Faculty of Higher Education
Group Assignment Cover Sheet
This cover sheet must be submitted with your assignment
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 Details |
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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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Submission Date |
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Executive Summary
DigitalShift is an 18-month project and is designed as one more attempt at the mid-location technology company TechUpGrowth. As a strategic initiative within the overall business strategy, this project has been estimated to cost $10m and seeks to transform a range of business processes and outcomes, further improve customers’ experiences, and embrace innovative technologies to sustain the firm’s competitive advantage in the rapidly changing technological environment. The project also comprises the goal of having a strong ERP model, creating a customer-oriented mobile application, enhancing cybersecurity frameworks, integrating cloud applications, and promoting employee upskilling. Led by a diverse team of experts, including IT architects, developers, cybersecurity specialists, and change management consultants, DigitalShift will unfold across five phases: There are five process groups as follows; Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and controlling, and Closing.
Table of Contents
Project Integration Management 5
Task 3: Initial Scope Management 11
Task 4: Work Breakdown Structure 13
Project Schedule Management 15
Task 6: Develop Cost Estimate and Financial Analysis 18
Project Resource Management 19
Task 7: Prepare a RACI Chart 19
4. Pre-work/Preparation (documents/handouts to bring, reading material, etc.) 32
3. Agenda and Notes, Decisions, Issues 33
Introduction
Due to the constant development and technological growth environment, the business finds itself in a constant need to adapt, to survive, and indeed perform in a world of changing customer needs. This realization forms the context for the DigitalShift program at TechUpGrowth. This large-scale digital transformation program sets out to transform every operation in the organization, improve customer experiences, and embrace emerging technologies as sources of competitive advantage and innovation into the future.
DigitalShift is a $10 million, 18-month-long project that aims to completely transform the way TechUpGrowth works in the digital environment. It covers several areas of change such as the introduction of an advanced ERP system; the creation of a customer-related mobile application; the improvisation of the covers for cyber security; the selection of cloud systems for optimized expandability; and the improvement of staff awareness and acceptance (Ben-Abdallah et al, 2022, p. 6(2)).
Led by a multidisciplinary team of experts, including IT systems architects, mobile app developers, cybersecurity specialists, cloud solutions engineers, and change management consultants, DigitalShift is structured across five critical phases: IPEM which stands for Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling and Closing also known as the project management life cycle. This phased approach provides a logical, predictable, and systematic change process, within which constant monitoring can take place throughout the project’s life.
The success of DigtialShift is necessary for TechUpGrowth’s future. By structuring internal processes, improving operational efficiency, and improving customer engagement, the company wants to work alongside industry trends and row and become the leader in this sector (Handayati et al., 2020, p. 334(2)).
Project Integration Management
Task 1: Business case
A business case is a written document that contains the reason for starting a project and the reason why it got funded. It highlights the main agenda, reason for the project, its advantages, disadvantages, and opportunities as well as threats and how to solve them (Jahanbakhsh et al., 2022, p.3(3)).
Business Case for Project
Date:
Project Name:
TechUpGrowth as a mid-sized technology firm has identified the need of the present age to get updated digitally to sustain itself in the market. This effort has been necessitated by emerging technologies; customer experience shifts as well as the rising role of digital skills/integration. These market pressures defined the need for DigitalShift as a company focused on updating TechUpGrowth’s structures, operations, and relations with customers. This is a project motivated by the fact that the firm cannot afford to wait for continued incrementalism by competitors to reach parity in the digital space. DigitalShift is more of an insurance policy that will propel TechUpGrowth to the next level if it is to survive in an ever-shrinking world that is being propelled by the digital shift. |
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2.0 Business Objective
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3.0 Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement TechUpGrowth currently still employs legacy systems that are a problem in terms of effectiveness and enlarging the company. Secondly, internal processes are very much closed systems due to which data becomes uncoordinated and decisions take much time. The promulgation of a weak mobile site eclipses customer interaction as the world continues to shift to mobile. Information security controls do not sufficiently address present-day threats, which is why data may be compromised. This often leads to the limited use of cloud technology, limited versatility, and high costs of operating IT. Employees have undeveloped skills that do not match the new technologies, thus limiting and stifling creativity. Market share is poor because of its slow pace to respond to market changes. Combined, these issues hinder the efficiency of competition and the development of new opportunities for TechUpGrowth. |
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4.0 Critical Assumptions and Constraints Assumption:
Constraints:
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5.0 Analysis of Options and Recommendation Options:
Analysis: While approaching modernization intently and fully embracing the advanced solutions, it has more significant initial costs and potential risks in its options with the identification of Option 1. Option 2 is non-intrusive and may lead to possible problems of integration and an extended period of transformation. Option 3 has lower implementation cost than option 1 but organizational dependence on outsiders is higher. Finally, in Option 4, we have low risk but the firm is not able to deal with competitive pressures. Recommendation: Go with Option 1 which is DigitalShift. While usually involving a higher level of investment at the initial stages, it addresses the current problems most effectively and puts TechUpGrowth on a trajectory of future success and competitiveness. |
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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 This project is expected to be completed within 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 an official statement to recognize that the project is going to start and contains the details about the goals, purpose, and sponsorship of the project, its scope, and the deliverables that are needed (Johnson et al., 2022, p. 241(2)).
