MacVegas Water Meters - Case Study Example

Name                                       :           xxxxxx     Tutor                                       :            xxxxxx     Title                                        :            Information Systems Project Management Case Study                                                             MacVegas Water Meters Case Study     Course                                     :           xxxxxx     Institution                               :           xxxxxx               Table of Contents Introduction..........................................................................................................................3 When should the specifications be issued for the portable data entry system and the water meters? Justify the choice of the date.......................................................................................................................................3 Shirley church strategic planners memo....................................................................................................................................4 Project plan .....................................................................................................................................5 How should Shirley ensure that the project is finished on time as determined by the project plan?......................................................................................9 What options does Shirley have to shorten the   project?............................................9 Activities and/or events that Shirley has overlooked....................................................10 Part B.........................................................................................................................................10 Explain if Shirley should simply proceed with lengthening the time for the conversion………………………………………………………………………………11 What is the new time for the critical path?...................................................................11 Describe how the changes impact upon the project. In case of delay in the project the project duration is considerably extended…………………………………………………………………………………11 What effect on the cost of the project will the delays have?........................................11 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................11 Reference:..........................................................................................................................12  Introduction When should the specifications be issued for the portable data entry system and the water meters? Justify the choice of the date. In reference to the information given the specification for the portable data entry system and the water meters should be issued after a period of eight weeks which should be approximately two months before the specification is issued to the data entry, this will enable the entire team of experts to carryout the required investigations and making proper amendments pertaining the project. To justify the dates, the entire committee of experts will have to set aside time for the assement of the project requirements, the members should also have enough time to interview the current users on the information regarding the old system, (Gido, J& JP 2008). The information should be gathered to establish the problems experience to the current system so that when the new system is put in place it should have minimal or even have no troubles meaning it should be user friendly to the data entry staff. Furthermore the users should be fed with relevant information in regards to Information and Technology for instance there will be need to inform the users a bout the new technologies in the market as from the case study most of the staffs are not conversant with the Dbase soft wares which are the most crucial the Data entry process hence the strategic committee should have enough time to combat all the issues. On the other hand as we can see from the case study the organization has to organize the acquisition of the hard ware and software, and even it has to come up with  a new Open source software that need to be fully installed to act as the organization sever. (Gido, J& JP 2008).Finally the committee has to identify information pertaining the meters installation as indicated bellow: Consumer Name: for identifying the consumer of water. Consumer Number: for the sake of uniquely identifying the water consumer Consumer Address: (House Number, Street, Colony, City, State) A complete filling of all address    components to have a more enhanced data record. Consumer Meter Number: To conform proper meter, customer and usage Consumed Units: number of water usage units consumed by the water consumer Total Bill: Total bill that will be sending to consumer. Due Data of bill submission: for restricting the consumer to submit bill on time. All this procedures will require time before the team is set to commence thee tire project. SHIRLEY CHURCH STRATEGIC PLANNERS MEMO FROM: SHIRLEY CHURCH TO:     BRIGHT DATE: 17TH MAY 2010 RE: ADOPTION OF A NEW INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECT