Upgrade of Network of Pharmaceutical Company Question- Q1.Design a work break down structure (WBS) for this project with milestones? Q2. What are the key risks and how would you manage them? Q3. What are the key quality criteria which will be relevant here, outline the area/task, metrics and their measurement? Q4. The total budget for this is 65,000, of which 30,000 is set aside for the software. Explain how you will plan to use this money? Answer- Table of Content Project Title Environment And Present Working System Aims/Objectives Of The Project Investors Advantages Of The Project Development Team Results To Be Expected Work Breakdown Structure Milestones Management Of Risks Quality criteria
Cost estimation Conclusion References Environment And Present Working System A proper network infrastructure is extremely significant due to it being highly reliable as well as tough. The pharmaceutical company has decided to upgrade/modify its present network foundation. As a result of which, there is a need of up gradation of the network structure which will be done by changing the present hardware, new workstations, networks and services. This needs to be done in such a way that it supports both the existing demands and out future expansion plans of the company. In agreement, the plan for the project has been enclosed. It includes all details of the network structure, including the criteria s of success that is required for the achievement of goals. As an add-on, the plan has been devised in such a way that no disruption of the present network is done while the upgrading of the network is taking place. So, the collaboration has to be done with a set of company resources, which have done work on such projects. While the upgrading is taking place, one important fact should be taken care of there should be minimum investment from company s side while the returns should be at a maximum level. Aims/Objectives Of The Project The main goals of the project are as follows- The architecture of the network should be improved so that it allows a constant and the incessant flow of information Security of data access for the user s needs to be improved Facilitation of day-to-day to operations needs to be made easier The integrity of the company data needs to be maintained The employees of the company need a boost in their confidence level Investors The interested parties of the project are- Sponsors of the projects Hardware retailer
Human resources Foundation retailer Advantages Of The Project Some of the key benefits that the project will enjoy are - Involvement of the customers to be increased Network communications to be increased Theft of data to be decreased All students are allowed fair usage The upgrading is aimed at the elimination of all loopholes and errors that are present within the activity system and thus, create an error free system that would help with the goal of expansion. Development Team Industrial team Analyst of the network Operational engineer Network Engineer Nonindustrial team Manager of functionality Results To Be Expected Enrollment to increase Introduction towards bigger opportunities Introduction towards diversified areas of studies Preliminary Approximation Of Costs Hardware/system - $200
Network cable/meter - $20 Software Manager of the project - $90/hour Analyst of the network - $75/hour Implementation Engineer - $70/hour Network Engineer - $60/hour Functional Manager of Human Resources - $80/hour Estimated entire cost of project - $122,800 Work Breakdown Structure WBS Task Name 1 Network Upgrade 1.1 Plan 1.1.1 Prepare project plan 1.1.1.1 Analyze requirements 1.1.1.2 Perform feasibility study 1.1.1.3 Get sign-offs on deliverables 1.1.2 Take backup 1.1.2.1 Identify backup location 1.1.2.2 Perform backup operation 1.2 Analyze & Design 1.2.1 Hardware sizing 1.2.1.1 Market research for best configuration of machines 1.2.1.2 Finalize detailed configuration of network 1.2.1.3 Prepare bill 1.2.1.4 Sign-off 1.2.2 Finalize new furniture 1.2.3 Purchase furniture 1.2.4 Place furniture 1.2.5 Vendor selection 1.2.5.1 Raise tender for workstation procurement 1.2.5.2 Prepare vendor selection criteria 1.2.5.3 Identify vendor for workstation purchase 1.2.5.4 Configuration & Setup 1.3 Purchase & Store 1.3.1 Perform quality test on selected workstations 1.3.2 Store machines in warehouse 1.3.3 Install 1.3.3.1 Identify locations of machine 1.3.3.2 Install the hardware on the identified machines
1.3.3.3 Identify and install network server 1.3.3.4 Locate router 1.3.3.5 Connect machines 1.3.3.6 Configure workstations for internet connectivity 1.3.3.7 Update software on machines 1.3.3.8 Test software updates 1.4 Testing 1.4.1 Test each machine 1.4.2 Get signoffs 1.4.3 Network testing 1.4.3.1 Put the machine in the network and test 1.4.3.2 Get signoffs 1.4.4 Data restore Milestones Preparation of project plan Hardware sizing Vendor selection Backup Raise invoice Installation Machine test Network testing Management Of Risks Name of Risk Explanation Level of Risk Influence Job Description lacking details Allocation of resources is insufficient Disapproval of client Client Requirements are Process of Contingency/Mitigation Set of skills is Have an expert of the Medium quite vague industry to review it Minimum limit of Resources of other tasks are resources is not Medium to be assigned here achieved Discrepancy between the point Personal meetings with Medium of view of client clients to be arranged and project Discrepancy between the point Medium Industry expert to review the problem