Project charter
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:
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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 |
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Project management |
Group leader |
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IT system |
IT system architect |
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Mobile App Development |
Mobile app development |
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Cybersecurity |
Cybersecurity specialist |
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Cloud Solution |
Cloud solution engineer |
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Change management |
Change management consultant |
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Project Scope Management
Task 3: Initial Scope Management
It is to find out what are the expectations from the project, its goals, and the areas where it will operate. This sets the scope and bounds of the project to which all the stakeholders know about and agree to avoid the problem of increasing the list of what is to be done in the project (Abdilahi et al., 2020, p. 3(5)).
Scope Statement
Project Title: Date: Prepared by: |
Project Justification:
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Product Characteristics and Requirements:
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Product User Acceptance Criteria: 1. ERP System: The maximum average training time for basic operations found was 2 weeks, in which 95% of the users could operate without support.
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: Work Breakdown Structure
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 contains the process of choosing the best ERP vendor for the business organization and in the case of this project, TechUpGrowth. This includes a call for tendering, bids from the vendor assessment while exercising technical specification and their prices, presentation of the vendors, assessment, and contracting (Kountur & Sari, 2023, p.5(3)).
Project Schedule Management
Task 5: Gantt Chart
Figure 2 Figure 2 Project phase 1 & 2 Gantt Chart
Figure 3 Figure 3 Project phase 3 Gantt Chart
Figure 4 Figure 4 Project phase 4 & 5
Schedule Table
Figure 5 Figure 5 Schedule table of task 1& 2
Figure 6 Figure 6 Schedule table of task 3
Figure 7 Figure 7 Schedule Task 4 & 5
Task 6: Develop Cost Estimate and Financial Analysis
Project Resource Management
Task 7: Prepare a RACI Chart
Project Risk Management
Task 8: Risk Register
This table contains the common risk with the description, Categories, root cause, trigger, potential responses, risk owner, probability, impact, and status
S. No |
Rank |
Risk |
Description |
Category |
Root Cause |
Trigger |
Potential responses |
Risk owner |
Probability |
impact |
status |
1 |
High |
Budget overrun |
The project costs surpass the $10 million that has been set as the maximum cost of the project. |
Financial |
Inaccurate estimates, scope creep |
Cost projection is more than 15% of the budget |
1. Re-evaluate project scope 2. Seek additional funding 3. Prioritize critical features |
Project manager |
Medium |
High |
Active |
2 |
High |
Data Security Breach |
Access of information belonging to the company or its clients without permission |
Security |
Inadequate security measures, human error |
Detect unauthorized access attempts |
1. Introduce other levels of security 2. Conduct security audit 3. While handling patients with Alzheimer’s, the staff should be trained further. |
Cybersecurity specialist |
Low |
High |
Active |
3 |
Medium |
Employee resisters |
Resistance to change by the staff and most individuals who are in charge of implementing that system and process. |
Organizational |
Fear of change, inadequate communication |
The low adoption rate of the new system |
1. Strengthen change management programmes 2. Provide additional training 3. To foster a supportive culture encourage and implement best practices for collecting and addressing employee responses |
Change management consultant |
Medium |
Medium |
Active |
4 |
Medium |
Vendor delay |
primary technology suppliers do not supply entrails on time |
External |
Poor vendor management, vendor capacity issue |
Missed delivery milestone |
1. Enforce higher standards of service to vendors 2. Identify backup vendors 3. Adjust project timeline |
IT system Architect |
Medium |
Medium |
Active |
5 |
High |
Integration Failure |
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Technical |
Compatibility issues, inadequate testing |
System error during integration testing |
1. Before entering a new company, the acquiring firm should ensure that it conducts adequate testing of its strategies. 2. Find ways to address important systems vulnerabilities 3. Percentage more resources should be accorded for integration.
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IT system architect |
Medium |
High |
Active |
6 |
Low |
Regulation Non-compliance |
Lack of compliance with set standards and data privacy legislation |
Legal |
Overlooked regulatory requirements, rapid regulatory changes |
Failed compliance audit |
1. Compliance check-ups should be conducted periodically 2. Engage legal experts 3. The latter means that compliance monitoring tools must be implemented.
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Legal counsel |
Low |
High |
Active |
7 |
Medium |
Skill gap |
The skills and knowledge of the project team about the adoption of new technologies are lacking. |
Human Resource |
Rapid technological changes, inadequate training |
Delay task completion, quality issues |
1. Provide specialized training 2. Recruit more experienced human resource employees 3. Engage external consultants
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HR manager |
Medium |
Medium |
Active |
8 |
High |
Scope creep |
Such a condition leads to uncontrolled expansion of the project scope.
