Managing a Telecom Project - Term Paper Example

Introduction A company requires introducing a new telecom service for their s, based on the cloud technology. The telecommunication industry is adopting the cloud technology services to meet the future needs as well as considering it as a success. The company (under discussion) is considering the cloud technology to create new telecom services comparatively more effectively and efficiently, however, the current services of the company would remain on their existing (current) infrastructure and technologies. The company decided to execute a project consisting of three (3) major tasks or deliverables, in order to implement the cloud technology to provide the new service. The company requires updating the cloud systems, integrating billing operations to the existing financial systems and provision of training to the staff of the company in a way that the new services can be utilized successfully and proficiently (IBM, 2014). There are certain requirements of the company regarding the completion of the project i-e the project should be completed within six (6) months of its inception. Moreover, the project has to be managed by a team of seven (7) members. The document presents a project management methodology to be adopted in order to achieve the project objectives along with its selection rationale. The document further discusses utilization of the agile project management for project deliverables. The document contains a description of the human resources required to complete the project, along with their qualifications and experience. In order to identify the scope of the project, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is developed in the document. The document provides details of the WBS in which each activity / task identified in the WBS for the project is assigned human resources, cost and time. Moreover, in order to monitor the progress of the project, the monitoring and controlling processes of the project management are utilized and the same is presented in the document. In order to deliver a defect free project, an appropriate quality plan is included in the document – a project management report of managing the new telecom service based on the cloud technology. It is pertinent to specify that a project plan containing the Gantt chart is developed to support the theories presented in this document. Project Management Methodology Currently, there are two (2) major project management standards include: the Project in Controlled Environment (PRINCE2) and Project Management for Professionals (PMP), Project Management Institute (PMI). However, in order to manage the project of the company, the five (5) major processes of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) are utilized to achieve the objectives of the project. The major processes of the PMBOK include: the initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and project closure. Each of the processes of the project management methodology has diverse and particular deliverables which would facilitate the project management team to ensure achieving the project objectives. The project management methodology prescribed in the PMBOK is utilized to complete the project within the agreed time and cost (PM Institute, 2014). In the initiation phase of the project, the requirements would be gathered, analyzed and specified regarding the new telecom service going to be started with the company. As per the gathered and analyzed requirements of the project, goal and objectives of the project are derived and specified in the initiation phase. One of the deliverables of the initiation phase is the project charter contains the cost, time, and high level requirements along with project deliverables are specified. In this regard, the cloud systems have to be reviewed and evaluated so that the technology can be utilized for providing the telecom services, as desired by the company. Moreover, it has been analyzed that to implement the cloud technology for provision of the telecom services, the programmers are required to update the databases as well as web interfaces for the customers. Agile Project Management The Agile Project Management, unlike the traditional Project Management, supports the design and development of products in an iterative and incremental way. The Agile Project Management requires expert, skillful and capable human resources (project team) to deliver the project objectives. From the four (4) major project deliverables (cloud based system, integrating the billing system and provision of training), it is recommended that the training of the employees of the company should be a deliverable based on the agile project management. The rationale for not selecting the cloud based system is that the human resource (Web based developer) is not experienced and joined the project team recently and the Agile Project Management requires experienced and expert human resources. The configuration of the billing system with the existing financial system of the company (a deliverable) should not be Agile Project Management deliverables, as it is analyzed that this is a one time activity (i-e integration) and does not require iteration or incremental development (Dominguez, 2014). The last project deliverable is the training - an ongoing process, therefore, the training can be designed, developed and delivered to the employees of the company with the passage of time. It is pertinent to mention here, as the training is recommended to be delivered based on the agile project management, therefore, the human resources allocated for providing training to the