MANAGEMENT - MACVEGAS WATER METERS CASE STUDY. This is to inform that our firm is very happy for the appointment as the Managers of the entire projects. The project will require thirty weeks for it to commence successful which is approximately two weeks. Several issues will have to be dealt with for instance, this overall time line we will need to complete the project within allocated timeline. In case of software system development that will start on as project starts on Thu 1/7/10 and after specified time will end on Wed 11/08/10. In this overall timeline we will try to manage the overall system development process, testing and implementation. The main thing in this system development is about the lengthy development time. In this scenario the unavailability of the proper technical help can lead towards much longer time delay. This is a new technology based platform that is having water meter interaction with business database. In case of unavailability of any technical help our development teams can face some critical problems. The organization will be required to supply enough resources that will help in the process of installation of the new servers and other online roles that will streamline the all process up to the end so that the entire system cam meet the client’s satisfaction and organization needs. Furthermore the support and data entry staff will be required to undergo a proper training so that the can work efficiently to a void any errors that may be encountered through out the system implementation process. Your cooperation will be highly a appreciated for it will facilitate the completion of the project on time. Thank you   SHIRLEY CHURCH Project plan Project Task Duration Start Date End Date Precedence Resource Building Information Technology strategy 8 wks Thu 7/1/10 Wed 8/25/10 System Analyzer Specification 4 wks 1-Jul-10 28-Jul-10 System Analyzer Opening tender 5 wks 29-Jul-10 1-Sep-10 1 Project Manager, Technical Consultant Evaluation of the tenders 3 wks 2-Sep-10 22-Sep-10 2 Project Manager Approval from Council 3 wks 23-Sep-10 13-Oct-10 3 Project Manager Existing system Analysis 2 wks 14-Oct-10 27-Oct-10 4 System Analyzer, System Developer ,Technical Consultant Considering functions 2 wks 28-Oct-10 10-Nov-10 5 Database Designer and Developer ,Water Meter Engineer, Technical Consultant Completion of the initial training 12 wks 11-Nov-10 2-Feb-11 6 System Trainer State Ministerial approval 2 wks 3-Feb-11 16-Feb-11 7 Project Manager Installation matters 3 wks 17-Feb-11 9-Mar-11 8 Field Worker System Development 16 wks 10-Mar-11 29-Jun-11 9 Conversion Program A Coding 3 wks 10-Mar-11 30-Mar-11 System Developer Conversion Program A Testing 1 wk 31-Mar-11 6-Apr-11 11 System Tester Conversion Program B Coding 5 wks 7-Apr-11 11-May-11 12 System Developer Conversion Program B Testing 2 wks 12-May-11 25-May-11 13 System Tester Conversion Program C Coding 4 wks 26-May-11 22-Jun-11 14 System Developer Conversion Program C Testing 1 wk 23-Jun-11 29-Jun-11 15 System Tester Database Customization 8 wks 30-Jun-11 24-Aug-11 16 Report Program X 2 wks 30-Jun-11 13-Jul-11 Database Designer and Developer Report Program Y 3 wks 14-Jul-11 3-Aug-11 18 Database Designer and Developer Report Program Z 1 wk 4-Aug-11 10-Aug-11 19 Database Designer and Developer Queries 2 wks 11-Aug-11 24-Aug-11 20 Database Designer and Developer Advertisement 14 wks 25-Aug-11 30-Nov-11 21 Telecom hot line installation 4 wks 25-Aug-11 21-Sep-11 Promotion Agent Brochures design/print 8 wks 22-Sep-11 16-Nov-11 23 Promotion Agent Newspaper art work 2 wks 17-Nov-11 30-Nov-11 24 Promotion Agent Systems Go 1 wk 1-Dec-11 7-Dec-11 25 Database Designer and Developer ,Field Worker, Project Manager, System Analyzer, System Developer ,System Tester ,Technical Consultant ,Water Meter Engineer Reports generated by the Software for each activity and also where each resource will be used. This report presents the overview of all resource, their cost, usage, total working time and interaction to particular phases. Report 1- MacVegas City Project Date: 25-05-2010 Name: Project Resource Summery Owner: Mr. ABC (Project Manager) No1 Project Resource Available Units Rate Total Cost Work Time 1 Project Manager 100% $12.00/hr $6,720.00 560 hrs Phases Opening tender $2,400.00 200 hrs Evaluation of the tenders $1,440.00 120 hrs Approval from Council $1,440.00 120 hrs State Ministerial approval $960.00 80 hrs Systems Go $480.00 40 hrs 2 System Analyzer 100% $10.00/hr $2,800.00 280 hrs Phases Specification $1,600.00 160 hrs Existing system Analysis $800.00 80 hrs Systems Go $400.00 40 hrs 3 Technical Consultant 100% $10.00/hr $4,000.00 400 hrs Phases Opening tender $2,000.00 200 hrs Existing system Analysis $800.00 80 hrs Considering functions $800.00 80 hrs Systems Go $400.00 40 hrs 4 System Developer 100% $10.00/hr $6,000.00 600 hrs Phases Existing system Analysis $800.00 80 hrs Conversion Program A Coding $1,200.00 120 hrs Conversion Program B Coding $2,000.00 200 hrs Conversion Program C Coding $1,600.00 160 hrs Systems Go $400.00 40 hrs 5 System Tester 100% $10.00/hr $2,000.00 200 hrs Phases