IT Project Management Techniques

Question: Discuss about the Critical Analysis of a Project Management and Plan for developing. Answer: Introduction In this report, critical analysis is to be conducted on a Project Management Plan (PMP) for developing a Customized Finance Application. The discussions will be carried out on illustrating the key components as well as a description of the purpose behind development of PMP for the project. The strengths and weaknesses will be identified to analyze the contents as well as quality of the PMP. The PMP that has been provided comprises of a project to design and develop a finance application for Feed franchise. The detailed discussions will be carried out in various sections by dividing the Project Management Plan. The schedule and budget that has been prepared will be evaluated to assess usefulness of the PMP to guide the project (Schwalbe 2014). The assumptions will be also stated in context to the schedule and information related to financial aspects of the project. Analysis of PMP Introduction This report provides an illustration on a Project Management Plan (PMP) being prepared for a project on developing a Customized Finance Application for Feed franchise. The complete evaluation of the PMP will be provided for assessing usefulness of the prepared PMP to guide the project. This report is aimed at critically analyzing the prepared PMP for the project to develop a Customized Finance Application for Feed Franchise. The analysis will provide an overview to determine the success of the project from the developed PMP (Snyder 2014). The objectives of the report are provided as below: To interpret key components of the PMP for developing a Customized Finance Application project. To understand the purpose behind development of PMP for the project. To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the PMP. To assess the usefulness of PMP to guide the project. This report is divided into sections various according to the PMP and discussions will be carried out on organization means project team members, management and technical approach to be used for the project. Further illustrations will be provided by discussing upon the major work to be performed in the project along with schedule and budget for the project. Name: The name that has been assigned to the project is Developing a Customized Finance Application. The name of the project is appropriate in terms of demonstrating meaning of the project and it clearly reflects upon nature of the project. Description: The description of the project somewhat lacks to provide adequate information about the project however the objectives of the project are stated clearly. The description has been provided in simple language, which is easy for the audience to emancipate the purpose behind this project (Kerzner 2013). The time and cost estimates have not been provided in description of the project. Sponsors details: The sponsor details have been adequately provided in the PMP along with name, title, and contact information but no information has been supplied about back-up contact person. Project manager and team details: The PMP being developed for the project has adequate information about contact details of the PM and team members. Each team members details like phone number and email address has been provided which is very useful. Deliverables: The deliverables and the documentation of the project are explained in detail, which gives a clear understanding of the project. The authors have adequately provided a list and description of each product to be created from the project (Hornstein 2015). The deliverables of the project has been properly divided into product and PM related categories. Reference details: The Reference details has been left out or omitted in the project, which is a negative aspect of the project. The project should have references where the material was taken or cited from which gains knowledge in order for preparing the project. Definitions: A list of terminologies being used in the PMP have been provided with detailed meaning to avoid confusion. The PMP has been prepared for an IT project so the terms being used are unique to the IT industry as well as the list of terms also comprise of certain terminologies in context to project management. Organization Organizational charts: Too and Weaver (2014) defines that the organization chart should clearly illustrate upon the members being associated with the project as a team. In the provided PMP, the role of various members have been clearly depicted in the developed organizational chart. The organizational chart for the project that has been provided is presented as below: Figure 1: Internal Organizational chart for the project From the provided organizational chart in the PMP, it can be said that both roles and names are clearly visible. The lines of authority are also very clear for better understanding of the audience for whom the PMP has been developed. Project responsibilities: The description on all roles and responsibilities of project team members in the project has been stated clearly however, Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) has not been prepared in any section of the PMP. The RAM should be designed to indicate who will be responsible for which activity and who will carry out the duties (Heagney 2016). The PMP only contain definition of member roles for the particular project but the detailed description should be provided on what activity will be performed by which member. Management and technical approach Management objectives: In this section of the PMP, the managerial objectives has been clearly stated and it is mainly focused on the role of a project manager of the project. Mir and Pinnington (2014), states that the project manager should have an overall understanding on how the project will operate. The managerial objective for this project are realistic as it is to meet the project deadline. It has been reviewed that the author have described if more personnel are required to meet the project deadline, the project manager will interview available personnel and select the most suitable candidate for the roles available. This section does not have any list of priorities. The management have provided the various assumptions or constraints