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Week 6: Sections IX and X

IX. Project Management

This section of the business case provides a summary of the team's plan for managing and implementing the proposed project. Its purpose is to convince the decision-maker(s) that the project will be managed effectively, so that the stated objectives will be met within the time and budget allocated to the project.

A complete “Project Management Plan” would be separately developed and contain much more detail than is required here. This section should begin with a brief introduction followed by three subsections (A, B, C.), with a lead in statement for each:

A. Project Management.

Write a description, using a paragraph for each, explaining how the following aspects of the project will be managed:

1. Project Scope

2. Time/Schedule

3. Cost

4. Quality

5. Communications

6. Stakeholders

B. Project Team.

List the members of the project team by their roles (not by name).

C. Schedule.

Provide a schedule that lists the major tasks involved and how much time they require. The schedule should be detailed enough to cover all the important activities, but does not need to include a Work Breakdown Structure.

Approach to Developing this Section The six management areas listed come from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) list of about 10 knowledge areas. Use the resources provided in the Week 6 Content to fully understand what is to be included for each of the above management areas. In developing the list of the project team members, keep in mind the scope and budget for the project. The project team should have all the required skill sets, but team members may function in multiple roles. In order to keep costs low, the team should be as small and efficiently designed as possible. The team should include both functional and IT personnel. The schedule should be developed with the understanding that when the business case is approved, many of the project planning and analysis and design steps will have been completed. So, using the information previously documented in the business case, the team should identify the major steps that remain to fully implement the project, and determine reasonable timeframes for them to be accomplished. The schedule should be presented as a table with Building a Business Case – 07/21/2019 15 tasks, duration, and participants, including the person who has the lead for that activity. The following table may be copied and used, if so desired:

Task	Duration	Leader	Participants
Task 1
Task 2
Etc.

X. Acquisition Strategy

This section provides a recommendation and rationale for how the system will be acquired. Often a combination of acquisition strategies are used, especially when both end-user hardware and enterprise systems are part of the solution. Begin this section with a brief introduction. Then, determine which categories below apply to your solution, adding others as appropriate to your solution. Be sure that everything that is needed is included. (The explanations for the sections numbered 1-3 follow the list.)

A. End User Hardware.

This includes all hardware to be used by the individuals who will use the system.

1. Scope.

2. Infrastructure.

3. Contract(s).

B. Proposed System.

This is the proposed system – how it will be acquired for use by the organization in the case study.

1. Scope.

2. Infrastructure.

3. Contract(s).

C. Connectivity to Proposed System.

This includes whatever is needed for the end users to connect to the proposed system (both from the business locations and remotely, as appropriate).

1. Scope.

2. Infrastructure.

3. Contract(s).

Then, for each category of components, include the answers to the following questions that are applicable to that item (remember not to use the question and answer format, but include the information in paragraph form):

Scope of what to buy:

o What items in this category need to be acquired (list)?

o Buy as a product or service? (some items may be purchased and others may be acquired as a service)

o Commercial-off-the-shelf (including open source) or custom?

o Will in-house staff or external contractors support custom development, integration, or sustainment?

What infrastructure will need to be acquired?

o Will system hosting services be needed? o How will connectivity be made available?

o What security considerations should be included in the contracts? o Will any specific hardware or software need to be acquired to provide security?

o Will Business Continuity requirements need to be included in the contract(s)?

o Will separate Business Continuity solutions or components need to be included or acquired?

o Are there any data management considerations to be included in the acquisition(s)?

What type of contract(s) should be used?

o Purchase order?

o Local commercial purchase?

o Service Level Agreement?

o Lease? o Subscription?

o Service Agreement?

o Competitively awarded contract?

o Time and materials contract?

o Fixed price contract?

Approach to Developing this Section

Before beginning this section, read the "Basics of Defining Information System Acquisition Strategies," in the Week 6 Content. It explains how to approach acquisition planning and will help in responding to the questions above. That document provides a guide to completing the documentation for a full acquisition strategy plan, which would include many of the same topics as are included in the business case. For this section, focus on responding to the questions above, as they apply to what will need to be acquired for the system you are proposing. Multiple acquisition strategies may be identified for the proposed solution. For example, some components may be purchased outright, other products or services may be leased or available by subscription/service contracts. If such is the case with the proposed solution, all of the applicable questions for each type of acquisition recommended need to be considered and responses should be provided if they apply to what is being acquired. Some questions may not apply to the component being acquired (e.g., there does not need to be a data management strategy identified for a printer that is to be purchased). Keep in mind that the full security requirements and solution will be covered in Section XII (yet to be developed), but your solution should have identified what security hardware and software would need to be acquired, and you should include here any security requirements that should be included in contracts or service requests associated with your solution.