Bound Simplicity
Orange Group
CS 410
December 13, 2006
Table of Contents
Document
Expert
Pg. No.
NSF Form 1207
(Steven LeTellier)
3
Project Summary
(Steven LeTellier)
5
NSF Form 1359
(Steven LeTellier)
6
Project Description
(Steven LeTellier)
8
Biographical Sketches
(All Members)
13
Phase I Technical Objectives
(Matt Crinklaw)
15
GUI Design
(Matt Myers)
20
Conclusion
(Denise Calizaya)
24
Summary Budget Proposal
(Daniel Deir)
26
Works Cited
(Daniel Deir)
NA
Marketing Plan
(Denise Calizaya)
27
Management Plan
(Brian Everett)
43
Staffing / Organizational Plan
(Matt Crinklaw)
53
Risk Plan
(Brian Everett)
65
Mitigation Plan
(Brian Everett)
67
Funding Plan
(Brian Everett)
71
Evaluation Plan
(Brian Everett)
74
Resource Plan
(Daniel Deir)
79
Appendix:
Project Summary:
The Binding Simplicity (BSimp) is envisioned as an online communication
network to improve student success through a rule-based method of communicating
resources, services and activities to students. It will enhance University-to-student and
student-to-student communications by creating a direct method of communicating
activities to students.
Online communication within a University has become a normal way of reaching
out to students; however, with the amount of students pursuing education at a University,
progress has yet to be made in the way of direct communication to the students and
between these students. While advances still continue to be made, much is still lacking in
the way of direct communication. Students living on or off campus are effectively
isolated from other students and lack the ability to truly enjoy the benefits of study
groups as well as other interactive learning activities. These students are also cut off
from campus life in that they find it difficult to participate in student-to-student
communication unless, as is sometimes the case, an entire group ends up being peers in
class. This leads to a feeling of alienation and poor academic performance. Binding
Simplicity intends to bridge this gap by bringing together both the students who attend
the University and the University to student communication as well.
Project Description:
Societal Problem Defined:
Current methods of student to student, and university to student, communication
have a limited reach and effect, which adversely affects student success. With so many
students commuting to school, only a limited amount of students stay at school and
participate in the universities events. This absence leads to lower success rates which
lead to regrettable effects on retention.
An All Too Common Example:
Brian, a commuter student, arrives at ODU to attend his classes. He has wanted
to join a club and is in need for tutoring help but he’s not sure where to go or who to ask.
Brian feels isolated from the university and in his studies and is quickly falling behind.
Without a tutor or study partner Brian will most likely fail the class. Disappointed he
may leave the college all together.
As Brian attends his classes during the day he looks at a bulletin board to see if he
can get any information on clubs or tutors. As he looks at the cluttered board he fails to
see any tutoring or organizations which pertain to him.
Feeling secluded from the university, Brian decides after his classes to walk back to his
car and drive home not knowing that on another bulletin board on campus was the
information he needed.
Unfortunately, unless the students are already involved with the university, it is
hard for the university to get students interested with the current means of
communication. The idea is to create a communication method of university activities all
in one place thus allowing an effective communication method for universities to share
their activities with students.
Background:
According to the ODU common data set, ODU graduation rates from 1984 to
1998 have staggered below fifty percent (Figure 1).
50
45
Percent Graduated
40
35
30
4 Year
5 Year
6 Year
25
20
15
10
5
97
98
19
19
96
19
94
93
92
91
95
19
19
19
19
19
90
19
88
87
86
89
19
19
19
19
85
19
19
84
0
Years
(Figure 1)
Also with first year retention rates at ODU being seventy-six percent, the lowest
out of five other University’s in Virginia, there must be a communication gap between
the students and the University.
First Year Retention Rates
120%
100%
97%
95%
92%
88%
76%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
University of William and
Virginia
Mary
James
Madison
Virginia
Tech
Old
Dominion
University
With this knowledge we now know that there is a communication problem
between the students and the University that must be addressed. According to the Tinto
Longitudinal Model of Individual Departure (Figure 2), we can now see that academic
performance goes hand and hand with faculty/staff and peer interactions.
(Figure 2)
Many students at ODU are finding it hard to form study groups and getting involved in
extracurricular activities and with this comes dissatisfaction with the school and the
students (Bean Survey http://nsse.iub.edu/pdf/DEEP_Expenditures_Schuh.pdf). Because
of this ODU has shelled out 2.3 million dollars in hope of fixing this problem, but with
no prevail. With the help of BSimp, this is no longer an impossible task.
Goal:
The goal of this project is to build an online communication network to improve
student success by creating a rule-based method of communicating resources, services
and activities to students.
Biographical Sketches:
Brian Everett: Brian Everett is currently a senior at Old Dominion University, working
towards his bachelor's degree in Computer Science. Brain has done research for the ODU
Research Foundation working through a grant from General Dynamics towards the area
of combat simulation. His work has included a simulation of EOIR sensor mechanisms
on an unmanned air-vehicle, and distributed simulation visualization. He has also
competed in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest for 2005, and plans
to compete again in 2006. Currently he is working for Virginia Applied Technology and
Professional Development Center - a division of ODU's engineering department which
manages continuing education for industry professionals - as a web developer. Through
this he develops online registration for students as well as industry conferences that are
hosted in the Norfolk area. Additionally, he manages the day to day website needs of
VATPDC.
Matt Crinklaw: Matthew Crinklaw-Vogt is from Williamsburg, Virginia and is a junior
in the Old Dominion University Computer Science program. Matt has had extensive
experience in web development and programming. Matt worked at Smartclic as an intern
programming smart card demonstration systems in visual basic. Matt also had an
internship during high school at Incogen INC working on exposing the functionality of
