Managing Project Scope
Five Process Phases of
Project Management
• Initiate
• Plan
• Execute
• Monitor and Control
• Close
Project Initiation
•
The process of authorizing a new or continuing an
existing project
•
Four initiation activities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identifying projects
Classifying and ranking projects
Selecting projects
Establishing the project charter
1. Identifying Information Systems
Development Projects
• Identification can be made by:
– Top management or chief executive officer
• Strategic focus
– Steering committee
• Cross-functional focus
– User department(s)
• Tactical focus
– IT development group or IT management
• System integration focus
Two Basic Project Planning
Approaches
• Isolated – attempts to solve individual organizational
problems
– What procedure (application program, technology, process)
is required to solve this particular problem as it exists
today?
– Dependent on current organizational infrastructure
Two Basic Project Planning
Approaches (cont.)
• Planned – systematic identification of project that will
provide solutions today and into the future
– What will satisfy the decision-making needs or business
processes of the enterprise today and well into the future?
– Independent of current infrastructure constraints
Corporate Strategic Planning
• An ongoing process that defines the mission,
objectives, and strategies of an organization
• Required if project selection is going to be successful
• Three-step process
– The current organization must be reviewed and understood
– Management decides on future direction
– Strategic plan is developed for transition from current to
future state
Strategic Planning
Requirements:
• Mission Statement
– Statement that makes it clear what business the company is in
• Objective statements
– Series of statements that express an organization’s qualitative and
quantitative goals for reaching a desired future position
– Sometimes call Critical Success Factors or Corporate Values
• Competitive Strategy
– Method by which an organization attempts to achieve its mission and
objectives
Generic Competitive Strategy
Strategy
Description
Low-Cost Producer
This strategy reflects competing in an industry on the basis of product
or service cost to the consumer. For example, in the automobile
industry, the South Korea-produced Kia is a product line that
competes on the basis of low cost.
Product Differentiation
This strategy reflects capitalizing on a key product criterion requested
by the market (e.g., high quality, style, performance, roominess).
In the automobile industry, many manufactures are trying to
differentiate their products on the basis of quality (e.g., “At Ford,
quality is job one.”).
Product Focus or Niche
This strategy is similar to both the low-cost and differentiation
strategies, but with a much narrower market focus. For example, a
niche market in the automobile industry is the convertible sports
car market. Within this market, some manufactures may employ a
low-cost strategy while others may employ a differentiation
strategy based on performance or style.
Planning
• An orderly means of assessing the needs of an
organization and defining the systems and
technologies that will best satisfy those needs
Planning Methods
• Top-Down
– Generic information systems planning methodology that
attempts to gain a broad understanding of the information
system needs of the entire organization
• Bottom-Up
– Generic information systems planning methodology that
identifies and defines information systems development
projects based upon solving operational business problems
or taking advantage of some business opportunities
Classifying And Ranking Projects
• Completed by top management, steering committee,
business units, or information systems development
groups
• Criteria varies among organizations
Possible Evaluation Criteria When
Classifying And Ranking Projects
Evaluation Criteria
Description
Value Chain Analysis
Extent to which activities add value and costs when developing
products and/or services
Strategic Alignment
Extent to which the project is viewed as helping the organization
achieve its strategic objectives and long-term goals
Potential Benefits
Extent to which the project is viewed as improving profits, customer
service, and so forth and the duration of these benefits
Resource Availability
Amount and type of resources the project requires and their
availability
Project Size / Duration
Number of individuals and the length of time needed to complete the
project
Technical Difficulty /
Risks
Level of technical difficulty to successfully complete the project
within given time and resource constraints
Business Case
• Justification that presents the economic, technical,
operational, schedule, legal and contractual, and
political factors influencing a proposed information
systems project
Selected Feasibility Factors
• Economic
• Technical
• Operational
• Schedule
• Legal and contractual
• Political
Economic Feasibility
• Identify the financial benefits and costs associated
with a development project
– Benefits
• Tangible or intangible
– Costs
• Tangible or intangible
Benefits
• Tangible – benefit derived from the creation of a
project that can be measured in dollars and with
certainty
– Cost reduction and avoidance; error reduction; increased flexibility;
increased speed of activity; improvement of management planning
and control; opening new markets and increasing sales opportunities
• Intangible – benefit derived from the creation of a
project that cannot be easily measured in dollars or
with certainty
– Competitive necessity; increased organizational flexibility; increased
employee morale; promotion of organizational learning and
understanding; more timely information
Cost Types
• Tangible cost
– Cost associated with an information system that can be measured in
dollars and with certainty
• Intangible cost
– Cost associated with an information system that cannot be easily
measured in terms of dollars or with certainty
• Recurring cost
– Cost resulting from the ongoing evolution and use of a system
• One-Time cost
– Cost associated with project start-up and development or system startup
Cost-Benefit Analysis
• The use of a variety of analysis techniques for
determining the financial feasibility of a project
– Present Value
– Discount Rate
– Net Present Value
– Break-even Analysis
Technical Feasibility
• Process of assessing the development organization's
ability to construct a proposed system
Technical Project Risk
Assessment Factors
• Project Size
• Project Structure
• Development Group
• User Group
Risk Assessment Matrix
Potential Technical Risks
• Failure to attain expected benefits from the project
• Inaccurate project cost estimates
• Inaccurate project duration estimates
• Failure to achieve adequate system performance
levels
• Failure to adequately integrate the new system with
existing hardware, software, or organizational
procedures
Operational Feasibility
• Process of assessing the degree to which a proposed
system will solve business problems or takes
advantage of business opportunities
– What impact will the proposed system have on the
organization’s structures and procedures?
