Faculty of Higher Education
Group Assignment Cover Sheet
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Unit Details |
Unit Name |
IS Project Management |
Code |
HI5029 |
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Year |
2024 |
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Trimester number |
T2 2024 |
Assessment Details |
Assessment Name |
Group Assignment |
Due Date: dd/mm/yyyy |
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Group Number |
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** only list students who have contributed to this assignment |
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Group Submission Declaration |
Integrity Declaration We have read and understand academic integrity policies and practices and our assessment does not violate these.
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Executive Summary
TechUpGrowth is a medium firm in the technology industry set to begin this 18-month digital transformation project known as DigitalShift. Approved at $10 million, this project strives to transform organizational processes, improve customer experiences, and adopt advanced technologies. Principal initiatives include the introduction of an ERP solution, the creation of a customer-oriented mobile application, the enhancement of enterprise security, the increased usage of cloud technologies, and the encouragement of organizational learning. This will be done in a phase-wise manner starting with initiation then followed by planning, execution monitoring and finally closing. Headed by an experienced and talented team, DigitalShift experiences some issues: how to perform transformation simultaneously with business processes, integrate new changes flawlessly, and tackle employee resistance. It’s high time for TechUpGrowth to adopt such a versatile plan to keep up with new technological trends in the competitive environment.
Table of Contents
Project Integration Management 6
Task 3: Initial Scope Management 10
Task 4 WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) 12
Project Schedule Management 14
Task 5: Create a Gantt Chart and Identify Milestones 14
Project Cost and Quality Management 15
Task 6: Develop Cost Estimate and Financial Analysis 15
Project Resource Management 17
Task 7: Prepare a RACI Chart 17
4. Pre-work/Preparation (documents/handouts to bring, reading material, etc.) 29
3. Agenda and Notes, Decisions, Issues 30
Introduction
A modern business environment is a dynamic environment, meaning that businesses in this environment must be constantly adapting to the needs of the customers. TechUpGrowth, being a mid-end technology firm, acknowledges this need and has already embarked on a large-scale digital transformational plan called DigitalShift.
The DigitalShift project is an existential lever that was initiated to adapt to new emerging trends in the uptake of technology and the general dynamics of the tech sector. TechUpGrowth will focus on increasing the flexibility and efficiency of the organization and making it more customer-oriented over the 18 months, for $10 million. Specific strategies as part of the project are the integration of a powerful ERP utility, the production of a customer-oriented smartphone application, increased Internet security, the adaptation of cloud-supported solutions, and a training program for everyone in the organization (Freitas et al, 2020, p1545(3)).
With IT systems architects, mobile app developers, cybersecurity specialists, cloud solutions engineers, and change management consultants, DigitalShift is at the forefront of tackling the multifaced process of digital transformation. The sequence of the project will involve the following steps; identification and design, implementation, and lastly, richness and rewards.
This introduction will lead to a comprehensive project proposal that will contain information about how, who, when, and what to achieve the goal of establishing DigitalShift. Further details on the project will describe how to analyze the relationship between the developmental process and organizational stability, how to initiate new systems’ implementation, and how to promote organizational members’ acceptance and committed involvement.
From this point of view, DigitalShift is essential not only for TechUpGrowth’s current development but also for its future in the context of a growing tendency to shift to digital skills. It is through the achievement of this change journey that TechUpGrowth believes it can serve as a benchmark in its industry and deliver sustainable value to customers, its people, and shareholders (Chow et al, 2021, p.3(2)).
Project Integration Management
Task 1: Business case
A business case is a formal written document that shows the reason for starting a project and the reasons that it has for funding. It highlights the goal and purpose of the project, its advantages, drawbacks, and how to solve them (Angara et al, 2020, p81(1)).
Business Case for Project Name
Date:
Project Name:
TechUpGrowth is a mid-end level technology firm that is now experiencing rising competitive threats and rapidly advancing customer demands within the technological platform market. As with any other competitor the company wants to secure its position in the market and thrive in the future; therefore, it has to act on the modernization of its logistics. |
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2.0 Business Objective The key strategic goal is to implement a digital business transformation that accelerates and optimizes internal operations, as well as customers’ experiences, and harnesses new technologies for growth. |
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TechUpGrowth still uses legacy technologies, departmental structures, and, paper-based workflows, which negatively affect its performance and ability to grow. Customer involvement is also constrained and the firm has no adequate measures to safeguard against new forms of risks. |
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4.0 Critical Assumptions and Constraints
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5.0 Analysis of Options and Recommendation Implement the DigitalShift project to transform TechUp Growth’s infrastructure containing ERP implementation, mobile app development, cybersecurity changes, moving to cloud, and training of new employees.