Conversion Program A Testing $400.00 40 hrs Conversion Program B Testing $800.00 80 hrs Conversion Program C Testing $400.00 40 hrs Systems Go $400.00 40 hrs 6 Database Designer and Developer 100% $10.00/hr $4,400.00 440 hrs Phases Considering functions $800.00 80 hrs Report Program X $800.00 80 hrs Report Program Y $1,200.00 120 hrs Report Program Z $400.00 40 hrs Queries $800.00 80 hrs Systems Go $400.00 40 hrs 7 Water Meter Engineer 100% $10.00/hr $1,200.00 120 hrs Phases Considering functions $800.00 80 hrs Systems Go $400.00 40 hrs 8 System Trainer 100% $10.00/hr $4,800.00 480 hrs Phases Completion of the initial training $4,800.00 480 hrs 9 Field Worker 4000% $8.00/hr $1,280.00 160 hrs Phases Installation matters $960.00 120 hrs Systems Go $320.00 40 hrs 10 Promotion Agent 100% $10.00/hr $5,600.00 560 hrs Phases Telecom hot line installation $1,600.00 160 hrs Brochures design/print $3,200.00 320 hrs Newspaper art work $800.00 80 hrs 5. How should Shirley ensure that the project is finished on time as determined by the project plan? It will be Shirley’s role to make sure that the project is finished on time is it is stipulated in the project plan, Hence she will need to plan and manage the project effectively. The most significant part is to ensure that the resources are brought on time and be distributed to perform me relevant duties according to the required staff that are required to accomplish the task. She will then have to follow the stipulated sequence thoroughly; furthermore she can also request for more staffs and make sure the allocated staff prior knowledge in regard to the project. 6. What options does Shirley have to shorten the project? Shirley can ensure the project time lime is shortened by changing human resources or incorporating some effective project management methodology. In case of human resource based technology we will deploy additional human resource to overall project. In this technique we will run less inter-dependent activities in a parallel way. In this way we will be able to shorten the overall development time. For the development of the software system we can choose the RAD (rapid application development) model that will facilitate in effective management of the overall project activities in a much faster way with some additional resources. 7. Activities that have been overlooked and their impacts on the project if not rectified. System testing and debugging In this overall project the factor of the system quality assurance is completely overlooked. In this scenario the system and overall new water meter system based working was not planned in a better way regarding its effective testing for the overall business implementations. In such a huge system implementation we are essentially required to put attention on factors of system quality and performance because in case of any failure we can face huge business and technological problems. In this scenario Shirley has completely overlooked these factors to effectively implement the new technology and overall operational management technology. Part B Explain if Shirley should simply proceed with lengthening the time for the conversion. In such conditions Shirley has no second way. She needs to proceed with the conversion in the project plan. The main reason is that there is no other way to move the project further without hardware installation and data conversions. Draw an amended project plan incorporating the amended vendor’s delivery period. Here I have drawn the changed project plan that demonstrates the changed areas through highlighted areas:  What is the new time for the critical path? Now project overall time has changed. Now project will take approximately 98 weeks (those are 24.5 Months or 2.04 years). Describe how the changes impact upon the project. In case of delay in the project the project duration is considerably extended. This leads to more delayed project completion. This way the overall cost of project will also increase and we also need to re-plan the overall project in a new way. What effect on the cost of the project will the delays have? Previously the project resource cost was $38,800.00 approximately however after the change in the overall project duration this extends to $47,440.00. This is increase of $8,640.00 in the overall budget and resource cost. There will also some additional expenses those will be incorporated and ingeminated due to this increase in the overall project duration. Conclusion After the all process is done, the managing team has to incooperate all the documentation that is accompanied by the entire system to facilitate a conducive working environment for both senior and sub users of the system. They also need to allow the system room for future modification incase the system collapses or need future renovations. (Gido, J& JP 2008).Finally the system should be user friendly to all this will avoid cases whereby the user are trained on a daily basis for them to work with the system efficiently. Reference: Gido, J & Clements, JP 2008, Successful project management, 4th edn, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne" Read More