AS08Final
- 1. TEAM CHARTER Project Stakeholders: Team Name: N-Ram Team Members: ● Maxwell Thakor: thakormg@vcu.edu. 703-232-9498 ● Raj Pilaka: pilakarpb@vcu.edu. 804-332-8781 ● Amrit Ghuman: ghumanas2@vcu.edu 703-962-0647 ● Namratha Arabandi: arabandin@vcu.edu 703-463-8297 Team Leader: Maxwell Thakor Team Strengths: Max: ● HTML5 and CSS Experience ● Working hands on with WordPress in order to create simple, mobile friendly websites. ● Leadership experience in three student organizations ● Experience with Microsoft Project and Visio (mainly from INFO 361) ● Experience in programming classes at VCU Raj: ● Experience working in teams in order to complete weekly tasks with an end goal ● Strong leadership skills/experience (from student organizations, work experience, and in class work groups) ● Experience with Microsoft Project and Visio ● Experience with programming in other Information Systems classes from INFO 202 and INFO 350
- 2. AJ: ● Leadership experience in fraternities and other student organizations ● Programming experience in other IS classes ● Worked with Microsoft Visio and Project ● Experience working in teams as well Namratha: ● Programming experience in IS classes ● Experience working with Visio, Visual Basic and Project ● Had strong leadership roles in different organizations on campus as well ● Experience working on a team to create a monitoring system with Icinga2 Team Weaknesses Team weaknesses were discussed amongst group members. We wanted to see what weaknesses we all had in common so that as a team we could work to overcome them. ● Time management ● Improve Communication Skills ● Procrastination ● Understanding everyone’s work ethic ● Being able to hold one another accountable Bios: ● Maxwell Thakor: I am from Manassas, VA and went to Osbourn Park High School. I am a junior at VCU and am majoring in information systems. I switched to IS recently however I have been gaining hands on work experience in the programming field and I plan to graduate May of 2017. I hope to get an internship in IT project management one day.
- 3. ● Rajnarayan Pilaka: I went to high school in Reston, Va (South Lakes High School). I am a third year student, majoring in Information Systems. My anticipated graduation year is 2017. I was initially a double major in Finance and IS, but recently dropped Finance. After graduation, I plan on getting into financial technology (actuarial science) ● AJ Ghuman: I am from Leesburg, Virginia. I am a 4th year information systems student at VCU. I am currently a member of Phi Beta Lambda business organization, and the President of Phi Kappa Psi. In my free time I enjoy traveling and trying out new restaurants. After graduating I plan on moving back to northern virginia and working on obtaining an MBA while also working. ● Namratha Arabandi: I am from Chantilly; attended and graduated Chantilly High School in 2012. I am a fourth year Information Systems major with a Computer Science minor. I plan to graduate December of 2016. I initially came into the school being a biology being on the pre-med track. But after doing an internship with Booz Allen Hamilton, I became more interested in the IT field. Project Description: The Martial Arts Academy has hired NRAM Consulting to create a system that will help turn their business over from the traditional paper system to a more efficient automated system. The academy would also like the system to be able to help improve student retention and increase revenue. They have found that the traditional paper based process for class entry, skill progression, and school enrollment have become slow and difficult to manage. They see this as an opportunity to maintain an accurate account of the skill level and progression of the students. NRAM consulting will be creating a system to automate all of their paper processes, thus increasing the monthly revenue and the efficiency of the Martial Arts Academy. The computer based system will keep track of new students who register with the academy, information of current students, and tracking the progress of each student in their pursuit of becoming a black belt.