their product- Geneport- through the SOAP interface. During Matt's freshman year at Old
Dominion he worked for Gemini Entertainment creating an online invoice and payment
system as well as contributed a PHP 4 Bluepay payment module to Bluepay Corp. The
summer before Matt's sophomore year he worked for three months as an intern at General
Dynamics doing process modeling. Matt's latest activities include creating FMOD
bindings for the Ruby programming language, contributing to the Tubygame open source
project and beginning development on a videogame written in the Ruby programming
language. Matt is currently an advising assistant in the ODU Computer Science
department where he has developed several applications to automate the advising
process.
Steven LeTellier: Steven LeTellier lives in Norfolk, Virginia and is the documentation
manager for the Orange Group. Mr. LeTellier is majoring in Computer Science and
minoring in Information Technology at Old Dominion University. He specializes in C++,
Java, and SQL.
Daniel Deir: Daniel Deir is from Virginia Beach and is currently a senior at Old
Dominion University working on his degree in Computer Science. He is also currently
working on his Cisco, Oracle, and Sun Certification paths. Daniel's background is in sales
management and finance and plans to use his degree to develop tools for that market.
Whenever he is not on the computer, his time is filled with family. He has two young
children which keep him and his wife busy and laughing most of the time.
Denise Calizaya: Denise is an international student for Peru. In her home country she
pursued a degree in systems engineering. Now she is a senior at Old Dominion
University majoring in Computer Science. Denise's work experience includes marketing
and sales for the real estate business in the North Eastern North Carolina area. Currently,
Denise works for Norfolk Southern Corporation in the Intermodal Systems and
Development Department. Upon graduation she plans to pursue graduate studies.
Matt Myers: Matt Myers was born in Alexandria, Virginia. He spent most of his life in
Fairfax, Virginia. He got into programming in high school. Since then his focus was
mostly on software development. His senior year of high school he developed a database
for customer information for Filmdex, a small, family-owned company that he worked
for. Since then his focus has shifted to web development. He currently is working for
Dominion Enterprises, formally Trader Online, doing PHP web development. He is
currently teaching himself PHP, ASP .NET, and C#. When he is not working or going to
school he is spending his time with his family, a wife and two wonderful kids.
Phase I Technical Objectives:
Domain:
Bound Simplicity will create a method by which students can more effectively
learn about activities going on around campus. Much of university to student
communication is either drowned out by noise or are just simply not targeted to any
specific student. Bound Simplicity allows students to list their interests and have
university announcements delivered to them that relate to them. Users of Bound
Simplicity will also be guaranteed to only receive university associated communication,
thus they will not have to filter through spam as is the case with current university email
accounts.
Bound Simplicity makes use of rules in order to route information to specific
students. A set of interests or needs can be seen as a set of rules that determine
compatibility between students and services.
Rule Based System
Maybe describe first? Way up above?
The entire system of Bound Simplicity is dependent upon the idea that haves,
wants and basic profile information are all comparable items and as such a set of rules
can be developed to determine relationships between students and activities or services
that the university or university sponsored groups is trying to communicate.
The rule based system works by using likes, dislikes, haves, wants and so on as
criteria to match a student with an event or service that may be of interest to them. This
is much the way that targeted advertising works, which has proven itself as a very
effective method of communication. Through this process Bound Simplicity will cut
down on the noise and clutter of information often broadcast with general student
announcements and increase student awareness of activities by providing them with a
direct notification.
Major Functional Components (Figure 7):
The following components will be required to implement such a system:
1. Web Server – Required to host the website which will act as the central point
of information and access for students, groups and university staff.
2. Email Server – Used to send alerts to students when events or matching
services have been found that they may be interested in.
3. Database Server – Used to storage all of the required data that drives Bound
Simplicity (user profiles, group information, services, events, activities).
4. Binding Engine – Central piece of software that drives all of the matching and
finds the points of commonality between students and available resources.
5. Internet Access – Provides the means of communication.
6. Firewall – First layer of security for the Bound Simplicity servers and data.
7. University Integration – Necessary to gain the appropriate student information
and university information needed to make Bound Simplicity work.
Major Functional Components (Figure 7):
Major Functional Component Diagram (Figure 7)
Project Scope (Figure 8)
The scope of the project is limited to only providing a software based solution to
the problem of inter university communication. The project is also not meant to be a
means for students to instant message, email, or directly converse with one another. The
proposed solution is meant to allow the communication of those items which would be of
interest to many such as study groups, university activities, university deadlines, clubs,
and various resources such as books. The solution is also meant to keep student
information private and hidden from other students. The only items students will see are
the results of the matching process telling them what events, groups, activities and
services may be of interest to them.
Won’t Do
Will Do
•
Email students or allow them
•
to view information on a
•
communication between students
•
webpage
Use an expandable rule based
Allow direct personal
Allow students to view others’
profiles
system
•
Promote communication
•
Allow different priority levels
•
Work with university systems
already established
Project Scope (Figure 8)
What’s provided? (Figure 9)
Bound Simplicity will not be providing all of the required components to
implement the proposed solution. The hosting, management and maintenance will be
provided by the customer as most universities already have large IT divisions to manage