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6.0 Preliminary Project Requirements
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7.0 Budget Estimate and Financial Analysis The total budget for this project is $10 million
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8.0 Schedule Estimate The project will be completed in 18 months
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9.0 Potential Risks
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10.0 Exhibits Exhibit A: Financial Analysis
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Task 2: Project Charter
It is a statement that was created to give recall to start a project and contains details about the goal, purpose, and sponsorship of the project, its scope, and the deliverables that are needed.
Date:
Project Title: Digital Shift |
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Project Start Date: Projected Finish Date: |
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Budget Information: $10 million |
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Project Manager: Name, phone, e-mail |
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Project Objectives: The DigitalShift project will be to help TechUpGrowth change its digital environment and capabilities across different functional areas within 18 months for $10 million. Some of the projects that shall be undertaken include the implementation of an ERP system, creating a customer mobile app, improving cyber security, migrating from traditional systems to cloud solutions, and training human resources in continuous improvement.
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Success Criteria:
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Approach:
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Roles and Responsibilities |
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Name and Signature |
Role |
Position |
Contact Information |
Group Leader |
Project Leader |
Group Leader – project manager |
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Group Member 1 |
IT Systems Architect |
IT Systems Architect |
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Group Member 2 |
Mobile App Developer |
Mobile app development |
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Group Member 3 |
Cybersecurity Specialist |
Cybersecurity Specialist |
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Group Member 4 |
Cloud Solutions Engineer |
Cloud Solutions Engineer |
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Group Member 5 |
Management Consultant |
Change Management Consultant |
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Project Scope Management
Task 3: Initial Scope Management
It is about what are the expectations from the project, its goals, and the sector in which it operates. This helps in creating the scope and foundation for the project I know that all the stakeholders are informed to avoid any problems and what needs to be done in the project. (Fashina, 2020, p3(1))
Scope Statement
Project Title: Digital Shift Date: Prepared by: |
Project Justification: For businesses and organizations must conform to changes in the market where the technological industry is rapidly changing, TechUpGrowth’s DigitalShift is the project for it. The reason for this is to bring the company into the current decade and streamline operations for the future, but also to enhance customer satisfaction. This change will resolve present issues, safeguard the platform against cyber threats, and set up TechUpGrowth as a technologically modern firm operating in its market class. |
Product Characteristics and Requirements:
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Product User Acceptance Criteria:
Summary of Project Deliverables Project management-related deliverables: business case, charter, team contract, scope statement, WBS, schedule, cost baseline, status reports, final project presentation, final project report, lessons learned report, and any other documents required to manage the project. Product-related deliverables: research reports, design documents, software code, hardware, etc.
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Task 4 WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
It is an arrangement of project deliverables and sub-deliverables in a system of steps. It helps to divide the project into parts so that the work of the employees, the cost, and the rate of work can be calculated (Mahpour et al, 2020, p337(2)).
Project name: Digital Shift
Figure 1 Work Breakdown Structure
WBS Dictionary
Entry Date:
Project Name: Digital Shift
WBS Item Number: 3.1
WBS Item Name: ERP system: ERP vendor selection
Description:
This activity involves the process of selecting the most appropriate ERP vendor for the business organization of interest and in the case of this project, TechUpGrowth. This includes a call for tendering, bids from the vendor assessment while exercising Technical Specifications and their prices, presentation of the vendors, assessment, and contracting.
Project Schedule Management
Task 5: Create a Gantt Chart and Identify Milestones
Figure 2 Project Phase 1 & 2 Gantt Chart
Figure 3 Project Phase 3 Gantt Chart
Figure 4 Project Phase 4 & 5 Gantt Chart
Project Cost and Quality Management
Task 6: Develop Cost Estimate and Financial Analysis
Figure 5 Financial analysis for TechUpGrowth project
Figure 6 cost estimate
Figure 7 cost estimate
Key Assumptions for This Cost Estimate:
CRM System Implementation: Most of the licenses, integrations, and the initial deployment cost would be in the first four months only.
