Business Project

The changes required in the IT project plan for Telecomm Ltd would entail specific variation in the platforms used in the initial implementation plan. Initially, the three projects that were planned for implementation included; the installation of business intelligence platform, the implementation of Statistical Analysis System software technology, and the creation of an effectively network infrastructure. In this case, the changes would include an addition of an ERP software to ensure the performance of the workforce within the Telecomms Ltd employees.

ERP is an effectively coordinated information technology system that would ensure the company’s performance is enhanced. To understand how the implementation of a coordinated IT system offers a competitive advantage of a firm, it is essential to acknowledge three core reasons for the failure of information technology related projects as commonly cited by IT managers. In this case, IT managers cite the three reasons as; poor planning or management, change in business objectives and goals during the implementation process of a project, and lack of proper management support completion (Houston, 2011). Also, in the majority of completed projects, technology is usually deployed in a vacuum; hence users resist it. The implementation of coordinated information technology systems, such as ERP would provide an ultimate solution to the three reasons for failure, and thus would give Telecomms Ltd a competitive advantage in the already competitive market. Since the implementation of systems like ERP directly provides solution to common problems that act as drawbacks regarding the competitiveness of firm, it is, therefore, evident that its use place Telecomms Ltd above its rival companies in the market share (Wallace & Kremzar, 2001).

The use ERP, which is a reliable coordinated IT system entails three distinctive implementation strategies that a firm can choose depending on its specific needs. The changes in the projects would be as follows: The three implementation strategies are independently capable of providing a relatively competitive advantage for many companies. These strategies are: big bang, phased rollout, and parallel adoption. In the big bang implementation strategy, happens in a single instance, whereby all the users are moved to a new system on a designated (Wallace & Kremzar, 2001). The phased rollout implementation on the other hand usually involves a changeover in several phases, and it is executed in an extended period. In this case, the users move onto the new system in a series of steps (Houston, 2011). Lastly, the parallel adoption implementation strategy allows both legacy and the new ERP system to run at the same time. It is also essential to note that users in this strategy get to learn the new system while still working on the old system (Wallace & Kremzar, 2001). The three strategies effectively change the information system of Telecomms Ltd tremendously such that it positively affects its competitiveness in the market share.

Create a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) for your project, and justify your response.

Responsibility assignment matrix

	1.1	1.2	1.3	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.5	3.1	3.2
Buying software	RP
Analyzing changes to be incorporated into the system		RP
Deliberation on the effects of changes					RP
Initiation of the implementation process						RP
Initiation of big bang strategy							RP
Initiation of phase rollout strategy								RP
Running the system									RP
Obtaining approval										RP

Outline the network schedule for your project. Include a narrative description of your network schedule.

As developed earlier, the network schedule is as shown below

Using the network schedule below, it is easy to determine the critical path through which the duration of project can be determined. Network schedule offers a simple and effective way of choosing the most critical task. From the network schedule above, it is easy to combine different task and choose the best path to use. It should be noted that in project management, a critical path is the sequence of project network activities which add up to the longest overall duration. Consequently, we need to indicate time for each task first. We shall have something like this.

The possible paths include the following

3+6+11+13

3+6+7+11+13

3+6+8+9+11+13

A project manager will just choose the path that has more time so as to prevent cases of assigning limited time for the projects.

The task located in number 3 of the Gantt Chart will be the first task as far as the project is concerned. The critical path is the last, which comprises tasks making up the most essential and critical part of the project, which is represented by task number 3,6,8,9,11,13.

Analyze the critical path of your project, and discuss the total float in the project. Next, suggest the primary measures that you would use in order to manage the critical path and reduce the float in the project.   