Schedule Feasibility
• Process of assessing the degree to which the potential
time frame and completion dates for all major
activities within a project meet organizational
deadlines and constraints for affecting change
Legal and Contractual Feasibility
• Process of assessing potential legal and contractual
ramifications due to the construction of a system
Political Feasibility
• Process of evaluating how key stakeholders within
the organization view the proposed system
Project Selection
Popular Selection Methods
• Value Chain Analysis
– The process of analyzing an organization's activities to
determine where value is added to products and/or services
and the costs incurred for doing so
• Multi-Criteria Analysis
– A project selection method that uses weighted scoring for a
variety of criteria to contrast alternative projects or system
features
Value Chain Analysis
Multi-Criteria Analysis
Establish a Project Charter
• A short document prepared for the customer during project initiation
that describes what the project will deliver and outlines generally at
a high level all work required to complete the project
• Typically contains:
– Project title and date of authorization
– Project manager name and contact information
– Customer name and contact information
– Projected start and completion dates
– Key stakeholders, project roles, and responsibilities
– Project objectives and description
– Key assumptions or approach
– Signature section for key stakeholders
Project Scope Planning
• Process of progressively elaborating and
documenting the project work plan in order to
effectively manage a project
• Occurs once a project has been formally selected for
development
Project Scope Planning Activities
1. Project workbook created
2. Project scope statement written
3. Baseline project plan is developed
Project Workbook
• Serves as the central repository for all project-related
documents and information
• Contains
– all project correspondence, inputs, outputs, deliverables,
procedures, and standards established by the project team
• Workbook can be paper or electronic
Project Scope Statement
• Document prepared for the customer that describes
what the project will deliver and outlines generally at
a high level all work required to complete the project
• Addresses:
–
–
–
–
–
What problem or opportunity does the project address?
What are the quantifiable results to be achieved?
What needs to be done?
How will success be measured?
How will the end of the project be identified?
Baseline Project Plan
• Documents the best estimate of a project's scope,
benefits, costs, risks, and resource requirements
• Four sections:
–
–
–
–
Introduction
System Description
Feasibility Assessment
Management Issues
Baseline Project Plan Introduction
• Provides a brief overview of the entire document and
outlines a recommended course of action for the
project
Baseline Project Plan System
Description
• Documents possible alternative solutions in addition
to the one deemed most appropriate for the given
situation
Baseline Project Plan
Feasibility Assessment
• Project costs and benefits, technical difficulties, and
other such concerns are outlined
• Gantt charts and network diagrams illustrate highlevel project schedules
Baseline Project Plan
Management Issues
• Documents management concerns related to the
project
• Typical issues include:
–
–
–
–
Team configuration and management
Communication plan
Project standards and procedures
Other project-specific topics
Project Scope Definition
• Process of subdividing the major project deliverables
– as identified in the project scope statement – into
smaller, more manageable activities in order to make
more accurate cost, task duration, and resource
estimates
Project Scope Verification
• Process of obtaining formal acceptance of a project’s
scope from the project stakeholders
Project Scope Change Control
• Formal process for assuring that only agreed- upon
changes are made to the project’s scope
• Submitted change request should address:
– Project specifications
– Project schedules
– Budgets
– Resources
Scope Creep
• Progressive, uncontrolled increase in project scope
Questions?