Data Migration: Demands considerable activity during the middle of the period (Months 2-5).
IT Infrastructure Upgrade: Amortised costs, generic over implementation, extending over several months through phase implementation (Month 2-7).
Software Licensing: Renewal cost diagnosis over the first five months (Elghaish, 2020, p3(2)).
Final Testing and Deployment: Main activity of the last quarter (Months 9-12). As an emergency, for which, one has to be ready for $2,000-$5,000 or more. Ion: High upfront costs for licenses, integrations, and deployment in the first 4 months.
Data Migration: Involves substantial work during the middle months (Months 2-5).
IT Infrastructure Upgrade: Costs spread over several months (Months 2-7), with a phased implementation.
Software Licensing: Renewal costs spread over the first five months.
Final Testing and Deployment: Key effort in the last quarter (Months 9-12).
Reserves: Set for unforeseen circumstances, ranging (Rush & Roy, 2023, p60(1))
Project Resource Management
Task 7: Prepare a RACI Chart
Project Risk Management
Task 8 Risk Register
This table includes the common risk project with the description, categories, root cause, trigger, potential responses, risk owner, probability, impact, and status (Lemmens, 2022, p20(1)).
ID No. |
Rank |
Risk |
Description |
Category |
Root |
Triggers |
Potential response |
Risk Owners |
Probability |
Impact |
Status |
1 |
1 |
Budget Overrun
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The project cost is more than the allocated budget.
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Financial |
Cost projections exceed 10% of the budget.
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Cost projections exceed 10% of the budget.
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Revise the budget, cut non-essential features, and seek additional funding.
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Project manager |
high |
high |
Active |
2 |
2 |
Schedule Delay
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Project milestones are not met on time.
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Schedule |
Key milestone missed by more than 2 weeks
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Key milestone missed by more than 2 weeks
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Fast-track critical path activities, and reallocate sources.
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Project manager |
medium |
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Active |
3 |
3 |
Data Migration Errors
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Errors or data loss during migration to new systems
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Technical |
Data inconsistencies discovered post-migration
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Data inconsistencies discovered post-migration
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Implement rigorous testing, and prepare a rollback plan.
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IT system Architect
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Medium |
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Active |
4 |
4 |
User Adoption Resistance
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Employees resist adopting new technologies and processes.
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Organizational |
Low attendance in training sessions, increase in errors.
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Low attendance in training sessions, increase in errors.
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Enhance change management efforts, and provide additional training and support.
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Change management consultant
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High |
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Active |
5 |
5 |
Cybersecurity Breach
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Security vulnerabilities were exploited during the transition.
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Security |
Detection of unauthorized access attempts
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Detection of unauthorized access attempts
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Implement an emergency response plan, and conduct a security audit.
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Cybersecurity specialist
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Low |
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Active |
6 |
6 |
Vendor Performance Issues |
ERP or cloud service provider fails to meet expectations
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External |
Missed deadlines, poor system performance
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Missed deadlines, poor system performance
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Enforce SLAs, and consider vendor change if necessary.
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IT system Architect
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low |
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Active |
7 |
7 |
Scope Creep
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Project scope expands beyond original boundaries.
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Project management |
New features requested after the planning phase
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New features requested after the planning phase
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Implement a strict change control process, and reassess project priorities.
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project manager
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Medium |
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Active |
8 |
8 |
Integration Failures
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New systems fail to integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure.
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Technical |
System crashes during integration testing.
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System crashes during integration testing.
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Conduct thorough compatibility assessments, and prepare contingency plans.
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IT system Architect
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Medium |
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Active |
9 |
9 |
Regulatory Non-Compliance
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New systems fail to meet industry regulations.
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Legal |
Failed compliance audit
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Failed compliance audit
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Engage legal experts, and implement compliance checks in the development process |
Cybersecurity specialist
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low |
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Active |
10 |
10 |
Key Personnel Loss
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Critical team members leave during the project.
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Human resource |
Resignation of key team member
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Resignation of key team member
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Implement knowledge transfer protocols, and cross-train team members.
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project manager
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low |
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Active |
11 |
11 |
Performance Issues
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New systems fail to deliver expected performance improvements.
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Technical |
System response times exceed acceptable thresholds.
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System response times exceed acceptable thresholds.
