Project Scope and Scheduling The purpose of this assignment it to identify project scope and develop an IT project schedule. Part 1: Review Table 3-9 “Scope Statement Draft,” in Chapter 3 of the textbook. Complete the “Scope Statement Template” to formalize the Global Treps project. Part 2: Recall you submitted a draft of the work breakdown structure (WBS) as part of the Topic 1 assignment. For this assignment, review the feedback you received from your instructor about the work breakdown structure (WBS) you submitted in Topic 1. Revise the WBS based upon the instructor feedback. The WBS is the backbone of the schedule development process, and you will use the new WBS to identify the critical path and schedule for the project. Employ the Critical Path Method (CPM), PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique), and project buffer calculations to the revised work breakdown structure, develop a project schedule, and identify the critical path for the project. As part of the finalization of the schedule process, consider revisions to the project baseline based upon what you have learned about procurement and risk from Topic 2. You will use Microsoft Project and Excel to complete this assignment. Refer to Appendix A in the textbook for guidance in using Microsoft Project. Revise the work breakdown structure (WBS) you submitted for the Topic 1 assignment by applying feedback from your instructor and making modifications based upon procurement, and risk factors.Now enter the WBS in Microsoft Project by creating a new Microsoft Project file titled “Global Treps Project Rev 0.” Part 3: Now that you have entered the WBS in Microsoft Project, complete the steps below to plan the project schedule and identify the critical path for the project. Use the BIT-415-RS-Global-Treps-Project-Tasks.pdf to create the WBS for the new MS Project file then save as Rev 1 for the assignment.Use the “Global Treps Project Durations Template” to compute the PERT weighted average durations (in days) for the lowest level tasks for the Global Treps project. Round answers to the nearest whole number.Edit the Microsoft Project file and call it “Global Treps Project Rev 1.” Manually enter the PERT weighted average durations you calculated into the “Duration” field in the Microsoft Project file. Do not copy and paste this information from the “Global Treps Project Durations Template” file.Assume that you have previously met with your team to identify the immediate predecessors for each lowest level task and that this information has been recorded in the “Global Treps Project Predecessor Template.”Using the information in the “Global Treps Project Predecessor Template,” assign the required predecessors to each lower level task in the “Global Treps Project Rev 1” Microsoft Project file. Note that every lowest level task, with the exception of the first task, should have a predecessor and a successor, with the exception of the last task.Ensure that “Summary” tasks (bold tasks) do not have predecessors or successors assigned to them.In the Microsoft Project “Global Treps Project Rev 1” file, indicate the critical path for the Global Treps Project. Submit the “Scope Statement Template,” “Global Treps Project Durations Template,” the “Global Treps Project Rev 0,” and “Global Treps Project Rev 1” Microsoft Project files. APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. Table 3-9 Scope statement draft Project Title: Project Management Intranet Site Project Date: May 18 Prepared by: Erica Bell, Project Manager, [email protected]Project Summary and Justification: Joe Fleming, CEO of JWD Consulting, requested this project to assist the company in meeting its strategic goals. The new intranet site will increase visibility of the company’s expertise to current and potential clients. It will also help reduce internal costs and improve profitability by providing standard tools, techniques, templates, and project management knowledge to all internal consultants. The budget for the project is $140,000. An additional $40,000 per year will be required for operational expenses after the project is completed. Estimated benefits are $200,000 each year. It is important to focus on the system paying for itself within one year of its completion.Product Characteristics and Requirements: Templates and tools: The intranet site will allow authorized users to download files they can use to create project management documents and to help them use project management tools. These files will be in Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Project, or in HTML or PDF format, as appropriate.User submissions: Users will be encouraged to e-mail files with sample templates and tools to the Webmaster. The Webmaster will forward the files to the appropriate person for review and then post the files to the intranet site, if desired.Articles: Articles posted on the intranet site will have appropriate copyright permission. The preferred format for articles will be PDF. The project manager may approve other formats.Requests for articles: The intranet site will include a section for users to ask someone from the Project Management Office (PMO) at JWD Consulting to research appropriate articles for them. The PMO manager must first approve the request and negotiate payments, if appropriate.Links: All links to external sites will be tested on a weekly basis. Broken links will be fixed or removed within five working days of discovery.The Ask the Expert feature must be user-friendly and