- 4. Measurable Organizational Value (MOV) Desiredarea of impact: The table below shows the desired areas of impact before implement the new more efficient digital information system. The objective of the system are to decrease enrollment processing time, reduce financial costs, and increase market shares among competing martial arts academies. Desired Areas of Impact DesiredValue of New System Approximated Metrics Time Frame Operational -Decrease enrollment processing time/improve speed of transactions between business and customer - Increase efficiency of keeping track of customer progress in the academy Decrease enrollment process time by 40% Increase efficiency of keeping track of progress by 30% 40% first year 50% Second year 65% over 5 years Increase amount of customer usage by 30% per year Financial -Reduces cost of paper, ink, printer maintenance, file storage Decrease expenses by 20% Increase new customers by 40% 15% first year 25% second year 40% over 5 years Customer - Retain current customer convenience and attract new customers Increase customer satisfaction by 50% 50% over 5 years Strategic - Increase market share in martial arts community over their competitors -Expand to new customers Increase number of market exposure by 25% per year -Generate a new customer base of 25% per year 15% per year
- 5. at least 15% per year Social -More up to date presence on internet thus increasing exposure to the surrounding community Increase amount of investment by 40% 15% per year Project Scope:
- 10. 1. The beginning of the project is January 19th. The estimated end date will be May 9th, 2016 if all project tasks stay on track. In total that will be 106 days from the start of planning to the execution and distribution of the brand new database system. 2. Our project has multiple critical paths. Critical paths are determined as the longest path a project can take in its course. In our project the critical paths indicated which parts of the project would be key to finishing the project on time and ensuring that our most important tasks are completed. This helps project managers strategize and prioritize the tasks associated with the project before beginning it. 3. The total cost comes out $55,000 for the planning, installation, and testing of the Martial Arts Academy system. 4. As of now there are no known over allocated resources. We believe that the resources are the right amount for each task. If we see that they needed to be changed and reallocated in the future then the changes will be made in the microsoft project gannt chart. Project Budget Summary: Equipment Details Prices
- 11. ThinkServer Systems: RD330 Rack Servers Quantity: 2 servers Value-optimized, scalable and power efficient 1U rack with Lenovo’s SmartGrid technology; Up to 2x Intel Xeon E5-2470 Processors Up to 192GB DDR3 memory Up to 4x 2TB hard drive 3 Year Onsite Warranty $1,379/each (x2) Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SQL Server 2012 will provide Mission Critical $950/license NETGEAR R6300 Router with 4-port integrated switch, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac compatible $200/each D-Link 1024D Unmanaged Switch 24 Port switch with 1000Mbps capabilities. $170/each Lenovo ThinkStation S30 Computer Quantity: 2 pc(s) High-performance, powerful graphics, and reliable mid- range workstation. Intel® Xeon® E5 processor Windows 7 Professional 5000 graphics Up to 3x 2TB SATA HDD 7200 rpm or 2.5" 3x 128GB SATA solid state drive $1,049/each (x2) Total Hardware and Software Cost: $6,176
- 12. Resources Required: Resources Average Costs Description Personnel Total Average Cost $24,920.00 per Month IT Project Manager $6,200.00/Month (glassdoor.com) To regulate the flow of the project. To keep tasks on schedule and to provide leadership to the group. Network Administrator $5,550/Month (glassdoor.com) To create, maintain, and administer Martial Arts Academy system. Database Developers $6,770.00/Month (glassdoor.com) To design the database, and to show/teach the users how to input information. Programming Specialist $6,400/Month (glassdoor.com) To create specific applications that will further the goals for the project. Transportation Total Average Cost $1312.00 initial month Cars Approximately $692 a month Convenient vehicle to transport personnel Vans Approximately $620 a month (U-Haul) Large van capable of moving/transporting people/equipment
- 13. Assumptions & Risks: Quality Based Metrics: Type Metric Description Process -User Defect - Program Errors -The number of defects caused by human error - The number of defects found in the product design Product - User Found Defects -Customer Response Time -The number of defects found by the Martial Arts Academy employees - Average amount of time to respond to customer requests Project -Phase completion time - Early Task Completion -Average amount of time to complete a phase -Number of tasks completed ahead of schedule Resource Costs: Resources Average Costs Description Personnel Total Average Cost $24,920.00 per Month IT Project Manager $6,200.00/Month (glassdoor.com) To regulate the flow of the project. To keep tasks on schedule and to provide leadership to the group.