for the project. Project controls: The PMP does not provides any information about the monitoring strategies and change control procedures that are required for the project. Risk management: The PMP comprises of the risk management procedures to identify, manage and control risks. The risk management section being developed for the project includes Probability matrix, a plan for risk response and risk register. Further, the risks associated with this project has been identified properly in the PMP. de Carvalho, Patah and de Souza Bido (2015), states that risk register identifies the risk at the beginning and during the life of the project, their grading in terms of likelihood of occurring and seriousness of impact on the project, initial plans for mitigating each high-level risk, and subsequent results. Hence, it has been developed with perfection in the provided PMP. Project staffing: The staffing plan for the project is well defined and has been prepared clearly that indicates the various members of the project team. The number and types of people required for the project are clearly indicated to demonstrate the resources that are allocated to the various activities involved in this project. The role of each project team member have been clearly articulated to provide an insight into the roles being played in each member in the team to execute the various activities required for the project (Besner and Hobbs 2013). Despite of the illustrating upon the role of project team members, this section is not complete, as it does not include a resource histogram, which is vital to reflect upon the costs being associated with the project staff. Technical processes: This section of PMP comprises of various parts however, the focus is on the tools and techniques that are used for documentation of technical processes in the project. The documentation process involves management of document, CASE tools and communication management to ensure success of the project. The documentation standards being provided in the PMP are clear and useable. The PMP reflects that Prototype approach has been selected as the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) approach. In accordance to the project, the selected approach is justified, as the complete development of the application will be executed by designing and developing prototype followed by testing of the prototype (Ahlemann et al. 2013). This approach is suitable for IT projects specifically development of complex applications. Work to perform Major work packages: In this particular section of the PMP, the work packages have not been provided clearly. The Work breakdown that has been provided for the project is a part of the project schedule. It can be said that Work breakdown structure for the project has not been developed as the provided table contains the starting part of the project schedule (Joslin and Muller 2015). The scope statement of the project has not been stated in this section of the PMP. The Work breakdown structure has to be developed in a presentable manner so that it is easy to understand about the major work packages of the project. Key deliverables: The key deliverable of the PMP has been provided in context to project management. The key deliverables that are offered by the PMP are provided in a listed form but no descriptions have not been provided to illustrate upon the key deliverables. Other: The PMP does not contain the description information related to performing work on the project including items such as hardware/software required and a list of assumptions in this section. However, some of the hardware and software requirements for the project has been provided in the budget. Schedule Summary: The overall project schedule has been developed but it has not been presented in fit to be seen manner as some portion of the schedule has been provided in the Work Breakdown structure and other part in schedule. The Gantt chart for the project has been developed and presented, as separately to contents section of the PMP (Hill 2013) however, milestone report has not been provided. Detailed: The schedule being developed for the project does not reflect that there is any dependency between the project activities. Serrador and Turner (2015), defines that the dependency between project activities is an important aspect of project management to ensure success of the project. The PMP has not provided any network diagram for the project. Other: In context to project schedule being provided in the PMP, no assumptions have been stated for the project. Budget Summary: The budget section of the PMP provides an insight into the various expenses being required for the project. The total estimate of the overall project budget has been clearly illustrated and it totals to an amount of $178,000.00 including expenses for Wages, Software and Hardware, Office Supplies and other additional costs. The total estimate of the overall projects budget has been clearly presented in PMP. Detailed: The total budget summary has been provided in the budget section and the detailed expenses has been clearly indicated (Ahern, Leavy and Byrne 2014). The detailed information has been provided on the expenses on resources, Software budget, Hardware Budget, Supplies Budget and Other budget. Other: The overall budget for the creation of the customized finance application was $ 180,000.00; the figures were quite under the budget. Even though the project is under budget, the project will be successful with the help of well-assessed cope statement defining the client needs. References Ahern, T., Leavy, B. and Byrne, P.J., 2014. Complex project management as complex problem solving: A distributed knowledge management perspective.International Journal of Project Management,32(8), pp.1371-1381. Ahlemann, F., El Arbi, F., Kaiser, M.G. and Heck, A., 2013. 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The relationship between project success and project efficiency.Project Management Journal,46(1), pp.30-39. Snyder, C.S., 2014. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK () Guide. Project Management Institute. Too, E.G. and Weaver, P., 2014. The management of project management: A conceptual framework for project governance.International Journal of Project Management,32(8), pp.1382-1394.