models in the Software Industry, Springer Gabbler;
- SCHWALBE, K. (2018), Information Technology Project Management, Wiley Publisher, 9th ed.;
- WYSOCKI, R. (2019). Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme, Hybrid. Wiley Publisher, 8th ed.;
- Bach, H., GALKINA, J, at al. (2015). Building Successful Partner Channels In The Software Industry, TBK Publishing;
- VERZUH E. (2015). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 5th ed.
- Daskalov. H. (2018). Academia 4.0: University on the Blockchain.