improperly projected Network analyst missing Documentation loss Increase in the license fees of design tools Absence of Implementation engineer of view of client and project Analyst quit or on leave Failure of Hard Disk Drive Discount season has ended Engineer quit or on leave Another analyst to be hired Data recovery to be done with the help of IT tools Alternate freeware tools to be sought after -Another engineer to be hired -Implementation engineer to be hired on a contract -Other resources to be reassigned -Another engineer to be hired Absence of Network Engineer Engineer quit or on leave -Implementation engineer to be hired on a contract Standard configuration of network is lacking Software cost is increased User disapproval User reviews are facing delays Proper documentation is lacking License fees are increased User acceptance testing faces hiccups Reviews are not presented on schedule -Other resources to be reassigned Industry expert to review the problem Alternate freeware tools to be sought after Personal meetings with clients to be arranged Notifications are to be sent Quality criteria A set of measurable values which are associated with quality of the product is typically referred to as product s quality metrics. Similarly, a software s or a system s quality metrics could be used to determine the extent to which the system or the software meets the requirements of the business. The usage of quality metrics raises objectivity of evaluation of the product quality. The
human evalution of quality is subjective therefore it s a possible source of disagreement between the system provider and the users. Thus the measurement of these qualities should not be only prepared at the end of project but more importantly during the project s execution. Typically, a system s metrics are measured in the following terms: Reliability: The total amount of time the system is operational. It s measured in percentage for instance 23 out of 24 hours i.e., 100 x 23/24. Recoverability: The total amount of time the system uses to recover from a failure. This could measured in total duration it takes for the system to spring back online for instance 30 minutes to reeinitialize the system. User friendliness: The amount of complications involved with the system as a setup, it s usage and maintenance. It could be simply measured in say, the amount of time a new user takes to get accustom to the system. On-Time: Another key system metric is the timed delivery of the entire project. This measurement of the project being on time is particularly important ot the management as well as the stakenholders each day by which the project goes beyond it s scheduled delivery and funds. A key metric for this is to ensure that the entire prpoject as per terms of project management is meeting it s initial goal timings. Within Budget: All projects in IT cost money to develop, evaluate and deliver. It is therefore critical for the project managers to manage budget metrics by continously monitoring and reviewing the on-going project spending. This simply could be done by keeping a track of the projected expenditure prepared during the drafting of the plan and the actual amount being spend on the project at the given time. This thus will give a quick glance to the project manager whethere the project s spending is on par, above or below the budget. If it s on par or under the budget, then chances are everything is going well, however when it goes above the budget, then arrangements for additional funds has to be made. This would then either be secured by way of loans, credit from promoters etc. Deliverables Tracking: Another key criteria is deliverable tracking. The main goal of starting a new IT project is to deliver new enhancements or new functionalities to the current environment. Therefore a project management metric within the IT projects is to make sure that the project deliverables would be completed by date and within it s proposed budget. The key metric here for tracking the deliverables is to review the total progression of the tasks corresponding to delivery milestones and doing the necessary if they do not meet the required expectations. Cost estimation The time-phased budgeting is the core of the cost estimation. The time-phased budgeting technique does the job of integrating the schedule of the project and also, the budget of the
project. This method acts as the stepping-stone towards making the budgetary. There is no relation between budget and schedule of a project until the two are merged together. Once timephased budgeting is done, the manager of the project gains the added capacity to further point out the time at which the occurrences of certain expenditures take place. The outflow of cash is more accurately depicted which can result in the appropriate planning being undertaken. Activity Estimate Date Cash Inflow Cash Outflow Balance Preparation of project plan Thu 2/5/15 35000 2160 32840 Hardware sizing Tue 2/17/15 4560 28280 Vendor selection Thu 2/19/15 6100 22180 Backup Fri 2/6/15 600 21580 Raise invoice Thu 2/19/15 7400 14180 Installation Mon 8/25/14 2440 11740 Machine test Thu 9/25/14 3960 7780 Network testing Fri 10/3/14 920 6860 Conclusion The principles of PMBoK have been respected while the upgrading of the company s IT infrastructure is being done and on the basis of this, the manager of the project is able to determine the requirements and exclusions that are needed to be done in the project. At the time of the up gradation, this might affect the functionality of the other departments and thus time, resources and budget are of critical importance. References Gulla, J. (2012, Feb). Seven Reasons IT Projects Fail. Organizing for Project Management. (n.d.). Duncan, W.R. (n.d) A guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge. Hamilton, G. (n.d.). Risk management and project management go hand in hand. HubPages. (n.d.). Project Management Time & Cost Estimation Techniques: An Overview.