company staff should be highly skillful and expert in the training field. However, on the other hand, the integration of billing system can somehow also be completed using the Agile Project Management, considering that the deliverable is not a one time activity. Therefore, the technical expert would also be required for the particular deliverable as well. Work Breakdown Structure The following table 1.0 shows all the phases, modules, activities and tasks required to complete the project in the form of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). In order to show the decomposition, the activities are given with codes and indentation (Work Breakdown Structure, 2012). Table 1.0 Work Breakdown Structure of the Project Telecom Service - Cloud Technology 1. Initiation 1.1 Requirement Gathering 1.2 Scope Identification 1.3 HR Roles and Responsibilities 2. Planning 2.1 WBS 2.2 Estimation - Cost, Time and Resources 2.3 Risk Management Plan 2.4 Quality Management Plan 3. Execution 3.1 Cloud System 3.1.1 Database Development 3.1.2 Web Interfaces for Telecom Service 3.2 Billing Configuration 3.1.1 Modifying Back end Programs 3.1.2 Billing 3.1.3 Financial Reports 3.1.4 Telecom Service Tariff 3.3 Training 3.3.1 Online Training 3.3.2 Training for CSS 3.3.3 Website Update 4. Monitoring and Control 4.1 Earned Value Management 5. Project Closing 5.1 Lesson Learnt Report 5.2 Project Sign-off Work Breakdown Structure – Telecom Service Based on Cloud Technology Human Resources Requirement After a thorough analysis of the project requirements and activities, it is identified that a total of nine (9) team members are required to complete the project within six (6) months (as desired by the company). The eight (8) team members would report to the Project Manager – a project leader. The following table contains a list of project team members along with their position, experience and qualifications: Table 2.0 Experience, Qualification Roles and Responsibilities 1. Project Manager, Number of Positions (1) Having at-least ten (10) years of professional experience in managing software project based on cloud technology. Moreover, the candidate should have at-least a Masters degree in Information Systems and Project Management Professional (PMP) or PRINCE2 certification is desirable. One of the main responsibilities of the Project Manager is to manage the project and achieve all the objectives within six (6) months and agreed cost of the project. 2. Web Developers, Number of Positions (3) As there are three (3) positions of the Web Developers, therefore, the two (2) web developers are comparatively more experienced than the third (3rd) one. Moreover, one of the web based developers has less experience of the cloud technology implementation. The qualification of all the web based developers should be graduated in computer science at a minimum. The Web based Developers are responsible for the development of a cloud based technology system involving web interfaces for the new telecom service to be provided. 3. Database Manager, Number of Positions (1) The Database Manager should have at-least five (5) years of professional experience in developing and managing Oracle Databases. Moreover, preferably the Database Manager should be Oracle certified. The Database Manager is responsible for designing and developing the database as well as maintaining and updating the database. 4. Network Specialist, Number of Specialists (1) The Network Specialist should have a Bachelor’s degree specialization in Networks. And the specialist should have a minimum of six (6) years in developing and managing the computer networks based on the virtualization and cloud technology. The Network Specialist is responsible for developing, maintaining and providing help desk support to the employees of the company. 5. Technical Trainers, Number of Positions (2) The Technical Trainers are responsible for providing the training (as well as designing the training contents) on the newly deployed system to the employees of the company so that the system can be utilized properly and efficiently. The qualification of the Trainer should be at least Masters in Computer Science as well as Business Administration, with a minimum of eight (8) years of trainer’s experience. 6. Technical Writer, Number of Positions (1) The Technical Writer is responsible for documenting the requirements of the stakeholders. The Technical Writer should be capable of developing Unified Modeling Language (UML) for the cloud system to be developed to provide the new telecom service. The Writer should be BS in computer science having two (2) years experience in the similar post. Estimation Techniques In Project Management, there are four (4) estimation techniques to estimate the cost of activity, time and the human resources required to complete the project include: the Analogous Estimating, Parametric Model Estimating, three (3) Point Estimation and Expert Judgement Estimating. In analogous estimation technique, the estimates on the duration of the activities are made based on the similar projects executed previously by the company. In parametric model estimation technique, a formula is developed usually by the Project Management Office (PMO) based on the previous experience to calculate the cost, time and human resources required to complete the project. In the three (3) point estimation technique, an average of the three estimation is taken i-e the most likely cost (time and human resources as well), the pessimistic estimate and the estimate lies between most likely and pessimistic estimate divided by three (3). In the expert estimation techniques, the experts