Project Management Group Assignment

Project Management Group Assignment

Scope Statement & Report

for

Technology Associates, Inc.

Table of Contents

2Table of Contents

3Executive Summary

3Overview

3Key Elements of Success

3Benefits

3Summary

5Organizational Background

5Scope Statement

5Requirements

6Scope

6TOTAL

6Deliverables

7Benefits

7Risks

8Critical Success Factors

9Project Timeline (Work Breakdown Structure)

10Project Management Office

10Project Management Objectives

10Assumptions

11Purpose of RFP

Executive SummaryThis report outlines all the factors associated with the Windows XP User Upgrade project for Technology Associates, Inc. John Roberts, the CIO for Technology Associates, is the Project Champion for this project.

Overview

In order to compete in an ever-changing business environment, Technology Associates must be running on current technologies in order to meet specific business objectives. This project will upgrade all the desktop and laptop PCs at Technology Associates, Inc. to the Windows XP operating system. In order to accomplish this task, all existing PCs will be analyzed for any possible compatibility issues and upgraded as needed. A schedule will be developed to ensure the rollout of the PCs and Windows XP is handled with as little interruption to regular business operations. In addition, all PCs will be tested prior to delivery to ensure there are no application problems. To minimize the impact to the employees, this project will include post-delivery support for both PCs and applications - through the development of on line tutorials, user manuals, and a fully staffed help desk.Key Elements of Success

Executive Sponsorship and participation in 100% of all project updates and reviews

Sign-off by all involved parties of project deliverables

Sign-off of scope definition by management

Benefits

Upgraded technologies - XP is a state of the art operating system in todays business environment

Enhanced security - XP has much higher security measures than current platforms

Higher productivity - XP is the fastest Windows system to date and users will experience less downtime

50% Reduction in Costs - Moving all PCs to a common platform will create operational efficiencies and a reduction in the number of different support areas required

Future enhancements Tomorrows application upgrades will be handled much more efficiently with less system issues

Continued vendor support [Hardware, Software (Operating System) and Software (Applications)]

Summary

The completion of this project will create one software operating platform across the company. By the end of the six and a half month project time frame, all users will have the new operating system running on their machines and been properly trained on its functions. This will bring Technology Associates, Inc. in line with its competition. The Windows XP User Upgrade has been mandated by Technology Associates, Inc.s Chief Information Officer and sponsored by Jim Smith, the companys Information Program Manager.

Organizational Background

Technology Associates, Inc. was formed in 1988 to be a consulting company that provides system and application support services for medium sized businesses. Over the past thirteen years, Technology Associates has evolved as an organization and now offers support services in the areas of mainframe operations support, global web hosting, call center operations, and business services support.

With revenue of approximately $74 million in calendar year 2000, and 23 customers over five states, Technology Associates has seen growth in every aspect of its business for each of the past five years. This is a trend that is forecasted to continue for the coming years as well.

There are currently 500 employees at Technology Associates that work in Finance, Marketing, Sales, Accounting, Support, and other business functions. We provide continuous learning through training seminars, off-site training companies, and on-site lecture series. Our employees work mostly on site at the company headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. We also enable out employees to work at the clients office and/or from home by providing them with mobile laptop computers and cellular phones.

Scope Statement

The Windows XP User Upgrade project is an internal project mandated by CIO John Roberts. The project sponsor is Jim Smith, Information Program Manager for Technology Associates. A series of discussions were held with each of these leaders to understand and document the requirements of the project and ascertain what activities and deliverables were in scope for the project and what were considered out of scope.

Requirements

Finalized requirements for the project identified the following items as in scope:

PC inventory an inventory of all PCs within the company will be conducted and a detailed inspection of all pertinent components will be conducted and documented for use in evaluating whether or not the PC will need to be replaced.

Application analysis all 17 applications in use within the organization will be reviewed and tested for compatibility with the new operating system and applications that are being purchased.

Testing environment a testing environment will be built in order to test the current/new hardware with the new operating system and applications.

Application remediation any application that is found to be non-compliant with the new operating system and/or the new applications will be remediated prior to rolling out to the users.

User education all users will be provided with user manuals for the new hardware they receive and any applications that required remediation and functionality was either changed or added. There will also be training provided for the new operating system.

PC (hardware) purchases for those PCs that are not viable with the new operating system, new, updated PCs will be purchased to replace them.

Software purchases a new operating system and software application suite will be purchased for each user.

Scope

Out of scope items for this project include:

New application development no new application will be developed as a part of this project.

Peripheral equipment purchases no other hardware devices will be purchased as a part of this project.

LAN upgrades the existing LAN will not be updated as a part of this project.

Understanding the scope of the project and the time constraints that were mandated by the leadership of the organization, budgetary dollars have been allocated for the project team. The following is a breakdown of the costs associated with the project.

ITEMCOST

Users500

PCs (avg. of Desktop & Laptop)$1,500

Microsoft Windows XP License$100 / license (2 seats)

Testing Environment$15,000

Application changes (avg.)$2,000

# of Applications17

TOTAL$824,000

Deliverables

Deliverables for this project include:

Windows XP build for desktop and laptop PCs

Analysis and report of PCS that are:

1. Compatible

2. Need to be upgraded

Analysis and report of application compatibility

New PC delivery schedule

Upgrade deployment schedule

Testing schedule for applications

Help desk materials

User education materials

Benefits

The benefits of this project to Technology Associates include:

Upgraded, current technology the new operating system and application suite, along with the new PCs, will keep the organization in line with current technologies and allow for the participation in future upgrades.

Enhanced security the new operating system includes the latest in technological security software the will better protect the organizations data and information.

Cost savings from common platform there will no longer be any need for multiple support groups to handle the varying versions of software and hardware for the organization.

Improved productivity the functionality that is included within the operating system and application suite will increase the users ability to conduct their work and provide greater value to out clients.

Continued vendor support as part of the agreements for hardware and software purchases from the OEMs, the vendors that have been chosen have included the costs for support in their licensing agreements for three years.

Risks

The risks associated with this project are minimal, yet, each of them have a high level of impact to both the project and the organization. First, the plan calls for the implementation and rollout to all users by the end of the calendar year. This concentrates the efforts of all involved and makes for a timeline that cannot allow for any missed milestones. Second, end users will need to be involved in every phase of the project, including communications. Without this level of involvement, the risk to the organization and project is a high level of end user resistance due to new technologies and lower levels of understanding. Finally, there is the risk of legacy applications needing remediation. The analysis phase of the applications will determine the level of risk this poses. It is believed that the only modifications that would need to be made to any application will be associated with the new versions of the software, which are minor changes. However, should testing identify remediation to the applications, there could be significant impact to the project and its timeline.

Critical Success Factors

Success of this project is based upon having the proper scope for the project defined and communicated to all parties. Additionally, executive leadership and support of the project will play an integral role in delivering the results that have been asked for. Finally, the proper understanding and delivery of the deliverables outlined above will determine the ultimate success or failure of this project.

Project Timeline (Work Breakdown Structure)

The project timeline for this project calls for the work to begin at the end of May and be rolled out to all end users by the middle of December.Project Management Office

A project management office (PMO) will be set up for this project. This PMO will be utilized for centralizing the operations associated with the project, as well as the communications and reporting functions. Project status reviews will be held on a weekly basis with the following individuals attending:

Project Champion

Project Manager

Application Owners

Testing Manager

End User SMEs

Entire Project Team

Each meeting will encompass a review of the current status on all aspects of the project as well as upcoming activities and deliverables. There will also be discussion regarding and identified issues and risk items. Deliverables coming out of each weekly meeting will include, but not be limited to, a listing of action items that must be completed for the next meeting.