capable of soliciting questions and immediately acknowledging that the question has been received in the proper format. The feature must also be capable of forwarding the question to the appropriate expert (as maintained in the system’s expert database) and capable of providing the status of questions that are answered. The system must also allow for payment for advice, if appropriate.Security: The intranet site must provide several levels of security. All internal employees will have access to the entire intranet site when they enter their security information to access the main, corporate intranet. Part of the intranet will be available to the public from the corporate website. Other portions of the intranet will be available to current clients based on verification with the current client database. Other portions of the intranet will be available after negotiating a fee or entering a fixed payment using pre-authorized payment methods.Search feature: The intranet site must include a search feature for users to search by topic and key words.The intranet site must be accessible using a company-approved Internet browser. Users must have appropriate application software to open several of the templates and tools.The intranet site must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with one hour per week for system maintenance and other periodic maintenance, as appropriate.Summary of Project Deliverables Project management–related deliverables: Business case, project charter, team charter, scope statement, WBS, schedule, cost baseline, progress reports, final project presentation, final project report, lessons-learned report, and any other documents required to manage the project. Product-related deliverables: Survey: Survey current consultants and clients to help determine desired content and features for the intranet site.Files for templates: The intranet site will include templates for at least 20 documents when the system is first implemented, and it will have the capacity to store up to 100 documents. The project team will decide on the initial 20 templates based on survey results.Examples of completed templates: The intranet site will include examples of projects that have used the templates available on the site. For example, if there is a template for a business case, there will also be an example of a real business case that uses the template.Instructions for using project management tools: The intranet site will include information on how to use several project management tools, including the following as a minimum: work breakdown structures, Gantt charts, network diagrams, cost estimates, and earned value management. Where appropriate, sample files will be provided in the application software appropriate for the tool. For example, Microsoft Project files will be available to show sample work breakdown structures, Gantt charts, network diagrams, cost estimates, and applications of earned value management. Excel files will be available for sample cost estimates and earned value management charts.Example applications of tools: The intranet site will include examples of real projects that have applied the tools listed in number 4.Articles: The intranet site will include at least 10 useful articles about relevant topics in project management. The intranet site will have the capacity to store at least 1,000 articles in PDF format with an average length of 10 pages each.Links: The intranet site will include links with brief descriptions for at least 20 useful sites. The links will be categorized into meaningful groups.Expert database: In order to deliver an Ask the Expert feature, the system must include and access a database of approved experts and their contact information. Users will be able to search for experts by predefined topics.User Requests feature: The intranet site will include an application to solicit and process requests from users.Intranet site design: An initial design of the new intranet site will include a site map, suggested formats, and appropriate graphics. The final design will incorporate comments from users on the initial design.Intranet site content: The intranet site will include content for the templates and tools sections, articles section, article retrieval section, links section, Ask the Expert section, User Requests feature, security, and payment features.Test plan: The test plan will document how the intranet site will be tested, who will do the testing, and how bugs will be reported.Promotion: A plan for promoting the intranet site internally and externally will describe various approaches for soliciting inputs during design. The promotion plan will also announce the availability of the new intranet site.Project benefit measurement plan: A project benefit plan will measure the financial value of the intranet site.Project Success Criteria: Our goal is to complete this project within six months for no more than $140,000. The project sponsor, Joe Fleming, has emphasized the importance of the project paying for itself within one year after the site is complete. To meet this financial goal, the intranet site must have strong user inputs. We must also develop a method for capturing the benefits while the intranet site is being developed and tested, and after it is rolled out. If the project takes a little longer to complete or costs a little more than planned, the firm will still view it as a success if it has a good payback and helps promote the firm’s image as an excellent consulting organization.
