Assessment of the Report on the Current Project

Discuss about the Project Scope for Implementing and Supporting Methodologies.

The analysis did show that there were loopholes for computer risks due the XY Department’s outdated systems. The evaluation of the report indicates that the departments had an initial budget of 2.3 million required to implement changes in their computer systems. However, the department of federal government decided to allocate them 1.5 million due to the financial challenges the state was facing. A project was then stopped, and planning within the budget was set by coming up with set goals for the change and upgrade of the hardware and software of the department. The whole upgrade was projected to end on June 30th, 2010. This needed a management to take charge, and a steering committee was immediately formed having all the board members from the XY Department. 

“Good Programs” an independent company took advantage of the opportunity and promised to upgrade the software and Hardware components of the XY department. The company set off by updating the software part of the scheme. Despite the effort by “Good Programs” to install the software, their efforts were doubted by several XY Department managers as the committee found some shortcoming associated with the newly installed software. The board then decided to hire a system tester to determine the problem with the software. However, this proved to be an overhead cost for them.

Appointment of a new CEO took place after the current CEO together with the finance manager were removed. The new CEO was advised on an additional 185, 000 pounds needed for the completion of the project. This presented itself as a challenge as the money was not in his current budget. He also was not up to speed on what had been implemented and what had remained. This is because the new CEO can’t see any documentation or reports, budget or changes in the scope available for reference.

This, therefore, concluded with the plan and the project scope with a clear milestone to implement installation of new software and hardware systems being not achieved (Kettl,  1988).

The structure of this report has its base on the different causes that may have led to the failure of the XY Department project to install new updates on the software and hardware system in their organization. Another basis will be on the recommended strategy that the business organization should use if it is to be successful at all (Cicmil, Williams, Thomas, & Hodgson, 2006).

The Basic Structure of this Report

The following presents a comparison of sound project management with that of XY Department;

1. a) The standard change; every organization has to lay down the standard changes which do not affect the day to day running of a business such as the installation of an antivirus. The department didn’t have this in mind and was just focus on a broader picture (Cicmil, Williams, Thomas, & Hodgson, 2006).
2. b) Emergency changes: these present a critical situation on which the organization has to make a quick change but perfectly. The XY saw that they needed an upgrade on their system but lacked the very basis of the change and ended up destroying everything (Kerzner, 2004).
3. c) Back out a plan: for any organization when in the process of implementing new strategy there is always a way back to the original starting point before any changes were made. The organization had no back out plan (Charvat, 2003).
4. d) Project service availability: this presents a scenario in which for a change to be implemented the timing should matter and the process take place when the customer traffic is low. With the organization, no such considerations were made (House, Javidan, Hanges, & Dorfman, 2002).

The following recommendation could help bring the project to a close;

1. a) They should specify the scope and the project objectives; The “Good Programs” should define the level of work that needs to be performed, incorporating the total resources required for the software and hardware installation. After the definition of the objectives and the scope, they should have a review with the project steering committee and agrees on what has to be done (Charvat, 2003).
2. b) They should specify the deliverables; A description of what the project will deliver should be done by “Good Programs.” As the scope was to remove outdated software and hardware a clear indication of this and what is to be installed should be done in front of the committee before commence.
3. c) The should define the project planning; Ways in which the production of all delivery technique should have been clearly stated by “Good Programs” including site information and the structural breakdown of each location (Charvat, 2003).

The XY Department should subdivide the project into three phases; the planning, executive, and close-packed phase (Kerzner, 2013). Several factors need to be taken seriously like;

1. The scope; the project, customers, and the recipients need to be defined. The audience also has to be targeted in the range.
2. b) The stakeholders; the starting and running of the project are to be effected by individuals and the organization, and this should highly be defined before the project begins.
3. c) Goals; every project should have a goal, and the team should have made clear and achievable goals.
4. d) Planning; for every project that is to be started extensive planning should be done by both the shareholders and the management as a project is impossible to complete successfully with no planning at all. The plan should be executed by the people who are involved with the project throughout (Kerzner, 2013).
5. e) A Proper estimate of cost and time; an accurate estimate of the cost and time it will take for the project to meet its goals should be set. This ensures that the project goals are realized and not reaching half completing then there are no more funds to finance the project.

1. a) Visionary; the project leader should be effective when he has a vision of all that he is doing and ability to solve problems that may come as a result.
2. b) Integrity; when there is a conflicting situation that conflict with ethical beliefs project leader needs to display integrity to assess the situation and solve it without bias (El-Sabaa, 2001).
3. c) Competence; the project managers should possess the technical know-how on the project he is starting and not just relying on his advisers and the management for help.
4. d) Ability to delegate task; the project manager should show wisdom in the delegation of duties as per an employee’s area and level of specialization without fear or bias (El-Sabaa, 2001).

The CEO should make everything possible to ensure that a project in his organization is a success. The CEO should also be ready to learn. He/she can do this through attending seminars and getting new ideas for his project. The CEO should also display excellent ability to think and come with projects that entail profitability in both the short and the long-term strategies.  The CEO should also be faithful to the workforce as this will boost loyalty and improve the quality of work (Cicmil, Williams, Thomas, & Hodgson, 2006).

Conclusion

Upgrading of the XY Department system was a fantastic idea as it is through this upgrade that risks will be minimized. However, the pan that was installed by the management committee showed that they had no managerial qualities to set up, run and finish a project. This led to the collapse of the project even before it was completed.

Proper layouts should be performed before undertaking any project plan. Resources ranging from capital, plans, raw materials, time, labor should be clearly stipulated in the project plan before it commences. The vision and goals of the project should realize an exact estimate of when the project will end should also be estimated. Standard project control measures should be taken as the back out the plan in case the project is to fail (Highsmith, 2009).

References 

Charvat, J. (2003). Project management methodologies: selecting, implementing, and supporting methodologies and processes for projects. John Wiley & Sons.

Cicmil, S., Williams, T., Thomas, J., & Hodgson, D. (2006). Rethinking project management: Researching the actuality of projects. International Journal of Project Management, 24(8), 675-686.

El-Sabaa, S. (2001). The skills and career path of an effective project manager. International journal of project management, 19(1), 1-7.

Highsmith, J. (2009). Agile project management: creating innovative products. Pearson Education.

House, R., Javidan, M., Hanges, P., & Dorfman, P. (2002). Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe: an introduction to Project GLOBE. Journal of world business, 37(1), 3-10.

Kerzner, H. (2004). Advanced project management: Best practices on implementation. John Wiley & Sons.

Kerzner, H. R. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Kettl, D. F. (1988). Government by proxy:(Mis?) managing federal programs. Cq Press.

Wheelwright, S. C., & Clark, K. B. (1992). Creating project plans to focus product development. Harvard Business School Pub.