Hardware Replacement Project - Report Example

?Hardware Replacement Project One of the ways of achieving sustained and increased business operations is through proper relationship management (CRM). CRM refers to the software internet capabilities and methodologies that help an enterprise to manage customer relations in an organised way. With time, an organization may be forced to upgrade its CRM through the adoption of a better CRM solution with the main aim of achieving genuine business benefits. This demands that the management of an organization understands how to develop solutions to problems in the company’s information system. Management also needs to consider the various factors that are at play when choosing projects that deliver the best business value. It also includes the factors that influence project risk and strategies for minimizing risks. How the five key variables of project management relate to this scenario The five key variables of project management namely scope, time, cost, quality, and risk apply to this scenario in that their proper analysis can guide the management of this project on organizing and accomplishing the work. They also guide on how to direct activities, report project progress, control project execution and analyzing project results. Scope as a variable of project management defines what and what is not to be included in a new project. In this scenario, the organization should define all the work that needs to be undertaken for successful completion of the new CRM solution project. This will ensure that the scope of the project/work/activities undertaken do not expand beyond what was originally intended. In project management, time refers to the quantity of time required to complete a project. Before the new project can begin, the organization requires to establish the time needed to complete major components of the new CRM solution project. They should then ensure that each of the major components is further broken down into tasks and activities and the time required to complete each of them is determined. This will be used to establish a work schedule for completing the project (Laudon and Laudon, 2009). The organization requires to establish the cost of the new CRM solution before beginning it. In order to establish this, the project management needs to multiply the daily cost of the required human resources by the time required to complete the project. Since this is an information systems project, the management should also add the cost of software, hardware and workspace. In project management, quality acts as an indicator of the extent to which the result of a project meets the project objectives specified the management. In this scenario, the quality of the new CRM solution is evidenced by the level of improvements in decision-making and organizational performance in regard to customer relations. In project management, risks refer to the possible problems that would threaten a project’s success. As for this scenario, risks include those possible problems that might prevent the new CRM solution from achieving its objectives. They can achieve this by lowering the quality of its output, increasing its cost and time, and preventing the completion of the project. Considerations that must be applied when selecting projects that deliver the best business value When choosing from a range of projects, organizations should select projects that deliver the best business value. In essence, these are projects that promise the greatest benefits to the organization. The two major considerations that must be applied when selecting this type of projects include costs and benefits, and how they relate to the organization’s information systems plan. The costs should be lower than the benefits presented by the project but if the costs are more than the benefits, the project should be rejected. In addition, the investment should represent an attractive return on the capital invested by the firm. In order to know this, the organization is required to conduct additional financial analysis after ascertaining that the benefits of the project outweigh its costs (Laudon and Laudon, 2009). The benefits to be considered include both tangible and intangible costs. The tangible costs are those that the organization can quantify and assign them a monetary value. Examples of this include increased productivity and sales, and reduced operational costs, workforce, outside vendor costs, facility costs, rate of growth in expenses, clerical and professional expenses and computer expenses. The intangible benefits are those that cannot be quantified immediately. In order to select a project that will deliver the best business value, the organization should ensure that intangible benefits presented by the particular project should be those that produce quantifiable benefits in the end. Examples of these are improved operations, decision-making, performance, customer service and satisfaction, asset utilization, timely information, resource control, organizational planning and corporate image. They could also include improve levels of matching product plans with customer needs. Factors that influence project risk and recommended strategies for minimizing the risks of this project Different projects experience different problems and suffer varying amounts of time in terms of delays because each one of them bears different levels of risk compared to the others. Some of the factors that influence the level of project risk include project structure and project size, clarity of the information requirements and level of technical expertise among the staff and project team dealing with the project. In this scenario, it will be the technical expertise of the staff and project team dealing with the new CRM solution project. If the staff and the project team are not competent enough in matters relating to information systems, the project is bound to experience a tragic level of failure that could even cost the organization a