Project Name
Document Version 1.0
Prepared by Jane Doe, ITS
Last Edited July 23, 2016
PLAN
REQUIREMENTS
SOLUTION
ANALYSIS
DESIGN
BUILD
TEST
TRAIN/DEPLOY MAINTENANCE
TO THE DOCUMENT OWNER: This template is provided as a guideline and resource. The structure and instructions
give detail about what might go into a completed document. Only you and your team, however, know what will
best fit the needs of your specific effort, and you are encouraged to adapt the template as appropriate to meet
those needs.
Project Charter
The Project Charter is the "kick-off" document which describes the project: the purpose of the project, what it
will and will not deliver, what resources are required, and when it will be completed. The Project Charter
marks the transition from a high-level concept to a specific definition of the effort, and it must be approved by
the project steering committee. As the Project Charter sets the expectations and high-level success criteria for
the project, its audience may include any project stakeholders.
Project Name
Executive Summary
Briefly summarize the project, including timeline and cost estimates.
Business Need and Background
Briefly describe the business need or customer problem the project will address without describing how the
problem will be solved.
Questions to consider:

How does this align with university priorities?

Why is this needed?

What is the benefit to the university? To our customers? To the organization?

What is the customer challenge you’re trying to solve?

What is the need for this service?

In what ways will this project address the need?

What are the current issues customers are struggling with?

What are the current limitations?

What are the use cases?

In what ways might this service help our customers be more successful?
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Project Name
Document Version 1.0
Project Description and Scope
Describe the approach the project will use to address the business problem. Describe the project scope,
defining the project limits and identifying the products and/or services delivered by the project. This
establishes the boundaries of the project and should also describe products and/or services that are outside
of the project scope.
Questions to consider:

Is this a new service/service change/service retirement?

Is an existing service being replaced?

What is the transition plan if changing existing service?

What is the plan to retire existing service if service is being retired?

What are the projected adoption rates over the first three years of service? What are the plans
to scale the service for those adoption rates?

What is the support plan?

Who is responsible for the service long-term?

Are there use cases, technical changes, or other elements which are specifically NOT included in
this project?

What is the long-term support strategy with respect to hardware, software, and staffing
components?
Project Goals
Describe the business goals and objectives of the project. Consider and include critical success factors.
Questions to consider:

How will the completed project demonstrate that it has met the business need?

What are the measures for project success, including:
o
Thresholds/acceptability metrics?
o
Transition metrics?

What are the technical performance measures?

What are the customer-related metrics (satisfaction metrics)?

What is the customer’s ideal world as it relates to the challenge?
Project Schedule
Outline the high-level project stages and projected completion dates in the embedded spreadsheet below,
including estimated FTE counts. Provide the schedule estimates at the monthly or quarterly level, as
appropriate to the project size, and update the column headers to reflect actual dates.
Questions to consider:

Are there specific times when changes can or cannot be made - e.g., beginning/end of academic
calendar or university holidays? When key staff or technical and physical resources may not be
available?
Project Charter
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Project Name
Document Version 1.0

Does your high-level schedule include contingency for unforeseen issues, staff leave, university
holidays, etc.?
PHASE
Q1
FTE
Jan
Plan
1
Requirements
1
Solution Analysis
2
Design
3
Code/Build
Feb
Q2
Mar
Apr
May
Q3
Jun
Jul
Aug
Q4
Sep
Oct
Nov
Q1
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
10
Test
4
Train
1
Deploy
1
Project Management and Governance
Summarize the roles and responsibilities for the project team and stakeholders. Some possible roles are
provided.
Questions to consider:

Who are the stakeholders who need to be involved?

How will decisions regarding the project be made, and by whom?

How will issues be tracked?

How will the project be monitored?

How will scope and change control be handled?
Project Charter
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Project Name
Document Version 1.0
Role
Name(s)/Organization(s)
Responsibilities
Executive
Sponsor(s)
Customer
Steering
Committee
Project Manager
Technical Lead
Project Team
Information
Security Officer
Systems Point
of Contact
Networking
Point of Contact
User Services
Point of Contact
Stakeholder(s)
Project Facilities and Resources
Describe the project's requirements for facilities hardware/software and staff resources, including
requirements for specific skill sets.
Questions to consider:

What are the roles the following groups will play in this project: ISO, Networking and
Telecommunications, UDC, Applications, Systems, Customer Support Services?

What are the startup IT and environment needs?

What are the cost estimates for startup and maintenance (1 through 3 years)?

What are the customer’s availability requirements?

What staff skills are needed for each phase of the project, such as testing, project management,
documentation, Java development, etc.?
Impact Analysis
Identify individuals, business areas and/or systems that may be affected by the project.
Assumptions
Describe any project assumptions related to business, technology, resources, scope, expectations or
schedules. Include a statement about ownership of maintenance/sustainment efforts – who will own Tier 1,
Tier 2, Tier 3 response once this application is deployed?
Project Charter
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Project Name
Document Version 1.0
Constraints
Describe any project constraints being imposed in areas such as schedule, budget, resources, products to be
reused, technology to be employed, products to be acquired, etc.
Risks
Identify the high-level risks for the project.
Revision History
Version
Date
Updater Name
V1
Description
Initial draft completed
Signatures
Formal written signoff is preferred for larger, more complex projects.
Name
Project Charter
Role
Signature
Date
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