services like such as Bound Simplicity.
Bound Simplicity will however provide the software and database structure that
must be present for such a system to run. Bound Simplicity will also provide user
training and system documentation.
What’s in the Box? (Figure 9)
We Provide
Website Software
Customer Provides
Database
Training
Servers Internet Connection
Structure
End-User Provides
Computer
Internet Connection
What is in the Box (Figure 9)
Browser
Maintenance
Sample GUIs:
Log-In Page:
This is a very simple page that would require a user name and password. In
ODU’s case this would be a Midas ID and password. There will be a link to help logging
in, which would be the Midas ID page. There could also be links to anywhere else that
ODU could want. Log-In GUI (Figure 10).
Log-in GUI screen (Figure 10)
Roommate Preferences Page:
This page is a sample of what could be used to select a roommate or put your
preferences for the system to pick a roommate for you. This page also has links to go to
almost all the other pages on the site. The University will be able to tailor these questions
to suit their needs. After the questions are answered by all the students, the system will
then take the answers and put them through the rule based methods that are predefined.
Also, on this screen the ALERT link is red. This is to notify the student that they have a
new, important message. Important messages being those defined by the university as
important, most likely being messages about registration or fines due to the university.
Once the student has viewed those messages, the link would then again return to white.
The colors that are shown are not necessarily the colors that would have to be used.
Along with the rule based system being expandable to fit the University’s needs, so is the
design of the website. The color scheme can be changed to almost anything.
Roommate Preference GUI (Figure 11)
Student Preferences:
This is the second part of the preferences section. This is where the student will
put their interests, likes, dislikes, and hobbies. These will be used to determine what
other types of messages will be sent. An example would be that the student selects that
they like to fish and the university plans a university sanctioned fishing trip and sends out
a message. All the students who selected that they enjoy fishing would get that message,
unless the student has chosen to block those messages. This message hierarchy prevents
the user from ever receiving spam.
Personal Preferences (Figure 12)
Message Screen:
This is the section where all the messages from the University, organizations, and
groups come together. The sections of the screen show where each type of message will
be shown so the user can decide which messages to read and know what type of
information they will be reading about. University messages are in the red section,
Interests messages would be messages relating to the preferences selected and other
messages would be anything else. The user also has the option of placing the message
sections wherever they chose.
Message Screen GUI (Figure 13)
The Links:
The top levels of links are mostly administration links. The first link, home, will
take you to the main page after logging in. The second will take you to a list of services
offered by the University. The last two are self explanatory.
The second level has three links which are to help a user register, which will
probably be taken away before production, sitemap to help navigate the site, this link will
also probably be moved before production, and an alerts link to tell the user when they
have a new important message. This link will remain a prominent link, although it may
move to a different location before production.
The third level is the main level of navigation. This is where the University will
put all of the links to services that they want to display. Also, the right side of the screen
has a designated spot for a dynamic links. This could be populated by the University or
taken away to make room for more content. Almost everything about the system is
customizable to the Universities likings.
Conclusion:
Student success has been one of the primary topics of discussion in higher
education. For decades it has been a matter of investigation among different experts to
address the real causes why students leave school at early stages. There are several
studies supporting the theory that student retention is closely related with student
involvement, integration, and adjustment.
In order to improve the above mentioned factors, special attention needs to be
paid to communication. Bean’s student attrition model states that institutional qualities,
such as fairness and effective communication between the organization and the student,
impacted student satisfaction. Current methods of student to student, and university to
student, communication have a limited reach and effect, adversely affecting student
success
Bound Simplicity will build an online communication network that will distribute
the information based on the end-user’s interests. This is called targeted communication
which is proven to be more effective than the generalized kind that does not identify or
prioritize the students’ interests.
This project is intended to help meet student needs like housing, job search, book
trading, study groups. By this, we hope to enhance the student experience at the
institution, which in the long run will improve retention rates.
APPENDIX
Marketing Plan:
I) Initial Research
The lack of retention has traditionally challenged the education system for years. In the
past two decades there has been a considerably increase in the percentage of high school
graduates who go strait to college. However, the percentage of students who stay and
finish is not keeping the same pace. According to the U.S. Department of Labor in 2005
the percentage of students who enter a four year institution right after high school was
65%. On the other hand, the six-year graduation rate of bachelor’s students is only 55 %
for the same year.
Studies suggest that student retention is closely related with student involvement,
integration, and adjustment.
As a result of low retention rates, colleges and universities are aware of the need to create
programs to improve the student experience and consequently improve their success and
retention rates.
II) Identification of the Customer
Market Opportunity
Bound Simplicity target market is universities and colleges across the United States;
specifically colleges or universities who have low retention and graduation rates and
educational institutions that would like to build a stronger on campus community.
Graduation rates are a good measure of the effectiveness of an institution. On the other
hand, studies show that students who live on campus are most likely to:

Complete more credit hours and have higher grade point averages

Get involved and become part of the campus community

Complete their degree at their initial institution

Demonstrate greater gains in student development and interpersonal self-esteem

Express greater satisfaction with their college experience

Persist and graduate with greater frequency

Make use of campus resources (library, staff, labs, athletic facilities and general
support services) with much greater frequency
According to the U.S. Department of education there are about 4000 degree granting
institutions for higher education¹ from them 59.6% have establish the need to improve
retention rates of students form their first to second year of college. Another 45.6 % have
agreed to improve degree completion rates².
The following picture shows retention rates in different kinds of educational institutions
classified according to their selectivity level ranking from less selective to highly
selective, it also includes the rate for all the average for all institutions. Highly selective
schools tend to have superior retention rates. Part of that success is accredited to their
strong campus community. Some of these institutions require freshman students to live
on campus and other students to live only few miles away from it.
Initial Customer
The Bound Simplicity team has decided to target Old Dominion University as its first
customer. ODU has proposed to increase retention and graduation rates. For instance, for
2006-2007 school year, ODU has budgeted 2.3 million dollars in retention related factors.
Also, ODU would like a transformation to a residential campus .Another reason we
believe our university can benefit from this system is that ODU would like to be
recognized as research institution, in order to achieve that goal the sense of community
and integration has to be stronger; a good way to build a stronger on campus community
is through effective communication, making easy for students to find the services they
need "What those students do in the dorms affects how they do in the classroom, and vice
versa," said Charles Wilson, University College dean at ODU.
The following chart compares ODU’s retention rates for freshman students with rates of
other universities in Virginia.
First Year Retention Rates
120%
100%
97%
95%
92%
88%
76%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
University of William and
Virginia
Mary
James
Madison
Virginia
Tech
Old
Dominion
University
The next figure shows the percentage of freshman students who did not return to ODU.
The data is gathered from 1985 though 2004. From 1992 to 1997 ODU experienced high
percentages of students leaving after their first year. ODU has increase its numbers in the
last few years but there is still room for improvement.
End-User
The end-user, also considered the secondary customer, of Bound Simplicity are students,
faculty, and university staff. Our product will emphasize communication using a rule
based engine that is applicable to many domains with a database of the students’ interests
to alert them with information that matches their interests, or information they need to
know in order to maintain good academic standing.
In order to estimate Bound Simplicity potential user acceptance, we analyze similar
community software packages like Facebook (http://www.thefacebook.com) and
MySpace.com (http://myspace.com). Each of these companies reported roughly a three
hundred percent increase in daily reach, with Myspace.com reaching upwards of 25
billion people logging in per day. The societal acceptance of these online communities is
show in the following graphs:
In less than one year, Facebook.com, the largest social networking site has increased its
users by 400% and according to comScore networks, Facebook ranks the seventh most
trafficked site in the U.S.
Other Prospective Customers
Without having to look too far we found other prospective customers. According to the
State Council of Higher Education figures, in Virginia despite the efforts to increase the
number of freshmen students who come back for their sophomore year, there has being
an increase of less than 3% over the last decade.
Norfolk State University is another institution that is in urgent need to improve its
retention and graduation rates. The most recent data available shows that NSU graduation
rate is 29 percent; this is reported to be the highest level in the school's history. NSU has
determined to raise retention rates by implementing different ideas; the Office of First
Year Experience is a good example, where new students can access a variety of advising,
mentoring and tutoring services.
Christopher Newport University had developed a plan for improving student success as
evidenced by retention and graduation rates. Among the goals they would like to
accomplish are: Increase freshman to sophomore retention rate from 76 percent to at least
90 percent for the entering 2009 class and increase six-year graduation rates to at least 60
percent by 2012. So far they have made some improvements in those rates. Paul Trible,
university's president, states that Christopher Newport's transformation to a residential
campus has been a major factor for this improvement, where nearly two-thirds of students
now live in dorms. He added: "A residential student more likely becomes a full
participant in the college experience, both in the classroom and beyond the classroom,
and is more likely to engage and be successful."
Bound simplicity can contribute to make students aware of the services available to them
through targeted communication, improving this way new student’s experience at NSU,
CNU, and many other universities across the United States that have recognized the need
to improve their graduation rates.
The following is a list of Schools whose freshmen are least likely to return, consequently
good institutions where to market our product:
Freshman
School
retention rate
Allen University (SC)
36%
International College (FL)
37%
Edward Waters College (FL)
43%
St. Paul's College (VA)
46%
Chowan University (NC)
49%
Midway College (KY)
51%
Univ. of Arkansas--Monticello
51%
LeMoyne-Owen College (TN)
54%
Brewton-Parker College (GA)
55%
Clearwater Christian College (FL)
56%
Crichton College (TN)
56%
Faulkner University (AL)
56%
Morris College (SC)
57%
Mountain State University (WV)
57%
Rust College (MS)
57%
Glenville State College (WV)
58%
Martin Methodist College (TN)
58%
Mid-Continent University (KY)
58%
Pikeville College (KY)
58%
Reinhardt College (GA)
58%
West Virginia State University
58%
Freshman
School
retention rate
West Virginia U. Inst. of Tech.
58%
Belmont Abbey College (NC)
60%
Brevard College (NC)
60%
Lambuth University (TN)
60%
North Carolina Wesleyan College
60%
Williams Baptist College (AR)
60%
Alice Lloyd College (KY)
61%
Clayton State University (GA)
61%
Newberry College (SC)
61%
Philander Smith College (AR)
61%
Bluefield College (VA)
62%
Source:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/webex/Fresh_retention_Rateccbach_s_brief.php
The following figure measures the rate at which entering freshmen in a fall semester
enroll the following fall semester by state and compares it across the United States. These
numbers help us decide in what part of the country our product can be marketed. Out of
50 states 11 only reasonably high retention rates. Studies suggest that Students are more
likely to drop out of higher education during the first year than any other time.
http://www.higheredinfo.org
This other chart shows the 6-year graduation rates across the United States.
Graduation rates are closely associated with first-year retention rates. For instance if a
state has low retention rates for freshman students, it is difficult to predict high
graduation rates. The U.S. average is only 55 percent leaving much room for
improvement even in the states with the highest rates. This data again, shows the vast
market opportunity for our product.
III) Competition
In the following table, we have identified our competitor and what they have to offer
versus what Bound Simplicity offers to educational community. Clearly, Bound
Simplicity is the only product that offers the necessary functionalities to build stronger
community integration at the university based on targeted communication.
Among the features that we have identified are relevant to create a system that
contributes to improve college experience, residential life, and student engagement are:

