PROJ6003 Project Execution and Control

Question:
Task:

In this assessment, you are required to write an individual report proposing a change to be implemented in the case study.

Change impact analysis, tools & techniques to manage the change, integrated change control process to submit the change and options to implement the change along with its associated risks.

A change request form must also be submitted attached to the report demonstrating how the change would be requested for the given project.

The intention of this assessment is that you take a practical approach by considering this change to be submitted to key stakeholders of given case study.

Please refer to the Task Instructions for details on how to complete this task.

Context

During project execution, project managers ensure that project work is completed as specified in the Project Management Plan and according to project requirements. Requirements may change throughout the course of a project. Changes need to be controlled, ensuring all of their impacts upon the project are managed effectively and are incorporated into existing management plans and project baselines.

The process of directing and managing project work requires project managers to take on numerous responsibilities and to exhibit characteristics such as attention to detail, constant communication and effective leadership.

Task Instructions

To complete this assessment task, you must:

Ensure that you have read the given case study and resources from the subject, as all as any additional research you may find relevant and that will add value to your report.
The report should encompass a practical approach in addressing the following requirements:
Identify and propose one (1) change you believe is required for the case study and justify it by applying tools & techniques from quality management in identifying root-cause for the issues found in the case study.
Critically analyse the impacts of your change proposal on scope, time, cost, quality of the project.
Propose and justify tools & techniques used to manage the change.
Explain what processes are involved in submitting your change request given the scale of your change proposal and address responsibilities considering the stakeholders from your case study.
Identify and discuss options (at least 2) to satisfy the proposed change and any risks associated with each of these options.
Complete the Change Request Form (CRF) provided or one that is used from a workplace.
Background

The organisation is a large state-based government department in Victoria with assets and stakeholders throughout the entire state of Victoria. This project is to deliver an Asset Management Information System which will store the details of all new and existing assets, which include land and buildings across multiple locations. We will call the system DAMS, Departmental Asset Management System. The DAMS System replaces over 20 department asset management systems and manual processes, including systems written in MS Access, Excel and Lotus Notes. Due to the number of assets and divisions within the department, it was decided that the system would be developed and deployed over a three-year period, with three separate deployments.

The project was purchased on the basis of responses to a tender, and the successful supplier was an experienced vendor, who had previously delivered this application to other state government-based agencies. We will call the vendor Great IT Systems (GIS). The contract was approved as a fixed price contract, using the Requirements Specification document from the Tender as the agreed basis for costing. The contract allows for changes to specifications and requirements at a fixed hourly rate according to the rate card.

The CoTS (Commerical Off the Shelf) software solution was purchased for a cost of $5.5M plus implementation and training costs. Training development and delivery was quoted at a cost of 500 days at a daily rate of $1000 per day. Implementation costs, including requirements analysis, customisation and system testing were charged at $3M. Hardware and infrastructure was purchased at a cost of $4.5M. Changes and additions to scope are based on the rate carded as it was, out of the box and with minimal customisation. The business users would need to change their ways of working to follow the processes that are introduced via DAMS.

Project Team

The current vendor Project Manager has successfully delivered many projects and is well known for her Stakeholder Management and Project Delivery skills. We will call her Lee. The current department Program Manager is a consultant with many years of experience, but has only recently joined the department on a contract basis, specifically to deliver the DAMS Program. We will call him Mark. Glenn is a Project Manager, who reports to Mark, and has also joined as a consultant. Glenn has worked with this department previously as a consultant, and has delivered a number of applications, including AssetMan which will now be replaced by DAMS.

A Analyst has also been allocated to the Program. He comes from within this government department and has worked in an IT delivery role for six years, He too has implemented AssetMan and knows Glenn well. We will call him Martin.

Recently, a Project Officer, Teena, has joined the Project Team. Her role is to schedule and manage meetings and training dates. Teena is an experienced Project Manager who has worked for many government organisations and understands how to communicate effectively with the key stakeholders. Teena is present in all meetings and in all training sessions. Teena feels that she is underutilised and that Mark is not taking advantage of her skillset. She also feels that Lee is using her as the scapegoat for any issues that are coming to light. Teena is not included in the Project Steering Committee Meetings, which frustrates her, as most of the Project Team and stakeholders come to her first with any questions or problems.

The organisation has allocated Subject Matter Experts to the Program, with the expectation that the solution will satisfy all of their needs, and that all staff will use the full system once it has been delivered. The Subject Matter Expersts are specialists in their area of work, with a number of stakeholders allocated to a super user role. This role allows them to create new users, and update new code tables according to the needs of the teams and applications.

The key internal stakeholders, especially the Subject Matter Experts, who have been seconded to the Project Team, have worked in their role and team for many years, and are very experienced in their current applications. They do not understand the roles or needs of other teams and really are not interested in knowing what the others do or how they do it. They do not understand why they need to use an application that takes into consideration the needs of the other teams. The benefits of implementing DAMS are not immediately visible to these internal stakeholders, who believe that the new systems are imposing more work on them, rather than simplifying the processes. A number of Subject Matter Experts, who have been seconded to the Project Team, do not have a long-term view of the needs of their team, but rather have a limited view based on what they currently do. The application requirements have been developed on the basis of information gathered from these Subject Matter Experts.

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