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Project management |
Inadequate initial planning, stakeholder pressure |
Change request beyond initial discussion |
1. Apply very effective change control measures 2. Reflect again on the goals set for the project – and the importance of the goals. 3. Inform effect of changes to the interested parties
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Project manager |
High |
Medium |
Active |
9 |
Medium |
User Adoption failure |
End-users fail to effectively take advantage of the new systems after a system implementation.
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Operational |
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Low system usage rates, increase in help desk tickets |
1. Improve the structure of implemented user training programs 2. Use the user's feedbacks in the software development process 3. Provide ongoing user support
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Change management consultant |
Medium |
High |
Active |
10 |
Low |
Natural Disaster |
Interference to projects due to other natural occurrences (Potts et al., 2022, p. 29(3)) |
Environmental |
Inadequate training, poor user experience design |
Occurrence of a natural disaster |
1. Prepare for disaster and come up with a plan 2. Ensure that data is backed up in ways that are safe 3. It is about geo-distributed infrastructure |
IT system architect |
Low |
High |
Active |
Task 9: Risk Impact Matrix
It is used in project management for decision making and process improvement to evaluate and give priority to task, project, or ideas based on their level of impact (Lemmens et al., 2022, p. 227(2)).
Conclusion
DigitalShift is a crucial and transformative undertaking for TechUpGrowth and is at the heart of the corporate contest where businesses lay their claims to technological advancement. Implemented with $10M in overall cost and 18 months mandate, this wide-ranging digitization effort seeks to transform TechUpGrowth’s business model, improve customer utility, and institutionalize a culture of performance improvement and innovation.
These include; the installation of an advanced ERP system, the creation of a customer-focused mobile application, enhancing cybersecurity measures, moving to cloud technology solutions, and investing in staff training; all of which may help TechUpGrowth to significantly raise its performance levels in efficiency, customer centricity, and competitiveness. They apply a systematic approach to this massive change through deliberately planned phases, including initiation, execution, monitoring, and closing of a project.
If properly implemented time-bound fully dedicated, DigitalShift can be a pioneering campaign for TechUpGrowth that puts it on the map of digital advancement across industries in terms of best practices in DigitalShift.
References
Abdilahi, S.M., Fakunle, F.F. & Fashina, A.A., 2020. Exploring the extent to which project scope management processes influence the implementation of telecommunication projects. PM World Journal, IX, 9(5), pp.1-17. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adebayo-Fashina/publication/341785191_Exploring_the_extent_to_which_project_scope_management_processes_influence_the_implementation_of_telecommunication_projects/links/5ed46b49299bf1c67d320fbf/Exploring-the-extent-to-which-project-scope-management-processes-influence-the-implementation-of-telecommunication-projects.pdf
Ben-Abdallah, R., Shamout, M. & Alshurideh, M., 2022. Business development strategy model using EFE, IFE and IE analysis in a high-tech company: An empirical study. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 21(2), pp.1-9. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Muhammad-Alshurideh/publication/356554800_Business_Development_Strategy_Model_Using_EFE_IFE_AND_IE_Analysis_in_a_High-tech_Company_An_Empirical_Study/links/61a06096acc0bc46c116d568/Business-Development-Strategy-Model-Using-EFE-IFE-AND-IE-Analysis-in-a-High-tech-Company-An-Empirical-Study.pdf
Handayati, R., Rosyad, S. & Fauziyah, E.N., 2020. Analysis of Business Development Strategy and Product Variations On Medium-sized Enterprises Small Micro Corn Banyubang. International Journal of Science, Technology & Management, 1(4), pp.333-341. https://scholar.archive.org/work/xbnzk2zujjbblgocursrmldt7e/access/wayback/https://ijstm.inarah.co.id/index.php/ijstm/article/download/63/79
Jahanbakhsh, F., Nouri, E., Sim, R., White, R.W. & Fourney, A., 2022. Understanding questions that arise when working with business documents. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(CSCW2), pp.1-24. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3555761
Johnson, W.H., Baker, D.S., Dong, L., Taras, V. & Wankel, C., 2022. Do team charters help team-based projects? The effects of team charters on performance and satisfaction in global virtual teams. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 21(2), pp.236-260. https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/V_Taras_Do_2021.pdf
Kountur, R. and Sari, M.R., 2023. Risk identification approaches and the number of risks identified: the use of work breakdown structure and business process. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), pp.1-7. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02028-8.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
Potts, M., Harvey, D., Johnson, A. & Bullock, S., 2022. The complexity register: A collaborative tool for system complexity evaluation. Engineering Management Journal, 34(1), pp.1-45. https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/254702230/EMJ_D_20_00137R1_Complexity_Register_Accepted_PURE_Copy_2285_.pdf
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