Targeted communication

Roommate matching

Service matching

Resource matching

Resource trading
Competitors like Facebook only focus on social networking, and they rely on the user to
create their own groups.
Blanket e-mails, have prove to be ineffective, bombarding students with information that
does not relate to the at all. On the other hand, Bound Simplicity employs very well
known marketing tactics to get to the attention of the targeted user.
IV) Benefits to the Customer
Universities will be able to benefit from Bound Simplicity in different aspects:
Improve Communication
Bound Simplicity will greatly enhance communication among students, faculty, and
university staff by making use its rule based engine; this will ensure that end-users are
targeted with the information that matches their interests.
Identification of student needs
Our system will gather data about student needs and preferences, information that the
university can use to improve the students experience and satisfaction with the institution.
Improve sense of community
Student outcomes improve where institutions promote involvement outside the
classroom. Examples include facilitating social networks and promoting social
integration though special programs such as clubs, cultural groups, and sporting
activities. Bound simplicity will contribute to this cause.
Increase retention and graduation rates
By increasing student involvement and satisfaction though effective communication,
student success is positively affected leading to higher student retention rates and
increase of federal funding.
V) Cost to the Customer
Customers will be charged a base fee of $10,000 and a monthly software license
fee of $2,500. We will provide the website software, the database and training. The
customer will need to provide the server, internet connection, and maintenance. The end
user will need to provide the internet connection as well as the required hardware.
 Cost vs. Profit
The following graph shows ODU revenue compared with the investment if
we make a modest increase of retention by 1% in a 3 year period.
$90,000
Bsimp Licensing
Increase in
Revenue
$820,000
0
VI) Plan to Promote Bound Simplicity
After an intensive research and identification of prospective customer our
Marketing Manager and assistants will schedule visits to schools and deliver customized
presentations to Student Success Officers and Retention Committees, explaining how
Bound Simplicity would improve student engagement, presenting a complete analysis of
return on investment, and demonstrating how the system work, Step-through demos.
We will have a website where organizations and educational institution can find detailed
information about our product and where we can be contacted as well to give a
presentation.
Our marketing team will also attend Student Success conferences and workshops
and will contact organizations like the National Resource Center for the First Year
Experience that for almost 3 decades has been holding annual conferences, The Higher
Education Academy that annually hosts the conference Innovations in Student Success,
National Survey of Student Engagement, among many other organizations.
VII) Post Sales Marketing Plan and Customer Retention
After each sale, the marketing staff of the Bound Simplicity Team will closely
follow the success of the new product at the university by giving surveys to the end-users
as well as to the main customer and analyze the overall product acceptance and its effect
on communication and student success.
Training and documentation addressing the systems’ functionalities will be
provided. We think of our customers’ satisfaction as the best way to market our product.
VIII) Break Even Analysis
The following chart shows Bound Simplicity Break Even Analysis. Considering
what our product has to offer, what the competition has to offer and annual expenses of
$239,266, the Bound Simplicity team has estimated a customization fee of $10,000 and a
monthly software license fee of $2,500. Making a modest prediction of getting one
customer the first year and four customers thereafter we would need to sell nine units to
break even.
$400,000.00
$350,000.00
$323,670
$300,000.00
$250,000.00
$200,000.00
Profit
$150,000.00
$100,000.00
$50,000.00
$12,936
$0.00
-$50,000.00
1
2
3
4
5
-$100,000.00
-$150,000.00
-$200,000.00
-$250,000.00
-$177,798
-$199,266
-$248,532
-$300,000.00
Years
Conclusion:
Student success has been one of the primary topics of discussion in higher
education. For decades it has been a matter of investigation among different experts to
address the real causes why students leave school at early stages. There are several
studies supporting the theory that student retention is closely related with student
involvement, integration, and adjustment.
In order to improve the above mentioned factors, special attention needs to be
paid to communication. John E Bean’s student attrition model states that institutional
qualities, such as fairness and effective communication between the organization and the
student, impacted student satisfaction. Current methods of student to student, and
university to student, communication have a limited reach and effect, adversely affecting
student success
Bound Simplicity will build an online communication network that will distribute the
information based on the end-user’s interests. This is called targeted communication
which is proven to be more effective than the generalized kind that does not identify or
prioritize the students’ interests.
This project is intended to help meet student needs like housing, job search, book
trading, study groups. By this, we hope to enhance the student experience at the
institution, which in the long run will improve retention rates.
BSimp Management Plan:
Program Identification:
This Program Management Plan (PMP) is for the Bound Simplicity (BSimp). The
program will deliver the BSimp hardware, software and documentation for Bound
Simplicity. Computer Productivity Initiative group is responsible for the integration,
acceptance testing and training of the Total Computing Environment.
Program Management Overview:
Execution of the Program will be performed in accordance with the procedures
defined by the set of planning documents. These documents include Program
Management Plan, Development Plan, Evaluation Plan, Marketing Plan, Scheduling Plan,
Organizational Plan, Financial Plan and Risk Management Plan (RMP).
The
responsibilities of the Program Team, the capabilities of the system, and the Program
deliverables are detailed under the contractual provisions, as well as Bound Simplicity’s
technical, management, and cost proposals.
This Program Management Plan describes the management philosophy, program
organization, schedule, and major milestones that serve as the guide for execution of the
Program. The PMP also provides the customer and the quality team with the information
they need to monitor and evaluate the progress of the effort. This plan provides the
following pertinent information:

Corporate Organization

Program Team Organization With Areas of Responsibility

Work Breakdown Structure

Program Planning

Progress Reporting and Team Management

Detailed Program Schedule and Milestones

The Program Management Plan provides guidance for the content and execution
of the following plans:

Risk Management

Financial

Evaluation Development
Corporate Structure:
The entirety of Computer Productivity Initiative supports the BSimp Program. In
1995, Old Dominion University started the Computer Productivity Initiative from a grant
by the National Science Foundation to give Computer Science students the opportunity to
develop solutions to real world problems. Over the past 11 years, this commitment has
resulted in students utilizing the knowledge and skills they gain in their undergraduate
courses to research and solve real world problems.
The following is Computer
Productivity Initiative's Bound Simplicity Corporate organizational structure:

Old Dominion University

General Manager, Computer Productivity Initiative

Bound Simplicity Program Office. Bound Simplicity Program Office will execute
the
program
and
provide
day-to-day
senior
management
supervision,
management, engineering, and administrative resources necessary to manage and
administer the Bound Simplicity program.
Management Approach:
Bound Simplicity’s management goal is to work closely with the customer to
fully understand the system requirements and field a system that meets those
requirements. The management approach to executing contracts at BSimp is based on the
philosophy that successful Programs are delivered by goal-oriented teams. A Program
Manager (PM) will lead the BSimp team. The PM is responsible for all planning,
programmatic, technical, and financial aspects of the Program. The PM is the primary
Point of Contact (POC) for the customer. The primary duties include supervision of all
planning, scheduling, financial, and technical activities, and customer liaison. The PM is
responsible for all Program-related decisions and commitments with approval, as
required, from the Corporate Management Team.
A key element of Bound Simplicity’s program management approach is customer
involvement. The BSimp team encourages the customer to retain an active role in
monitoring the progress of all aspects of the project from proof of concept, to critical
design, and continuing into the production and the out years. The customer is encouraged
to discuss technical details directly with members of the project team, provide planning
and schedule recommendations, and assist in resolution of technical and programmatic
issues. In order to facilitate customer involvement, BSimp will provide access to program
information including, but not limited to:

Program plans and schedules

Program status

Profit

Formal review material

Action items

System drawings and documentation
Program Team:
The Program Team is committed to provide the best value by delivering reliable
real world solutions utilizing advance easy-to-use, low-risk solutions at the lowest cost.
This commitment is attainable because it is based on the re-use of existing technology
that is field-proven. Through strategic teaming and an extensive system selection process,
Computer Productivity Initiative has assembled a cohesive Program Team that is
experienced with the implementation of each component that will comprise the BSimp
system.
Program Manager:
Overall management responsibility for BSimp is assigned to a Program Manager
who is responsible for planning and coordination of the day-to-day technical, contractual,
and financial aspects of the program. The PM is responsible for the generation and
management of all program schedules, for the coordination of program staff assignments
and for coordinating all program activities. The PM's principal assistants are:
Documentation Specialist:
The DS provides overall documentation direction for the Program Team. The DS
will ensure that everyone on the team has met the required documentation specifications,
and that each person is aware of the tasks he/she has been assigned. The DS will also
provide documentation of each meeting in which an overview of tasks assigned is given
Financial/SBIR Specialist:
The FS works in coordination with the rest of the team to devise a specific and
schedule based budget plan, that will be reviewed by each of the team members and
approved by both the PM and the customer. The FS will also determine the best agency
to pursue to get funding for the project. The FS must also compile the materials from
each of the various plans into one SBIR Proposal Document that will be sent to the
agency to request funding.
Marketing Specialist:
The MS is responsible for developing a marketing plan that includes the
specification of an initial target market. The MS is responsible for the development of an
in-depth plan on how to advertise and sell the BSimp program to the specified target
market. The MS must also determine the various risks involved and the best way to
mitigate them.
Webmaster:
The WM is responsible for the creation and maintenance of a product website
which will include the display of all relevant documents and presentations. The WM will
update the website on a weekly basis as new documents and milestones are reached.
Technical Specialist (Hardware and Software Development):
The TS is responsible for making sure the team understands all the aspects of the
technical aspects of the technology involved in the design of the BSimp. Areas of
software research include determining the best programming language to use, an
appropriate tool for the GUI, program control flow, and test plans. Other areas of
research include determining the server specifications and network connection
requirements for the application to run.
Program Duration:
The BSimp program is a planned <number of days from WBS> workday project
starting August 28, 2006. Phase 0, the conception of the project, is schedule from August
– December 2006. The next phase, Phase 1 is Proof of Concept where a lab prototype
will be built along with the creation of several documents including a user's manual will
last from January – May 2007. The Critical Design phase, Phase 2, will last from
<duration of phase 2>, is where the BSimp team will develop and prepare the BSimp
software for the final phase. The final phase, Phase 3, will consist of producing a final
product to sell to the target market. While Phase 3 will last <length of phase 3> working
days, it is understood Phase 3 is the production and out years, which means the program
will review its current state and plan for the future implementations and support.
Work Breakdown Structure:
The program Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) reflects the budgeted cost versus
resources required to complete each task. The WBS phase numbers are integrated as part
of the master program schedule. Assuming SBIR funding, the budget will be carefully
planned out against the set deadlines set by SBIR guidelines. The budgets are created by
the Financial Manager, reviewed by the BSimp program and set by the Program
Manager. The WBS will be used to mark the different milestones throughout the phases
and to make sure the team is on time and under budget. The WBS management tool that
BSimp will use is Microsoft Project.
Program Planning:
The Bound Simplicity program team office will maintain the program master
schedule. The master schedule contains a line item for each WBS element and will be
used to track the progress of each element. All deviations from the master schedule must
be coordinated with the program office. It is the responsibility of each team member to
call attention to possible schedule deviations at the earliest opportunity. The program
office will coordinate the program schedule with Computer Productivity Initiative. The
program will be developed in phases; within each phase, formal reviews will play an
integral part in monitoring program progress. All formal reviews will be announced four
weeks in advance of the starting date.
BSimp will take a “top down approach” to the Program Schedule, meaning that
we will pace our workload to fit the overall Program requirements. Particular attention
will be given to timely milestone completions. It is recognized that the schedule is
particularly tight, containing critical program milestones during the first year, and
adequate personnel will be available in order to keep the program moving forward.
Progress Performance Assessment:
All Bound Simplicity team members will participate in progress reporting and
team management. BSimp will track technical and financial progress of the program.
Reviews will be held monthly or as mutually agreeable between Computer Productivity
Initiative and BSimp.

Report on progress to date

Present work to be performed during the next month

Present status of all deliverables and review planned delivery dates

Plan and coordinate activities, including next review date

Discuss technical or programmatic issues as necessary
In preparation for the meetings the BSimp Program Manager will collect the
current status data on relevant on-going activities, progress against schedule and budget,
and planned activity for the next reporting period. Quality reviews of all program
documentation and procedures will be held periodically. Peer editing groups set by the
PM will hold continual quality reviews.
In particular, the quality program will be
involved with program deliveries and milestones and will work off of the master program
schedule to plan program audits. Technical, financial and quality progress and status
reporting will be conducted according to the following general guidelines.
Technical Progress and Reporting:
The schedule for the program is established during the planning phase and
monitored throughout the performance period. The schedule contains an entry for each
WBS element. The percentage of completion for each WBS element is determined as
necessary to manage program progress and is reviewed at least quarterly during the
General Manager’s review.
Financial Management and Reporting:
The financial profile for the Program is established during the planning phase and
monitored throughout the performance period. Assigning accounting phase numbers to
each WBS element generates this profile.
The PM is provided an information package that identifies the phase numbers
assigned to each WBS activity, the corresponding budgets and schedules, the overall
spending profile for the program, and a synopsis of all major deliverables and milestones
specified in the contract.
The PM uses this information, combined with an on-line financial summary of the
Program to track its financial status on a weekly basis. The Financial Manager on a
monthly basis or upon request provides an updated spending profile automatically to the
PM. The PM uses the financial summary in conjunction with his assessments of technical
progress to track the overall status of the efforts.
Profit and Cost:
Profit will be viewed as all those monies incurred above and beyond the overall
cost of the program. Profit will be reviewed upon later phases to monitor the financial
success of the program.
Cost is calculated by the following formula:

Cost = Labor Costs * Time + Direct Costs + Indirect Costs
Monthly Progress Report:
BSimp will submit a monthly progress reports. The report shall cover, at a minimum, the
following:

Progress Summary

Milestone Deliverables, planned actual and forecast

Cost and Profit report

Dependencies: a ‘critical items list’ of all items, which could jeopardize timely
completion of the work or any significant parts of the program

Risk Status: update of risk register

Look Ahead (Future action and Forecast)

