IT project assignment

Assignment 1 ITECH 2250

IT Project Management Techniques

Page 1 of 6 CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH 2250 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2015– Project Charter

Due Date: Week 5 – Monday 5:00 pm

Weight: 10%

This is an individual assignment. There is an expectation that no two submissions will be the same.

Objectives

This assessment task relates to the following course objectives:

 Observe real world information technology problems and apply project management

principles and techniques to solve these problems;

 Employ a systems thinking approach to identify critical roles and stakeholders in

information technology projects;

 Demonstrate decision-making processes to solve a range of information technology

project issues;

 Utilise a range of organisational and self-management skills, emulating real world

practice of information technology project managers.

 value the importance of effective communication to solve problems on information

technology projects

Task

During the Project Initiation phase, an important artefact is the Project Charter. This artefact clearly indicates

for the project team and all stakeholders the project objectives, scope and vision. In this assignment, you are

provided with a case study project description below. You will create a Project Charter for this project that

will be managed following the adaptive methodology of Agile Scrum. In a project managed using

traditional project management methodologies, the Charter would be a document of just a few pages (around

4) formally outlining the key objectives, schedule and stakeholders. In an Agile project, this artefact would

be displayed in the project team room.

Background

After top management determines which projects to pursue, then it becomes important to notify the organisation

about the projects. The Project Charter is used to authorise the project and nominate the project manager. The

Project Charter formally recognises the project and provides a summary of the details of the project.

Assignment 1 ITECH 2250

IT Project Management Techniques

Page 2 of 6 CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH 2250 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2015– Project Charter

Requirements

For this assessment task, students are required to create a Project Charter for the case study provided:

Green Computing Research Project. The Project will be managed using the Agile SCRUM PM

methodology. You (project manager – PM) has made a presentation about your proposed approach for

developing the research report to the senior leadership committee meeting in order to get approval for the

project. You presented a Business Case to the committee to secure their approval for this project. The

Business Case includes many of the details that will form the Project Charter.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the committee authorised you to implement the project. To get the project

started, you need to draw up a Project Charter as the formal authority for the project. The project sponsor has

appointed you as the project manager. While preparing the Project Charter report, you need to express clearly

the vision (why do this project), the mission (what is to be done), and the success criteria for this project.

You will also need to:

 identify other stakeholders, in consultation with the sponsor;

 predict high level costs involved in the project;

 hire a team for the duration of the project; and

 devise a high level plan for the number of Sprints involved in the project and the objective for each

Sprint Cycle.

You may need to make other necessary assumptions in preparing the Charter but make sure these are clearly

stated. (You may be creative with your assumptions to ensure that your submission is unique.)

The Project Charter will be displayed on the wall in the project team room for the duration of the project and

includes information such as:

 Project title and date of authorisation

 Project manager’s name and contact details

 Brief description of objectives and vision for the project

 Summary budget

 Success criteria for the project

 Project scope

 Summary schedule

o Start and end dates for each sprint

o Milestones/objectives for each sprint

 Summary of the project management methodology including:

o Assumptions, constraints and expectations

o Governance

 Roles and responsibilities

 Sign-off section for all stakeholders

An initial template example for the Project Charter document is provided.

Assignment 1 ITECH 2250

IT Project Management Techniques

Page 3 of 6 CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH 2250 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2015– Project Charter

Submission

Please submit an electronic copy of the Project Charter based on the example Project Charter template

provided in Moodle. Submit only via Moodle. Partner students please refer to your course lecturer for

submission instructions. Please refer to the Course Description for information regarding late assignments,

extensions, special consideration, and plagiarism. A reminder all academic regulations can be accessed via

the university’s website, see: http://www.federation.edu.au/students/essential-info/publications/handbook

Assignment 1 ITECH 2250

IT Project Management Techniques

Page 4 of 6 CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH 2250 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2015– Project Charter