Project Management Objectives

The objectives of utilizing project management for this project are:

Time this project will be conducted in a compressed time, as mandated by the CIO

Cost there is a limited budget that has been allocated to the project based upon the preliminary estimate that was developed

Performance there is an expected improvement in performance and productivity to the organization that this project will provide

Assumptions

Prior to the start of this project, some assumptions have been made that will ultimately impact the results of this project. They include:

Leadership involvement and support

Project will not be cancelled due to funding constraints

Vendor capability to meet target delivery dates

End user involvement and availability for testing and training

Minimal software application changes

Purpose of RFP

The purpose of this RFP has been to detail the specifications, requirements, deliverables, and timeline associated with the Windows XP User Upgrade project to all interested and impacted parties. This information is valuable to the success of the project and the approval of all requirements and deliverables is necessary for the project.

This project is being undertaken for two primary reasons. First, John Roberts, CIO for Technology Associates, has mandated that the organization upgrade its in-house technology. Second, the organization needs to improve its capabilities. Technology has exploded and every sector of the business world. The customers that Technology Associates services, and those that Technology Associates pursues, have increasing demands from a technology perspective. In order to succeed, Technology Associates must be able to utilize the best applications, operating systems, and other technologies to better serve their clients.

EMBED Excel.Sheet.8

_1488450940.xlsTask_Data

IDTask_NameDurationStart_DateFinish_DatePredecessors

1Windows XP User Upgrade144 days5/30/0212/17/02

2Analysis Phase16 days5/30/026/20/02

3PC Analysis14 days5/30/026/18/02

4Establish standard PC specifications3 days5/30/026/3/02

5Validate specifications on current PCs10 days6/4/026/17/024

6Develop report on PCs that need upgrade1 day6/18/026/18/025

7Application Analysis16 days5/30/026/20/02

8Establish standard application specifications5 days5/30/026/5/02

9Validate specifications of current applciations10 days6/6/026/19/028

10Develop report on applications that need upgrade1 day6/20/026/20/029

11Application Testing99 days5/30/0210/15/02

12Develop requirements for Application Testing Environment5 days5/30/026/5/02

13Purchase and Install Testing Environment30 days6/6/027/17/0212

14Create Application Environment for Testing3 days7/18/027/22/0213

15Conduct Individual Application Testing60 days7/23/0210/14/0214

16Conduct Complete Application Suite Testing5 days10/8/0210/14/0215FF

17Sign-off on Application Suite1 day10/15/0210/15/0216

18Application Upgrade99 days5/30/0210/15/02

19Develop Requirements for Application Upgrade5 days5/30/026/5/02

20Build Application30 days6/6/027/17/0219

21Schedule Application for Testing1 day7/18/027/18/0220

22Sign-off on Application Upgrade1 day10/15/0210/15/0215

23User Education8 days5/30/026/10/02

24Determine User Training Requirements5 days5/30/026/5/02

25Develop On-Line Tutorials for PC3 days6/6/026/10/0224

26Develop On-Line Tutorials for Applications3 days6/6/026/10/0224

27Develop Help Desk procedures2 days6/6/026/7/0224

28Develop User Manuals for PC3 days6/6/026/10/0224

29Develop User Manuals for Applications3 days6/6/026/10/0224

30PC Upgrade97 days6/4/0210/16/02

31Schedule Purchase and Delivery of New PCs5 days6/4/026/10/024

32Build PC with New OS and Applications10 days6/4/026/17/024

33Schedule PC Deployment to End User1 day10/16/0210/16/0217

34Deployment114 days6/11/0211/15/02

35Develop Deployment Schedule by Department1 day6/11/026/11/02

36Validate PCs on-hand for Deployment1 day6/11/026/11/0231

37Conduct Deployment to End Users22 days10/17/0211/15/02

38Executives2 days10/17/0210/18/0236

39Admin. Personnel1 day10/21/0210/21/0236

40Finance2 days10/22/0210/23/0236

41Marketing3 days10/24/0210/28/0236

42Accounting2 days10/29/0210/30/0236

43Sales5 days10/31/0211/6/0236

44Support5 days11/7/0211/13/0236

45Other3 days11/13/0211/15/0236

46Post-Deployment7 days12/9/0212/17/02

47Conduct User Survey5 days12/9/0212/13/02

48Prepare results of Survey2 days12/16/0212/17/0247

49Report out on Survey Results1 day12/18/0212/18/0248