- 14. Network Administrator $5,550/Month (glassdoor.com) To create, maintain, and administer Martial Arts Academy system. Database Developers $6,770.00/Month (glassdoor.com) To design the database, and to show/teach the users how to input information. Programming Specialist $6,400/Month (glassdoor.com) To create specific applications that will further the goals for the project. Transportation Total Average Cost $1312.00 initial month Cars Approximately $692 a month Convenient vehicle to transport personnel Vans Approximately $620 a month (U-Haul) Large van capable of moving/transporting people/equipment
- 15. Risk & Assumptions Phases Initialize and Conceptualize Project Plan and Charter Execute and Control Close Out Evaluation Risk Budget Changes/Cuts Scope Changes Conversion Problems Client Project Discrepancies Unexpected Maintenance Type of Risk Unknown- unknown If a client all of the sudden cuts the budget to any degree, it can drastically affect the entire project and its potential outcomes. Very important to stay on budget. Known- unknown If a project has too many or too little objectives, and a modification must be made, it will change the project plan, or time involved for the scope. Known- unknown The devices, the systems, or the network, having discrepancies , will take a longer period of time to be fully integrated Known- unknown Discrepancies with any changes or expectations despite the Business case and Project charter being on the same page. Known- Unknown Chance for Random downtimes and required maintenance of a system. Source of Risk Internal Internal Internal Internal Internal Resources Organization People and Process Technology People, Product, Process and Technology Technology, and Other Triple Constraint Budget Scope Schedule Quality Schedule
- 16. Project Administration: Roles and Responsibilities There will be various rotating roles throughout the semester Roles include a. Turning in the assignment b. Scheduling meetings c. Ensuring the assignment is meeting the requirements d. Everyone should contribute in decision making process e. Ensure that the project is on pace and being done in a professional manner These roles will typically change to accommodate each project however scheduling meetings and turning in the final assignment is up to the team leader. The team leader can designate jobs how he sees fit unless group members volunteer for a specific job that he or she believes she can excel at. We will rotate people each week on microsoft visio and project in order for each group member to gain the necessary experience in the programs. Being that this class is geared toward project management we will attempt to give each team member a chance at managing a weekly project, however the team leader will still ensure that the work was done in a timely and quality manner. Agreed Upon Meeting Times Tentative meeting time will be 8:30 pm every Sunday. Adjustments will be made if necessary Keep in contact using Google Drive as well as Group Me app Please notify the group if you can not make it before hand. If you miss a meeting your work is expected to be done through google drive. Team rules and expectations 1. Be at the meeting on time 2. Everyone must evenly contribute to the group work 3. Keep every group member in check 4. Be sure that the work is turned in on time 5. If any conflicts arise, please be open with the team about what is wrong and what we can do to fix it. 6. Communication is the main key to a successful group. Always keep in touch with group members about any questions or concerns no matter what. 7. If a team member misses a meeting without notifying the team before hand, he/she may lose 5 points in the team evaluation stage of grading. If the said member repeats this offense more than two to three times they may be subject to getting removed from the group. Code of Ethics 1. No cheating 2. Be honest in front of teammates 3. Work should be done evenly
- 17. 4. If the group notices one member is not contributing to the group work, the group has the right to report that person and potentially kick that individual out of the group (3-4 offenses of not showing up or not contributing work). 5. If a team member does not finish his or her part of the project to its full extent, we ask that they receive 80% of our grade. Quality Based Metrics: Type Metric Description Process -User Defect - Program Errors -The number of defects caused by human error - The number of defects found in the product design Product - User Found Defects -Customer Response Time -The number of defects found by the Martial Arts Academy employees - Average amount of time to respond to customer requests Project -Phase completion time - Early Task Completion -Average amount of time to complete a phase -Number of tasks completed ahead of schedule
- 18. Implementation & Project Closure Plan: Implementation: The reason I would say a phased method to implement the new system is the best option is because is a school like the Martial Arts Academy (MAA), is typically full of a lot of employees who do not have the most experience with technology, and will need some coaching. The first phase is to implement the first part of the information system which will take care of the payments of the students. Once the system itself is implemented, a trained professional must be hired to train the existing employees on how to put all the payment information into the computer and keep track of each student. Once the employees get comfortable with the new payment method, that is when they can implement the second phase of the process, which is the process of enrolling new students using the new system. The last two parts of the implementation include the class entry and the skill progression. This new system will allow the school to keep track of each and every student’s class which he or she is part of. This will allow them to be that much more organized. That last part is the progression of the students. Rather than worrying about the papers in which the school employees will hand write the progress on, the system will assist them on carefully in-putting the progression of each student while at the same time providing much better customer satisfaction. The phased system also comes with a lot of disadvantages. The entire system can take plenty of time (up to months) to fully be implemented. Not only will it take a lot of time, it will be very costly. It is however important for this system to be gradually implemented and not rushed into. This will maximize it effects in the long run. Having multiple locations will also increase the costs exponentially. If the company decides to expand in the near future, it will take multiple professionals to cover every location, to help train the employees. Though a direct-cutover process costs a less amount of money as everything has to just set up one time, and is very easy to make change over, it is not the most-wise route to take when making the transition for this particular company. Having a cheaper transition system today may cause multiple complications in the future. It runs the risk of employees not fully being trained, which makes the system and the company as a whole to suffer. On top of the risks, it is also very difficult to detect minor errors, due to potentially rushing into the system. Sometimes major errors can go undetected until after the new system is implemented. This can potentially terminate the system so the whole operation will then be stopped and there will be difficulty of back up date, and it runs the new risk of losing potential data. Project Closure Checklist: 1 Complete any remaining outstanding tasks 2 Complete any remaining pending deliverables 3 All outstanding issues identified and recorded 4 Obtained Project Sign-Off
- 19. 5 All financial processes and reports complete 6 Hold final meeting with team to discuss flaws 7 Communicated project’s closure with the stakeholders 8 Gathered all project metrics 9 All project documents and deliverables archived 10 Released project team 11 Formal announcement of completion of project Project Evaluation 1. What is the overall impression of the project? 2. How can you alter the efficiency of the project in a positive way? 3. What are the strong points of the project? 4. What are the weak points of the project? 5. What would we change about the project if we were to do it again? 6. What ways should the project be developed in? The Change Management Plan: List: Change Sponsors, Targets, and Agents: Sponsors: Goeff and Julie Boss, Richard Woodjack, Betty’s co-workers, Junior’s co-workers, Pilots and Mechanics who call her “Mom”, New System Trainers Targets: Tracy, Rod Agents: All of the younger, more tech savvy workers at the school Change assessment: Assess the two employees’ willingness, readiness, and ability to change. Be specific in your discussion. Tracy (Target): Sponsor – Tracy’s sponsor is the person who has the authority to facilitate the change. In this scenario, that person(s) is Julie. Julie is the person who should be able to take care of the resources he needs to overcome his fears. Change agent – The agent(s) in this situation are the younger instructors that work under Tracy, and are more tech savvy. It is their job to work with Tracy, and assist him in overcoming his fear, and show him that using the new computer will not be that difficult.