When analyzing the critical path, the duration for each of these tasks needs to be added. From the task sheet below, the duration of each task is indicated in the column named “Duration”

Task Mode	Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors
Manually Scheduled	Implementation of ERP System in Telecomms Ltd's IT Project	19 days	Thu 11/12/15	Tue 12/8/15
Manually Scheduled	Introducing the new system	2 days	Wed 11/11/15	Thu 11/12/15
Manually Scheduled	Analysis fo the changes to be incorporated into the IT system	1 day	Wed 11/11/15	Wed 11/11/15
Manually Scheduled	Deliberation of the effect of the changes in the Telecomms Ltd	1 day	Thu 11/12/15	Thu 11/12/15	3
Manually Scheduled	Initial phase	16 days	Fri 11/13/15	Fri 12/4/15
Manually Scheduled	Initiation of the implementation process of the ERP system	1 day	Fri 11/13/15	Fri 11/13/15	3,4
Manually Scheduled	initiation of Big bang strategy	5 days	Mon 11/16/15	Fri 11/20/15	6,4
Manually Scheduled	initiation of phased rollout strategy	5 days	Mon 11/23/15	Fri 11/27/15	6,7
Manually Scheduled	initiation of parallel adoption strategy	5 days	Mon 11/30/15	Fri 12/4/15	8
Manually Scheduled	Implementation phase	1 day	Mon 12/7/15	Mon 12/7/15
Manually Scheduled	Running of the system	1 day	Mon 12/7/15	Mon 12/7/15	6,9,7
Manually Scheduled	Final phase	1 day	Tue 12/8/15	Tue 12/8/15
Manually Scheduled	Approval of ERP System	1 day	Tue 12/8/15	Tue 12/8/15	11

By substituting the task with durations, we get

1+1+1+1= 4 days

1+1+5+1+1= 9 days

1+1+5+5+1=13 days

The critical path is (3+6+8+9+11+13) and it takes 13 days

The floats will be 9 days and 4 days for the two other possible options.

Determine at least two (2) best practices from the PMBOK textbook that you would apply in order to manage the project schedule. Justify your response. 

From the book, a number of things were taught. It is clear that project duration and cost are the two most important objective of project management. It can be reasonably assumed that if these are met successfully by all participants, the quality objective will also be achieved. To meet these elements successfully, the project manager should adopt or follow planning methods and procedures such as physical feasibility checks and project scheduling. It is generally believed that unless the estimate is related to the schedule and converted into a project, it is not very useful for project cost control. The case presented shows that the participants are not certain as to whether the cost estimate and project schedule match each other. The big question is whether the estimated costs, when factors such as inflation are included, can match the expected budget.

What the project manager should do to ascertain whether there is a match between the estimated cost and the expected cost is cost budgeting. This entails cost breakdown and cost coding. Cost budgeting offers analytical methods and procedures and help in establishing reference point for monitoring and controlling project costs. Cost budgeting will also provide a baseline from which forecasts and trends can be developed.

The first element of cost budgeting is cost breakdown. It should be noted that the overall project budget is the sum of all of the bottom-up costs associated with the project activities plus any project-level expenses for team acquisition, overhead, or other indirect costs allocated to the project.

In cost budgeting, the project manager needs to consider factors such as salary changes, contract renegotiations, and the effects of inflation. Once the budget is designed, the next thing is to manage project budget. It should be noted that without proper budget management, the project team may end up spending unnecessary and emerging costs in tasks that are not critical. Such spending can cost the project. The best way of managing the project budget is by documenting the project cost baseline and using it to track project performance during the project plan execution. It is advisable for the project manager to design a project budget-management plan and periodically revise it as necessary during project reviews.

Concerning the time and duration, the best way of managing time is by using network diagram and choosing the critical path.

References

Roberts, P. (2011). Effective project management. London, UK: Kogan Page.

Top of Form

Kendrick, T., & Project Management Institute. (2010). The project management tool kit: 100 tips and techniques for getting the job done right. New York: AMACOM American Management Association.

Top of Form

Ahuja, H. N., Dozzi, S. P., & AbouRizk, S. M. (1994). Project management: Techniques in planning and controlling construction projects. New York, N.Y: J. Wiley and Sons.

Houston Neal. (2011). ERP Implementation Strategies - A Guide to ERP Implementation Methodology. Software Advice. Retrieved from http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/manufacturing/erp-implementation-strategies-1031101/

Wallace, T. F., & Kremzar, M. H. (2001). ERP: Making it happen : the implementers' guide to success with enterprise resource planning. New York: Wiley.

3

4

13

6

7

8

9

11