Table of Contents
The implementation of any successful project requires clear scope, cost control, and quality planning. The tasks completed so far show that the scope is almost complete. However, the project timeline and budget have not been put in place. More attention needs to be given to the budget ceiling and the expected quality of the work. While it is important to ensure that the budget remains within the projections, the system (final product) must meet the quality threshold to help the company gain a competitive edge. In this project, scope planning involves managing and strategizing on the expected risks before they occur. Larsen and Gray (2013) define risk as an uncertain condition or event that has consequences on the project objectives. Every project plan has a certain level of risks that may be difficult to overcome at the time of planning.
Scope Planning
The project involves building a quality system that accepts vendors’ information, stores it in a database, and informs customers on any changes to the plan. Details on change of plans must be traced and distributed to every member of the project team. The infrastructure required for the accomplishment of the project includes the following components: Database servers (Teradata 14 database and MS SQL Server 2008 R2), reporting servers (SSRS deployment), and development tools (SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Business Intelligent Development Studio, and MS Visual Studio 2008 Shell). The system requires a table of members so that both the vendors and members are connected via the database. The protocols should also be identified to determine who should be notified.
Various individuals will be given responsibility to different tasks within the project. The roles allocated to each one of them are outlined below.
- Business owner and Information System (IS) Manager: The Business owner and IS manager are entirely involved in the project from its initiation to its deployment. The duo has already committed ten days to creating and approving the project charter as well as the budget. They are also expected to meet at the end of the project to come up with methods of supporting the system.
- The Project Manager (PM): The project manager is involved in creating achievable project plans (particular tasks and activities). He or must remain informed by regularly communicating with all the parties involved in the project. Instead of being a doer, the PM needs to take a leadership role to ensure the project is completed in time as well as within the projected budget (Binder, 2009).
- The Stakeholders: They are involved once a project contract is completed and approved. They are also the ones responsible for approvals.
- Database Administrator (DBA), Business Analyst, and Developer: This group of experts is heavily involved in the physical creation of the database. During this process, it is the work of the PM to ensure that all the resources are working on the right task and within the provided time constraints.
- Quality Assurance, Architect members, and the Report Developer: They are concerned with testing the model/systems for bugs and proposing necessary actions.
- The Project Manager IS Manager and Business Owner: These individuals are responsible for system management and maintenance after the system is tested, approved and is live.
Project Budgeting and Control
The role of the project manager is to manage costs and control the period spent on every task. Tasks must be controlled within hours and the PM must therefore ensure that every member of the project team complete their work in time. Such efficiency will ensure timely initiation of the next task. Prudent managers will perform cost-benefit analysis to evaluate all the costs involved and the expected revenue after the project has been completed (Kerzner, 2013). The cost incurred stands at $230,000 with a number of tasks remaining to be done. Quality and competitiveness are the top priorities in the project. The main issue that must be taken into consideration is the economic benefit of the project after it has been completed and deployed. After completion, the project will save the employee the time wasted in gathering policy changes, looking for appropriate plan members, and manually updating them on any new developments.
The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) has been estimated as $460,000. The amount includes labor, server space, and updates on regular company procedures and processes in five years. The system will also require regular maintenance and updates on a monthly basis, and undoubtedly, the requests for various changes will come up. The cost of support and maintenance is an estimate after spending a total of $530,000 in system development. If everything works as planned, the cost will be far less than in the budget. The project will be valued based on reduction of the time to review changes from vendors, and alerting appropriate members. Cost saving due to the system use can also be obtained by comparing the amount of money that would be spent hiring employees to do the manual processes against the cost incurred with the new system (Larsen and Gray, 2013). The cost of TCO is expected to be recovered within five years. Working with the system will be a little easier as it will boost the employees’ morale as their work will be more simplified.
Quality Planning
For this project, quality must be considered before the cost. The key performance indicators (KPI) of the quality project will be measured through communication between the project manager, project team, and external stakeholders (Binder, 2009). Keeping the system on track is also another performance indicator for the project. The PM needs to measure how employees (DBAs, Business Analysts, and Developers) pay attention to details, finish tasks allotted in time, and with the utmost quality. Any negative reviews in these KPIs will call for a quick action by the PM so that the project demands are not compromised. For this project, it would be worth a wait rather than launching a product that has poor in quality. Any change must be communicated to the stakeholders and actions to recover time of completing a quality task planned. Considering all the above criteria is a sufficient measure of the system’s quality.
- Binder, J. (2009). Global project management: communication, collaboration and management across borders. Strategic Direction, 25(9).
- Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
- Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. (2013). Project Management: The Managerial Process with MS Project. McGraw-Hill.