SPARCS PROJECT SCOPE DOCUMENT:
DISCOVERY PHASE
Carnegie Mellon University
Authors:
Jeff Abels, Ann Mathias, Krishna Meringenti
Creation Date: February 01, 2013
Last Updated:
February 28, 2013
Version:
6.0
Background
For many years, members of CMU’s research community have voiced the need for an
electronic solution to assist with managing the many processes that are necessary to
efficiently and effectively manage sponsored programs. Sponsored program activities
accounts for approximately 37 percent of CMU’s fiscal year 2013 revenue. It is critical that
the university have the administrative infrastructure to support these activities on an
ongoing basis.
Sponsored Projects Exchange (SPEX) is the system that currently supports Carnegie Mellon
University’s sponsored programs activities including: proposal development and submission,
award management, and research compliance. SPEX is used by virtually all CMU
departments for sponsored programs management. SPEX has limited capabilities and is
beginning to experience failures.
A contest was held to name a new system to replace SPEX. The name selected is Sponsored
Programs and Research Compliance System (SPARCS).
Project Summary & Scope
We plan to select and implement an enterprise-wide electronic system to support sponsored
programs and research compliance activities.
The initiative has two major phases: 1) Discovery Phase for requirements development and
product selection (6 months) and; 2) Delivery Phase for system implementation. Although
the entire project is expected to run for 30 months (beginning January 2013); we will only
address the Discovery Phase at this time. The Discovery Phase is expected to run from
January 2013 through June 2013. Major activities include:
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Establishing the project team
Developing a Requirements Document
Issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to a limited number of vendors
Developing vendor evaluation criteria
Conducting vendor evaluation
Selecting a vendor and negotiating an agreement
Planning for the Delivery Phase
Selection and implementation of the system is intended to create functional and technical
improvements to existing business processes at CMU. Leveraging current technology and
redesigning processes should allow CMU to streamline workflow, improve communication,
and minimize redundancies .
The system will support activities at all CMU research campuses and will be utilized by
central administration as well as university departments.
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Discovery Phase Project Objectives
During this phase of the project we will accomplish the following tasks:
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Establish a project governance structure to manage project progress and support
good decision making;
Solicit input from business and technical stakeholders;
Develop a requirements document based on input from stakeholders and draft a
formal Request for Proposal (RFP) document;
Identify, evaluate and select a solution that fits CMU’s unique requirements;
Identify and apply infrastructure resources and administrative processes to meet
current and projected business requirements;
Outline a secure and trusted IT environment that fosters collaboration;
Address integration with the Oracle Financial system, HRIS Workday system, and
other ancillary CMU systems;
Complete Discovery Phase on time and within budget.
Project Structure
Key stakeholders from throughout the university will be involved in this project via a
committee structure and series of meetings. The following groups are planned:
Executive Steering Committee (ESC)
The ESC will meet once a month to review the Project Steering Committee’s (PSC’s) progress
and provide input and direction. Members of the ESC include: Dave Dzombek, Steve Huth,
Lynn Young, Ann Mathias, Jeff Abels, Tom Dugas and Krishna Meringenti.
Project Steering Committee (PSC)
The PSC will meet twice a week to plan and review progress of all Discovery Phase activities.
The PSC will provide a summary of progress to the ESC every other week. Members of the
PSC are Ann Mathias, Jeff Abels and Krishna Meringenti.
Stakeholder Groups
Volunteers from across campus are being solicited to participate in developing a list of
requirements and evaluating vendors. These individuals will represent academic
departments, research groups and central administration. Faculty and staff will be invited to
participate in meetings. Several meetings of volunteers will focus on identification of
requirements. Vendor demonstration meetings will be open to interested parties across
campus. A small group comprised of leaders from each college and central administration
will review input from the large stakeholder groups, draft final documents and make
recommendations to the PSC and ESC.
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Project Communication
Information about project activities and project status will be communicated to the various
groups and campus at large via a combination of meetings, e-mails and web postings. A
project Kick-off meeting will be held in March. The purpose of this meeting is to provide all
interested parties with an overview of the project.
Information about the project will be made available on a new SPARCS website.
Risks and Mitigation Strategy
As with any project, there are multiple risks, both internal and external, that can directly
impact a project’s success. Below is a list of known risks that may impact SPARCS
implementation.
SPEX and COI Activities – Implementation of the new COI system and maintenance of SPEX
requires time and resources. Team members may have to balance production and project
activities.
Workday Project – CMU is in the process of implementing a new HCM, Payroll, and Time and
Labor Systems. This will impact resources that may be necessary for the SPARCS project.
Global Campus Involvement – The SPARCS application user base is geographically
distributed (Silicon Valley and Qatar campuses). Their involvement during the Discovery
Phase will be very productive to capture global requirements. Due to geographical time
difference, project team may have to work outside normal business hours.
Issue Resolution Process
The issue resolution process will need to be flexible to deal with different issues at various
levels during implementation phase. This section will be updated later during
implementation phase.
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Change Control and Review Information
Date
Author
Version
Change Reference
04-FEB-2013
06-FEB-2013
Jeff A
Jeff A
Krishna K
1.0
1.1
1.2
13-FEB-2013
Jeff A
2.0
24-Feb-2013
AGM
3.0
Initial version
Added
Added Change Control Section
Added Reviewers Section
Added Contents Section
Added Background
Added Technical Requirements
Added Project Approach
Added Project Structure
Added Issue Resolution & Scope Change
Process
Limited scope of document to address
Discovery Phase only
Modified format
Deleted details that will be included in
the Functional and Technical
Requirements Documents
28-Feb-2013
28-Feb-2013
Jeff A
Krishna M
4.0
5.0
28-Feb-2013
Jeff A
6.0
Minor Edits
Added Global campus involvement to
Risk and Mitigation Strategy
Formating and minor edits
Reviewers
Name
071000.
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