lot of money in terms of losses incurred. For projects relating to information systems, their risks are higher if the information requirements are not straightforward and clear. This means that if all information requirements are clear, the level of risks are much lower but if there is a high level of ambiguity or unclear requirements, the project will face higher risks. Laudon and Laudon (2009) states that the larger the project, the greater the risks. The size of the project can be indicated by the size of the project team, finances spend on the project and number of parts/departments of the organization that will be affected by launching of the new system. Large projects have a high failure rate because they are complex and difficult to control. The percentage of this failure rate can be as high as 50-75% over that experienced by other projects. Qassim (2009) lists other factors that influence risk in information system projects as lack of commitment by top management, inadequate management, misunderstanding of the objectives, requirements and scope of the project, and lack of involvement of the clients/end-users and failure to manage their expectations. Failures could also arise from changing objectives or scope, conflict among stakeholders, reliance on multiple vendors, poor planning or estimation and project activities. Strategies for minimizing this project’s risks One of the strategies for minimizing risks related to project size is to minimize the number of organizational units involved. This will ease the process of controlling the project. The organization should also seek for a project with a simple design to make implementation easy. The organization should ensure that it involves its customers and all other stakeholders in the development of the new CRM solution to avoid conflicts that could halt the development of the project or necessitate its withdrawal (Pant and Hsu, 1995). The organization should select the best of its employees as the top managers of the project in order to achieve a high level of project managerial commitment. This management should not be changed until the project is accomplished unless the change promises better outcomes. This will help in avoiding risks arising from inadequate project management and commitment. Pant and Hsu (1995) states that before the project commences, the project managers should ensure they have developed a proper project plan and estimations and when it has commenced, they should stick to their initial objectives and scope so that the project plan and its estimates tally to the end. The organization should ensure that the selected project managers are trained on the new CRM solution project to eliminate risks arising from lack of technical expertise among the staff and project managers. In order to minimize risks arising from information requirements that are not straightforward and clear, the project managers and their team should ensure they master the new technology. This will make it easy for them to identify the information requirements even in situations where they are not clear or straightforward. They should also ensure that they work alongside a person from the company that designed for them the new project so that they can help them make clarifications whenever needed. The organization should stick to one vendor when replacing and managing the new hardware that is required to avoid a confusion that could arise from dealing with multiple vendors. According to Toney (1998), an organization should select a project that does not involve complex activities. The activities should only be those that are critical in achieving the mission of the organization and which its staff are competent in carrying out. Best practices for managing this project In order to attain a good level of project management, the organization should make a thorough analysis of the five variables of project management in regard to their project. This means that they should understand and list the work/activities that needs to be undertaken for successful completion of the project and come up with a good estimation of the project cost and time needed to complete major components of the new CRM solution project and the project as a whole. In relation to this, they should identify parameter that will help them measure the quality of the project. All the possible problems of the project should be identified as well as the factors that influence them. This information should be used to device strategies for minimizing each one of them. Oracle corporation (2001) advises that throughout the project, there should be a good relationship between the new CRM solution project team, organizations information systems specialists, and the end-user. This will avoid the development of user-designer communications gap. this will also help to overcome user resistance. They should ensure the project takes into consideration their orientation and those of the end-users for example technical orientation as well as facilitating tasks or solving business problems. The organization should put in place change management plans to ensure that the changes are well incorporated into the organization’s customer relations management and its business activities. References Laudon, K. and Laudon, J. (2009). Essentials of Management Information Systems (8th Ed). New York. Prentice Hall. Qassim, A. (2009). Why information systems projects fail: Guidelines for Successful Projects. Online: www.intosaiitaudit.org/intoit.../26_p12top17.pdf. Viewed on 10th October, 2011. Oracle corporation (2001). Plan and Execute the Right Projects Easily and Affordably. Online: www.oracle.com/.../primavera-ppm-brochure-07. Pant, S. and Hsu, C. (1995). Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Review. Atlanta. Information Resources Management Association International Conference. Toney, S. (1998). “Risk Factors in Technology Projects.” Online: http://www.systemsplanning.com/6factors.asp. Viewed on 10th October, 2011. Read More