Overview:

The Project Plan is your firstdeliverable in System Design Management. The project plan establishes the visionfor the project, scope of the project, the project stakeholders, the planneddeliverables, and the estimated timeline for completing the assigned deliverable. Throughout each of the assignments youwill be using progressiveelaboration whichinvolves continuously improving the project plan as more detailed informationand more accurate estimates become available. Progressive elaboration allowsa project management team to define work and manage it to a greater level ofdetail as the project evolves. You may not know everything you need to know tocomplete a project up front but as the Project Manager you start with what youknow and adjust the plan as you go.

Assignment Role:

Throughout all four (4) assignments you will have to assumetwo (2) different roles.  The first roleyou will need to assume is that of the Project Manager. The Project Manager is charged withmanaging a project from an administrative perspective.  In this role you will be developing andmaintaining project plans, planned activities, project schedules, managingrequirements, and other documentation. The primary tool used within this role will be Microsoft Project.

The second role you will need to assume is that of theSystems Analyst.  The Systems Analyst plans, analyzes, andimplements information systems and supporting design documentation.  In this role you will actually perform theproject activities on your project planall of which should be associated withassignment deliverables.

You will switch between the roles frequently.  For instance, as you work through activitiesas a Systems Analyst you will discover things you didnt previously know andhave to update your project management documentationa task usually reservedfor the Project Manager.  As you discoveradditional information and make the updates remember this is part of theprocess called progressive elaboration. Near completion of each subsequent assignment you will have an activityto Update Documentation.  This approachkeeps all the project planning materials updated and allows the assignments tobuild upon one another.  Keep in mind thelast assignment is a collection of all the previous assignments with theaddition of an implementation plan.

Scenario:

Identify a small business ororganization (e.g., church, daycare, lawn service, cleaning service, home care,realty business, or PC repair shop) in need of a website to improve theironline presence, promote their mission, and improve enrollment or sales.  The website will be the system you analyze,design, and plan to implement. However, this first assignment involves creatingthe preliminary project plan and the estimates required to manage the analysis,design, and implementation efforts.

Project Plan Requirements:

The project plan will be updatedduring all four (4) assignments.  Developa preliminary project plan that communicates the vision for undertaking theproject, the preliminary scope of the project, all the known stakeholders, the descriptionof deliverables, preliminary project activities, and a rough order of magnitude(estimate for schedule and cost).  Atthis point you know the preliminary timeline is directly related to the courseschedule and correlates with the due date for each Assignment.  Each assignment contains a list ofdeliverables which will require you as the System Analyst to perform as projectactivitiesall of this should be in the preliminary project plan schedule.  You will use MS Project to manage projectactivities and associated timelines.

Your project plan deliverable shouldinclude the following elements:

1. Vision for undertaking the project elaborate on the business / organization, the mission and strategy of theorganization, business need, business requirements, purpose for building thesystem, the benefits/value associated with having the system, theaccomplishments that will be realized if the project is approved.

2. Preliminary scope of the project beginto define the overall tasks, activities and decisions that must be completed inorder to ensure that project goals and deliverables are met.  Focus on performing only necessary tasks donot allow scope creep to occur.

3. Stakeholder register identify allthe key players involved with the effort (specifically the sponsor), the levelof influence each stakeholder has on the project, their level of involvement inthe project, to what degree they must be kept informed, and how often you mustcommunicate with them.

4. Deliverable description highlevel description of the system (i.e., website) being proposed and the expectedoutcome.  The deliverable descriptionshould include the tangible results both physical such as system hardware orsoftware, and logical such as policies, procedures, or performance improvements(improved sales). 

5. Preliminary project activities identify all the known activities and identify the duration for each activityusing the Three-point estimating system also known as weighted formula forestimating in your textbook.  Enter theactivities, durations, and dependencies in MS Project and display theinformation as a Gantt chart.  Include ascreen shot of your preliminary project activities within the assignment 1 deliverable.

6. Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) The main purpose of the ROM estimate isto provide decision-makers with the information necessary to make adecision on whether it makes sense to move forward with the project based onthe estimated level of effort, in terms of completion timeand cost.   A variance of -25% to +75% iscommon for ROM estimates.  The point is to providea ballpark estimate using the information available at the time.

7. Feasibility analysis perform a feasibility analysisthat includes assessing operational, economic, technical, and schedulefactors.  Use your Expert Judgement inthe role of the System Analyst and the material within the textbook to performthe feasibility analysis.