estimate the cost, time and human resources required to complete the project, based on their previous experience (Free Management eBooks, 2014). However, it is significant to state that once all the activities have been identified utilizing WBS can also be utilized to assign the time, human resources and cost of each activity to estimate them. The estimation techniques as well as the scenarios for using each of the techniques are given above. Therefore, one or many of the above techniques can be utilized for estimation in the project under discussion. For instance, the time estimation should be done by using the Expert Judgement technique, however, the identification of the activity list should be done using Analogous Estimating. Moreover, the human resource requirement of the activities can be identified using the three (3) point estimate technique in the project providing a new telecom service by utilizing the cloud technology. Project Monitoring and Control Various performance measurement processes are utilized in order to monitor the progress of the project to develop the new telecom service. The progress of the project can be measured in terms of the expenditure compared to the estimated cost, planned schedule of the activities compared to the actual progress, the effort imposed by the human resources compared to the estimation, and change control of the project. The various performance measurement techniques include: the Earned Value Analysis (EVA), Estimated at Completion (EAC) and Budget at Completion (BAC). In the EVA, there are three (3) key values of the activity are taken in order to assess the performance include: the planned value, actual cost and earned value. The planned value pertains to the cost of the activity approved in the project plan to be spent on the activity and resources for completing the activity within planned time. The actual value refers to the total work (costs) involved in the activity to complete it within the given time frame. However, the earned value presents the actual work performed so far against the activity. Therefore, the technique EVA utilizes in the project to monitor, measure and review the progress of the project (Dwivedi, 2014). Quality Management Plan In the Quality Management Plan of the project, it is required for the project manager to identify the metrics for inspection of the project quality. The quality refers to the fulfillment of the client’s requirements, also considering the non functional requirements of the project, including the security, usability, efficiency, productivity and interoportablity (these factors are identified keeping in view the under discussion project). The project quality control and assurance members are required to review the quality parameters of the project under the supervision of the project manager. For instance, the metrics of the usability may include: the how much training of the company’s employees are required (in terms of hours / days / weeks) to use the system effectively, the level of the user’s proficiency and skills required to use the system, and how much time would require to train a layman (non IT users). The Quality Management Plan of the project would also include the matrics of the remaining quality parameters (Royce, 2010). Risk Management plan In the Risk Management Plan of the project, the project manager is required to develop a strategy in the planning phase of the project management for tackling the project risks. There are five (5) basic steps the project manager should take to manage the risk, including the identification of the risks (by all the team members under supervision of the project manager through brainstorming), the assessment of the risks, the evaluation (considering the probability of risk occurrence and (into) the impact of the risk after the occurrence) of the risks, the prioritizing the risk based on the probability and impact and developing mitigation plan. The mitigation plan is developed for the risk having a high probability of occurrence as well as the high impact. In the mitigation plan, four (4) alternatives can be considered, including avoiding the risk (by not performing the risky activity), reducing the impact of the risk, transferring the third party and accepting the risk. Keeping in view the above given guidelines and strategy, the project manager should develop the Risk Management Plan to manage the risks to be occurring in the project for delivering the telecom service to the customer (Chemuturi and Cagley, 2010). References Chemuturi, M., and Cagley Jr., T. (2010). Mastering Software Project Management. Plantation, FL: J. Ross Publishing. Dominguez, J. (2014). Agile Project Management: AFP. Retrieved from: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/agile-project-management-afp.php Dwivedi, J. (2014). Earned Value Management Explained. Retrieved from: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/earned-value-management-explained.php Free Management eBooks. (2014). Estimate Activity Duration. Retrieved from: http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqpm/time-06.htm IBM. (2014). The Natural Fit of Cloud with Telecommunications. Retrieved from: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/thoughtleadership/ibv-telecom-cloud.html PM Institute. (2014). A guide to the PMBOK. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute Incorporation Royce, W. (2010). Software Project Management: A Unified Framework. Boston, MA: Addison Wesley Professional. Work Breakdown Structure. (2012). Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Retrieved from: https://www.workbreakdownstructure.com/ Read More