Project Plan for an Online Music Store - Essay Example

? Project Plan for an Online Music Store PROJECT PLAN FOR AN ONLINE MUSIC STORE Executive Summary This paper aims to develop a business project plan for an online music store that sells music in physical and digital form, music gear, and other music related paraphernalia. The music site will also offer added services to improve the client’s experience. The store aims to enable clients to purchase music from a wide catalogue of available music. The aim of the store is to be a leading brand in the sale of music and associated products. Various features to be included in the site include log in sections, a search tab, a jam room, a feature tab for online payments, a client discussion forum, and streaming of sample music. The various shareholders of the company are also covered. The project organization including the project consultant, leader and members, are also covered in the plan. The project plan also sets up the milestones expected to be completed in time for the efficient completion of the project. The project's risk analysis is also researched with the aim of identifying all the aspects that could interfere with the strategy laid down for the online store, which could affect profit levels. The risks include piracy and boycotts. Finally, the project plan makes recommendations for the future implementation of the project. 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose This paper seeks to provide an outline of a project plan aimed at starting an online store for the sale of music. This project plans main purpose is to define tentatively the different iterations and phases for the lifecycle of the project. This plan could act as a guide for software development processes too. For software development, the professionals who could use this project plan include team leaders who would utilize it for planning sharing of resources and management of time (Murch, 2007 p93). They could also utilize it to verify if there is desired progress being made by the team. Team members could also use it as a means of personal reference. This is especially important for them to acclimatize themselves with their assigned duties and for them to meet deadlines effectively (Lock, 2007 p12). 1.2 Objectives This project’s main objective is for the development of an online store, which is mainly aimed at live clients, and will be called Ear lickers music store. After the site is done, the clients will be able to purchase music gear like headphones and ipods, music magazines like Billboard magazine and Rolling stones magazine, as well as music compact discs and digital music. The site will also provide the facilitation of cart system of purchase, where the client can purchase the products directly, add them to the purchase cart, and then pay fro them online via credit cards and other arrangements. 2. Project Overview 2.1 Scope This online store will enable clients and other users to purchase digital music of their choice from a wide catalogue. It will also make them able to purchase compact discs, vintage vinyl, music instruments, music players, musical headgear, music and music related magazines and other music paraphernalia that may be related to these products like long life power batteries for music players. The online store will also feature a jam room where the sites clients will be offered music at dates, which are pre-decided. The online site will thus have a jam room booking option where the clients and other users can hand in their details, for processing and thus book the jam room beforehand. Via adding products to cart, the clients can also purchase products online and then pay for them later online. 2.2 Details and Requirements Ear Lickers online music store aims to be a leading band in the buying of music and music related paraphernalia on the internet. To do this, the site, will have to be user friendly, efficient, and reliable (Reid, 2009 p56). For this to be values to be instituted, the online site will have these features: A log in section, which is aimed at enabling users to create accounts n the website and thus make their transactions easier. A search tab that will enable the clients and other users to trawl through the various products on offer, by the site by keywords, manufacturers or producers, category, price range, ad type, for example, magazines, compact discs, ipods, as well as instruments. The features typical of rival online music stores; these would include features to help clients add products to carts, enable them to view the contents of their cart, reviews, new additions of music or new brands of music gear in the market, and any new, hot deals available in the music gear market. A jam room page where clients and users will be offered a chance to be part of the jam room, at a date that is pre-decided to avoid overloading the network when the jam room is live. The jam room will be accessed at a fee. The booking feature will require the client to state their name, the date they would like to book the jam session, and the time they would like to book the site for the session. An example would be a client booking the jam room on Tuesday at 5pm. The client will then have to check if some other client ties up the slot on that day or if it is open. A feature tab for online payment, which will be used to make sure that all transactions taking place on the website are secure and safe. A discussion forum that should aid in the solution of frequently asked questions, by rookie artists and new clients. This would help them find quick answers to trivial questions and doubts about equipment sold on the site, helping them make decisions that are informed by the fact during the buying process. This helps the client to make informed choices when purchasing a product and reduces complaints. Sample music streaming which will enable the clients to listen to music sections either from the compact disc or digital sources before placing an order for it and purchasing the music. 2.3 Stakeholders The online music store’s major stakeholders will include some investors who have a stake in the online store major products. This will include Ear Licker’s music department, the members of group six headphone manufacturers, Gully Side Music Company, and prospective clients and customers from New York and New Jersey. 