Problem 1:
You have been asked to determine a schedule for a nine month Billing System project as part of your job as a consultant to a Fortune 500 firm. The firm's old system was written in COBOL on a mainframe computer, and the maintenance costs are prohibitive. The new systems will run on an off-the-shelf application. You have identified several high level tasks needed to initiate, plan, execute, control, and close the project. Table 6-4 below shows your analysis of the projects tasks so far.
a.) Using the information in Table 6-4, draw horizontal bars to illustrate when you think each task would logically start and end. In addition, identify task dependencies for inclusion in part b.) and at least 2 milestones for each of the five process groups in table 6-4 also for inclusion in part b.). For part a.), I want to see your work (notes, sketches, lists, drawings, etc.) that you generated. (This can all be hand drawn and scanned)
b.) Create a Gantt chart using the tasks, durations, dependencies, and milestones from part a.). The Gantt chart should include proper formatting to show summary tasks, individual tasks (dependent and independent), and milestones. For part b.), your formatted Gantt chart can be hand drawn and scanned or you can use a software package.
| TABLE COBOL conversion project schedule |
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| Tasks |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
| Initiating |
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| Develop project charter |
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| Meet with stakeholders |
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| Planning |
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| Create detailed WBS and schedule |
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| Estimate project costs |
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| Create project team |
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| Create communication plan |
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| Organize a comprehensive project plan |
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| Executing |
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| Award and manage contract for software conversion |
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| Install new software on servers |
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| Install new hardware and software on clients' machines |
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| Test new billing system |
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| Train users on new system |
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| Controlling |
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| Closing |
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Problem 2:
Write an essay describing the overall purpose and benefits of project scope management. Include a detailed description of all of the main processes involved in project scope management and the relationship they have to each other. Explain why each one is used and what the negative impact would be to the overall project if one or more were ignored. Your response in essay format should be no less than 2 pages long.