- 20. Rod (Target): Sponsor – The sponsor for Rod in this situation is Geoff. Rod is clearly unhappy with the business due to past experiences. It is Geoff’s responsibility to work with the unhappy customer, and take care of whatever issues he may have. Change Agent – The agents for Rod in this situation are the fellow parents. It is up to the other parents that may have had positive experiences, to talk with Rod and influence/persuade him to believe the truth/positives. Change Strategy: Tracy: Environmental-Adaptive Approach We will focus our attention on persuading the changed values and beliefs of the operational group. We will encourage users to modify their current environmental habits into a new set that supports the change effort. We will develop a unanimous set of values and beliefs that will positively impact the affected group's culture. We will encourage users to adapt to a "new way of doing things" by easing them into the process. This will be done by providing the affected group the proper training and guidance which is needed. Rod: Rational-Empirical Approach We will be persuasive in convincing, explaining, and demonstrating how a change will benefit the organization, and not deteriorate. We will work with the individual, as most people are reasonable and they can be reasoned with. In other words, they can be persuaded. We will set enough incentives for the people who will be affected by the change, to motivate/persuade them enough to agree with the change.
- 21. This approach should help mitigate the effects of a rational thinking amongst the organization's members and also reduce the effects of spreading negative rumors about the upcoming change. Change Monitoring Process: A process for monitoring the change initiatives. To track the progress of the change management plan it would be a good idea to take into account the employee reviews of the system. Social media websites should be closely monitored to make sure that employees are not posting any negative things about the system which will put the company on blast. There should also be very good communication between the project team, the managers of MAA and their employees so that the changes are well known and understood between all three groups. This will prevent any miscommunication within the organization and will keep the employees up to date on what is going on. Lastly it would be a great idea to monitor the milestones that we have set after the changes are implemented. NRAM Consulting will develop plan procurement by gathering the needs and the wants of the project as it is being used. We will develop the use of computers to assists every employee to perform efficiently and understand the use of every system and software. One deliverable that should have a close eye kept on in project management is a software product. Due to employees being nervous/anxious about the new system and the tech savviness, we will implement a prototype that suits everyone and will assist the transition in being more smooth. The software products are usually provided in phases and they are in a specific order. The most primitive release will contain some of the elements that will be present in the final product. With each release, there will be product testing that allows for changes to the product prior to the final deliverable. Training programs will be the simultaneous deliverable for the organization. If the products are delivered in order without the training programs to go with it, then it could cause a halt on the implementation of the new system, which would potentially jeopardize the effectiveness and the final date. There are also other deliverables that are produced along the way. First will be the training design that will first tell the organization how the training program will work, and what they must do. An outline of the proposed training program will be available to each employee for references as measures to develop a solid understanding and comfort to perform all task without performance doubt and without any complications. After the project examination, the training program will be developed, tested, and then finally approved. Systems can be the way a program is run or as simple as an accounting program. Procedures will be created that will organize the implementation of the system that is being implemented. The implementation of the final product will be done in a very organize, and well-structured manner.
- 22. After the schedules are made, the supplies will then be ordered. All of the deliverables will have due dates that serve as project milestones. -Maxwell Thakor -Rajnarayan Pilaka -Amrit Ghuman -Namratha Arabandi