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Conduct performance tuning, and upgrade hardware if necessary.
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Cloud Solution Engineer
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Medium |
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Active |
12 |
12 |
Stakeholder Dissatisfaction
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Key stakeholders are unhappy with project progress or outcomes.
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stakeholder |
Negative feedback in stakeholder meetings
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Negative feedback in stakeholder meetings
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Improve stakeholder engagement, reassess and align project goals.
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project manager
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medium |
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Active |
Risk 9: Impact Matrix
Overall Summary
This work is an advanced project plan for the DigitalShift project that was undertaken at TechUpGrowth – a mid-technology start-up firm in the process of digitization. This project aims to improve internal operation, customer experience, as well as technology you get through ERP systems, mobiles, firewall protection, cloud, and more. The total estimated cost of the project is $8.0 million and the total overall time is 15 months. These are the legal documentation of the project where important details of the project background, purpose, constraints, and utility measurements are given. Based on the evaluation of the business case given the current issues at TechUpGrowth, it can be noted that the problem related to the business silo and lack of a central system mentioned in the business case required complete digitization of the business process as part of the ideal solution.
References
Angara, J., Prasad, S. & Sridevi, G., 2020. DevOPs project management tools for sprint planning, estimation and execution maturity. Cybernetics and Information Technologies, 20(2), pp.79-92. https://sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/cait-2020-0018
Chow, T.C., Zailani, S., Rahman, M.K., Qiannan, Z., Bhuiyan, M.A. & Patwary, A.K., 2021. Impact of sustainable project management on project plan and project success of the manufacturing firm: Structural model assessment. Plos one, 16(11), pp1-16. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259819&type=printable
Elghaish, F., Abrishami, S. & Hosseini, M.R., 2020. Integrated project delivery with blockchain: An automated financial system. Automation in construction, 114, p.103182. https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/files/21973817/Integrated_project_delivery_with_blockchain.pdf
Fashina, A.A., Abdilahi, S.M. & Ibrahim, A., 2020. The significant factors that influence the choice of project scope management practices in telecommunication companies in Somaliland1. PM World J, pp.1-15. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adebayo-Fashina/publication/343442396_The_significant_factors_that_influence_the_choice_of_project_scope_management_practices_in_telecommunication_companies_in_Somaliland/links/5f2a3b79a6fdcccc43abe75b/The-significant-factors-that-influence-the-choice-of-project-scope-management-practices-in-telecommunication-companies-in-Somaliland.pdf
Freitas, F., Silva, F.J., Campilho, R.D.S.G., Pimentel, C. & Godina, R., 2020. Development of a suitable project management approach for projects with parallel planning and execution. Procedia Manufacturing, 51, pp.1544-1550. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351978920320862/pdf?md5=34cf7fc856b82e7e5cdfde1328b7788d&pid=1-s2.0-S2351978920320862-main.pdf
Lemmens, S.M., Lopes van Balen, V.A., Röselaers, Y.C., Scheepers, H.C. & Spaanderman, M.E., 2022. The risk matrix approach: a helpful tool weighing probability and impact when deciding on preventive and diagnostic interventions. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1), p.218. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12913-022-07484-7.pdf
Mahpour, A., Beigi, H. & Mortaheb, M.M., 2020. Success breakdown structure: Application to petrochemical projects success assessment. AUT Journal of Civil Engineering, 4(3), pp.333-348. https://ajce.aut.ac.ir/article_3575_946996850867bc92e0012cc90df0443c.pdf
Rush, C. & Roy, R., 2023, June. Analysis of cost-estimating processes used within a concurrent engineering environment throughout a product life cycle. In Advances in Concurrent Engineering pp58-67. CRC Press. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=d443b40861cd67f7813f5f7b5b80e359cba318d9
Appendix
MEETING AGENDA
Meeting/Project Name: |
Digital Shift |
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Date of Meeting: (MM/DD/YYYY) |
Time: |
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Meeting Facilitator: |
Location: |
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1. Meeting Objective |
To introduce the digital shift project, and also define the roles and responsibilities, review the project scope and outline the next steps. |
3. Meeting Agenda |
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Topic |
Owner |
Time |
Project Overview and Objectives |
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Roles and Responsibilities |
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Project Scope and Deliverables |
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Cyber security protocols |
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Cloud solution implementation plans |
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Q & A |
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MEETING MINUTES