3. Project Organization 3.1 Team Members Instructor : Dr. Wangdu Peter Group Leader : Caroline Mophile 235604001 Paul parker 235604002 Ashley Bridge 235604003 Caroline Mophile 235604004 Henry Erikson 235604005 Sophie McLaughlin 235604006 Deborah Brown 235604007 Deborah White 235604008 Samuel Stingy 235604009 Kalulu Juha 235604010 Smithreen Vidiyathi 3.2 Project Responsibility and Roles of Members Caroline Mophile Team leader Management of the project. Reviewing of project documents Facilitation of proceedings and delegation of meetings Monitoring the progress of the project Organization of human resources and assignment of duties and roles Gathering of all requirements Testing and coding Ashley Bridge Team Member Requirement gathering Test case preparation Coding Designing the online website Paul Parker Team member Interviews for potential employees Requirement gathering Designing of the online website Coding and documentation Henry Erikson Team member Gathering of requirements Modelling and designing of the company’s database Coding Sophie McLaughlin Team Member Preparation of test cases Coding Integration of systems Testing Deborah Brown Team Member Preparation of test cases Coding Testing Modelling and designing of the company database Deborah White Team Member Integration of systems Coding Designing of the website Samuel Stingy Team Member Coding Designing of the website Gathering of requirements Kalulu Juha Team Member Testing Coding Documentation Gathering of requirements Smithreen Vidiyathi Team Member Testing Coding Modelling and designing of the company database Documentation ­(Portny, 2010 p108) 4. Milestones Milestones are special events in the planning of projects that are recipients of special attention (Heerkens, 2007 p87). They are best done before the completion of a phase in the project plan so that it becomes easier to correct actions in the event that a problem occurs. This enables deliverables to be finished within the accepted period. On top of being a signal of key deliverable completion, milestones may also be a signal for vital decisions or even for the derivation of specifically vital information pieces that affect or outline the project’s future. A milestone thus indicates the travel direction of a project plan because vital decisions are capable of altering the project plan’s route, on top of signifying the important project stages (Kerzner, 2009 p100). Serial number Activity name Description Number of days End date Milestone 1. Description of problem The problem statement which the team will address 5 12th July 2012 Initial proposal of the project 2. Collection of requirements Getting requirements from potential clients 4 18th July 2012 Gathering of all information required for the project 3. Feasibility study Determination of the technical and financial feasibility of the software development 5 22nd July 2012 Concluded that the project was feasible 4. Project proposal Idea on the company’s capacity to complete the project and also on the requirements of the project 4 25th July 2012 List the website features down 5. Project plan Listing of the project work scheduling and objectives 4 28th July 2012 The projects tentative schedule 6. SRS Documentation of the requirements of the users 10 30th July 2012 Documentation of the requirements of the user 7. Testing of cases and plans Finalization of SRS case studies 10 2nd August 2012 Finalization of documents on test plan 8. Designing Obtaining optimum sets of methods and classes 12 5th august 2012 9. Coding Coding for the whole project 30 10th August 2012 Completion of the features distinct to the features of the project 10. Testing Detection of system crashes and invading bugs 10 10 15th August 2012 Increment of the project’s robustness (Pinkerton, 2008 p34) 5. Risk Analysis All aspects that interfere with the online store’s strategy can be considered a threat. These threats can also be referred to as risks. Risk analysis can be considered an independent discipline (Haynes, 2009 p65). The risks that can affect the online store include; trends or events that up the requirement of more resources or even bring the business gains expected down. Music piracy is the largest threat to online music stores since tens of thousands of music lovers download music from the internet illegally on file sharing sites. These downloads are free and thus reduce business for online stores (Phillips, 2004 p54). Another threat could come from fans and artists who might boycott buying music due to some of the high prices charged by some record companies for music. Bootleg music equipment on sale is another risk, which might reduce expected income. 6. Recommendations It is vital for the store to put finances behind features that will help draw visitors to the site and keep them coming back. Therefore, the company should place major efforts on developing and adapting the jam room, which is a client experience, in order to keep the client base growing. It is also important that the company embrace market research in order to establish their strategy. This can be done via social network sites like face book. Finally, it is important to begin small and slowly expand while keeping the emphasis on service and quality. The initial months should be spent focusing on experimentation top find out what the best options are. Catering for the customers even during off-hours is a good idea in order to keep the customers satisfied. 7. Conclusion Since online music stores are a relatively new venture, it was important to come up first with a project plan before the actual setting up of the project. This helps in the systematic implementation of the project and its completion on schedule and within budget. The various members of the team are required to be aware of their specific tasks in order for them to be efficient and conclude their duties on time. References Bee R, and Frances B. (2007). Project management : the people challenge. London: Institute of Personnel and Development. IPD. Cleland D , and Lewis R . (2006). Project management : strategic design and implementation. New York: : McGraw-Hill Professional. Field M, and Laurie K. (2008). Project management. London [u.a.] : International Thomson Business Press. Haynes E. (2009). Project management : practical tools for success. 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