CASE STUDY— Green Computing Research Project

You work for We Are Big, Inc., an international firm with more than 100,000 employees in

several countries. A strategic goal is to help improve the environment while increasing

revenues and reducing costs. The Environmental Technologies Program just started, and the

VP of Operations, Natalie, is the program sponsor. Ito is the program manager, and there is

a steering committee made up of 10 senior executives, including Natalie, who oversees the

program. Several projects operate within this program, including the Green Computing

Research Project. The CIO and project sponsor, Ben, has given this project high priority and

plans to hold special interviews to hand-pick the project manager and team. Ben is also a

member of the program steering committee. Before coming to We Are Big, Ben sponsored a

project at a large computer firm to improve data center efficiency. This project, however, is

much broader. The main purpose of the Green Computing Research Project is to research

possible applications of green computing, including the following:

• Data center and overall energy efficiency

• Disposal of electronic waste and recycling

• Telecommuting

• Virtualization of server resources

• Thin client solutions

• Use of open source software

• Development of new software to address green computing for internal use and

potential sale to other organizations

The budget for the project is $500,000, and the goal is to provide an extensive report, including

detailed financial analysis and recommendations for which green computing technologies to

implement. Official project request forms for the recommended solutions will also be created

as part of the project.

C.2

Assignment 1 ITECH 2250

IT Project Management Techniques

Page 5 of 6 CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH 2250 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2015– Project Charter

Ben decided to have five people working full-time on this six-month project and to call on

people in other areas as needed. He wanted to be personally involved in selecting the project

manager and to have that person help him select the rest of the project team. Ben wanted to

find people already working inside the company, but he was also open to reviewing

applications for potential new employees to work specifically on his project as long as they

could start quickly. Because many good people were located in different parts of the world,

Ben thought it made sense to select the best people he could find and allow them to work

virtually on the project. Ben also wanted the project manager to do more than just manage

the project. The project manager would also do some of the research, writing, and editing

required to produce the desired results. Ben was also open to paying expert consultants for

their advice and to purchasing books and related articles as needed.

After the project was announced, a new CEO Mr Techno Trend was parachuted into the

company. Techno is a well known advocate of cloud computing and during his appointment as

the CEO, he made it as his top priority. This means, cloud computing could well creep into the

research list or replace any one on the list. The team’s other challenges include one of the key

team members may have to take parental leave in the middle of the project if he cannot find

alternative arrangement.

Prepare a project charter for the Green Computing Research Project. Again, assume that the project will

take six months to complete and that the budget is $500,000. Use the project charter template and

examples of the project charters in Chapters 3 and 4 of the text book as guidelines. Assume that part of

the approach is to select the project team as quickly as possible.

Assignment 1 ITECH 2250

IT Project Management Techniques

Page 6 of 6 CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH 2250 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2015– Project Charter

Assessment Criteria

Students work will be assessed as outlined below:

 Project Charter shows clearly that you understand the project outlined in the case study

 You have provided estimated budget and project objectives for each sprint cycle

 adheres to academic writing standards and evidence of quality written expression as outlined in the university General Guide to Writing and Study Skills and General Guide to Referencing: http://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/190044/2014-General-Guide-to-Writing-and-Study-Skills.pdf http://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/164121/FedUni-General-Guide-to-Referencing-2014.pdf

Assessment Feedback

Student No.

Marker:

Date:

Project Charter

Criteria

Marking Scale

Maximum Marks

Poor Excellent

1……….. max

 Project title and date of authorisation

 Project manager’s name and contact details

2

 Brief description of vision, objectives, and the business requirements or justifications for project

 Summary budget

 Success criteria for the project

15

 Project scope

 Summary schedule showing at least 3 sprint cycles - Start and end dates for each sprint - Milestones for each sprint - Objectives for each sprint

15

 Summary of the project management methodology including - Assumptions, constraints and expectations - Governance

10

 Roles and responsibilities 5

 Presentation including: - Sign-off section - Clear Layout appropriate for team room

3

Total Mark [50 marks]

Total Worth [10%] Comments: