Development of an Information Technology Project - Essay Example

Project Charter Insert Insert Charter Introduction 1 Document change control Revision Number Issue s) Brief Description of Change 1.0 2015-06-10 Muller Thomas Creation of the document. 1.2 Executive Summary The project seeks to establish a system that will allow the employees to locate and schedule a professional development of activities that are in line with their positions. It incorporates a sophisticated capability to search and append events that have been planned to the employee’s calendars. Also, it contains a social networking platform to facilitate acknowledgement of the attendees of varied events and conferences. It should allow for submission of documentation post activities. Regarding that, the managers alongside the employees are notified on issues such as support and deadlines that are close (Campbell, 2009). The project seeks to coordinate and maintain the records of the professional development of its employees spread across Colorado, Illinois, Texas and Florida. The project is estimated to cost the organization three hundred thousand dollars. 1.3 Authorization This project charter formally authorizes the existence of the project and the Project Name. It seeks to provide resources to run the activities to the manager of the project. If there is a change in the project scope, the charter will be updated and submitted for re-approval. _______________________________________________ ____________________________ John Mensah Date Executive Sponsor Director, Zintec Limited _______________________________________________ ____________________________ Phyllis Gladwell Date Project Sponsor Projects Manager, Zoom Technologies _______________________________________________ ____________________________ Jonathan Blue Date Project Manager Position, Host Company Section 2. Project Overview 2.1 Project Summary The development of the project aims to integrate all the four branches of the company allowing the extensive number of 30000 employees to locate and schedule professional development activities that relate to their positions. Most important is to facilitate coordination and manage a record of its employees and their progress. 2.2 Project goals, the objectives and the outcomes No. Goals Objectives Business Outcomes 1. Coordinate and maintain records of employees Access employee information of all the sites Record coordination & maintenance 2. Employees schedule and locate activities Employee plans their tasks Employee locates various activities Centralize activities 3. Incorporate sophisticated search capabilities Search information Speed up retrieval of information 4. Add schedule events to employees calendar Enable an employee to schedule an event Facilitate planning for events by employees 5. Social networking support Employees can determine who is attending a conference or an event Ensure company representation at conferences 6. Notification support Notify managers of submitted documentation Notify employees on close deadlines System facilitating submission of documentation after an activity 2.3 Project scope 2.3.1 Scope definition The project aims to build a system that allows location and scheduling of tasks, has an extensive search capability, and enable employees to schedule events (Bolles & Hubbard, 2007). Further, it should allow integration of a social network platform and incorporate a notification module for both the managers and the employees. 2.3.2 Boundaries Activities in Scope Activities out of Scope 1. Establish requirements document 1. Training 2. Building of the system 3. Development of a user guide 4.Build a Presentation The project will cover gathering the requirements for the system, building of the system, developing a guide for the user and making a presentation on the system and its functionality in general. However training the individual persons will not be done at this stage. 2.4 Milestones Identify the significant points or events in the project (such as the phases, stages, decision gates, and approval of a deliverable). This chart can also represent a high-level project schedule. Project Milestone Description Expected Date 1. Requirements solicitation It includes getting requirements from the users 12/06/2015 2. Designing phase Includes developing mock-ups for the system 19/06/2015 3. Development stage The stage involves the actual coding of the system 1/07/2015 4. Testing stage Involves testing the entire system after integrating various modules 1/10/2015 5. Deploying Refers to the installation and release of the system to be used by the staff in the firm. 2/11/2015 6. Maintenance The stage involves ensuring that the system continues to meet the intended needs of the organization 2/11/2015 2.5 Deliverables Project Deliverable 1: Deliverable Name Description: Requirements document Acceptance criteria: Meets the needs of the organization in entirety Due Date: 18/06/2015 Project Deliverable 2: Deliverable Name Description: Company Management System Acceptance criteria: The system addresses all of the requirements in the requirements document Due Date: 2/11/2015 Project Deliverable 3: Deliverable Name Description: User Guide Acceptance Criteria The user guide covers all the practical aspects of the various modules for all the users Due Date: 2/11/2015 2.6 The estimated cost of the project and funding 2.6.1 Project cost estimate Project Phase Deliverable or Cost Category Estimated Cost FY (1) (Phase 1/ Deliverable) Requirements Document Salary $10, 000 O&M $5,000 Professional services $10, 000 Capital $20, 000 Other (e.g. revenue) $5, 000 Subtotals $50, 000 (Phase 2/ Deliverable) Company Management System Salary $50, 000 O&M $20, 000 Professional services $30, 000 Capital $90, 000 Other (e.g. revenue) $10, 000 Subtotals $50, 000 (Phase 3/ Deliverable) User Guide Salary $10, 000 O&M $5,000 Professional services $10, 000 Capital $20, 000 Other (e.g. revenue) $5,000 Subtotals $50, 000 TOTAL $300, 000 2.6.2 Sources of funding The project is an internal affair that is being funded by the host company. 2.7 Dependencies Dependency Description Critical Date Contact Integration with a Forum Module already in place 2/10/2015 Forum Module Project Manager 2.8 Project risks, assumptions, and constraints 2.8.1 Risks No. Risk Description Probability (H/M/L) Impact (H/M/L) Planned Mitigation 1. Lack of some professionals L H Use of a subsequent alternative 2. Running out of funds M H Use of resources of a slightly lower quality than projected 3. 2.8.2 Assumptions No. The following is assumed: 1. All the professionals needed exist 2. The projected budget will not change anytime soon 2.8.3 Constraints No. Category Constraints 1. Development Inability to complete the development within the scheduled time because of a change in requirements Section 3. Project Organization 3.1 Project governance Figure 1: Shows Project Governance 3.2 Project team structure Figure 2: Shows the team structure 3.3 Roles and Responsibilities Project Role Responsibilities Assigned to Project Manager Coordinates and manages the running of the entire project System Analyst Solicit user requirements for developing the requirements document Project review committee Go through the project to ascertain that it meets the standards initially anticipated. Developers Develop and implement the system Designers Come up with a mock-up for the project 3.4 Project facilities and resources The team will require office space, special facilities, computer equipment, office equipment, and support tools. 4.0 Ethical Issues in Project Management A project manager is required to be ethical since they need to handle people of various calibers, a lot of cash, and most of all lead the staff to deliver the product. In this endeavor, they need to admit to doing wrong, making hard but necessary choices and centralizing blame in case it occurs. References Bolles, D., & Hubbard, D. (2007). The power of enterprise-wide project management. New York: American Management Association Campbell, G. (2009). Communications skills for project managers. New York: AMACOM. Read More