Resource Profile

Work Package/Activities planned, actual & forecast status

Milestone/Deliverables planned, actual & forecast status

Configuration Change Control issues

Quality Actions (Reviews, audits)
Reviews:
Reviews will play an integral part in the management and monitoring of all
phases of Bound Simplicity. Informal reviews with the program team members will be
held at all levels on a bi-weekly basis to ensure that the program stays on track. Formal
technical reviews will be held to ensure that the program is proceeding as planned. The
PM will meet with each team section and ensure that they are up to speed with the course
of the project. In turn, the team members will timely report all successes and difficulties
they have encountered that have had any effect on the course of the project. Formal
reviews will be completed at least every three months. The formal reviews will deal with
those issues that can be fixed in the future, and will also use the evaluation plan as a way
of gauging the success of the program through the current time.
STAFFING AND SCHEDULE / ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN:
The personnel needed for BSimp will change as the project progresses. The
personnel needed for each phase are shown below.
Phase 0
The staff in phase 0 will be used to develop the initial project idea, feasibility and
description. Each member of the phase 0 staff will have an integral part in researching
different aspects necessary to proving the feasibility of and the best plan of action to
develop the project. The staff for phase 0 will also be geared towards developing the
SBIR document and beginning to secure funding.
Phase I
Once the SBIR approval has been reached and funding secured for the project, the
BSimp team will have a slightly different look and feel for phase I. The student team
members will shift into new duties, while still maintaining their individual managerial
roles; Steven, Matt C, and Dan will become the software specialist, while Matt Myers
will become the GUI Developer and Webmaster. Denise will become the Testing
Technician, while Brian will continue to manage all aspects of the project. Experts will
be added in order to provide guidance to the team. These include a Web Application
Expert, a Networking Expert, and a Database Expert.
The primary goal of Phase 1 is to develop a prototype system to prove that
the team can actually develop what is being described. Another objective of phase 1 is to
secure funding for the development of the actual BSimp system. The responsibilities of
each team member are outlined below.
Software Engineers
The software engineers or developers will be responsible for the development of
models and controllers of the BSimp system. The software engineers will work with the
project manager to come up with an overall system design and requirements and then use
their expertise to develop the prototype system.
The software developers will be required to have experience in web application
development, knowledge of the MVC pattern, experience with various web programming
language and databases, and experience using version control systems. The software
developers will be the ODU students who originally began working on the project in
phase 0.
Testing Technician
The testing technician will be responsible for the quality of the prototype system.
The technician will ensure that all modules are properly unit, integration and system
tested. To ensure that each bar or measure of quality is met, the testing technician will
have control over what code is allowed to be entered into the production version of the
prototype.
The testing technician needs a variety of skills. These skills include: knowledge
of version control systems, ability to create test harnesses in various web programming
languages, a knowledge of web application vulnerabilities and databases. The testing
technician for phase 1 will be one of the students from phase 0.
GUI Developer
The responsibilities of the GUI developer are to create an intuitive and easy to use
user interface. The GUI developer must make sure that each service and aspect of the
solution should be easily found and information should be presented in a helpful manner.
GUI developer skills: working with an understanding of current design trends and
human computer interaction is vital. The developer should also have experience with
various photo editing software suites, html, css, and xhtml, and basic understanding of
web programming languages so that the design and logic of the service can be separated.
Web Application Expert
Since undergrad students will be used for the development of the prototype a web
application expert will be necessary to provide guidance. The web application expert will
be used to consult on the design and development of BSimp. The expert will provide
information and details on current design trends and the most useful way to design and
implement the technical aspects of BSimp.
Database Expert
A database expert will be necessary to oversee the construction of the database
structure. The database expert will streamline the database structure and tables used to
run BSimp. The database expert will also consult on the most efficient way to structure
and cache the information stored in the database.
Security Expert
BSimp maintains various student and university information. As such a security
expert will be necessary to ensure that good security practices are used and that the
testing technician is looking for security flaws during the testing phases.
The security expert will be required to have a background in web application and
database security, since those are the main two technologies used to run BSimp.
.
Phase II
University Consultant
Since BSimp is a project aimed and developed for universities, a university
specialist or consultant will be hired. The consultant’s responsibilities include going over
university procedure, providing information on university communication and overseeing
the development to see where his expertise can be applied.
Technical Writer
Responsibilities include creating formal documentation for the BSimp, both for
source code as well as design plans and such.
Required skills and experience: Knowledge of the product and general knowledge
of the programming practices being used as well as a bachelor’s degree, preferably in
English or writing.
Software Engineers
The software engineers or developers will be responsible for the development of
models and controllers of the BSimp system. The software engineers will work with the
project manager to come up with an overall system design and requirements and then use
their expertise to develop the prototype system.
The software developers will be required to have experience in web application
development, knowledge of the MVC pattern, experience with various web programming
language and databases, and experience using version control systems. The software
developers will be the ODU students who originally began working on the project in
phase 0.
Testing Technician
The testing technician will be responsible for the quality of the product. The
technician will ensure that all modules are properly unit, integration and system tested.
To ensure that each bar or measure of quality is met, the testing technician will have
control over what code is allowed to be entered into the production version of Bound
Simplicity.
The testing technician needs a variety of skills. These skills include: knowledge
of version control systems, ability to create test harnesses in various web programming
languages, knowledge of web application vulnerabilities and databases. The testing
technician for phase 1 will be one of the students from phase 0.
GUI Developer
The responsibilities of the GUI developer are to create an intuitive and easy to use
user interface. The GUI developer must make sure that each service and aspect of the
solution should be easily found and information should be presented in a helpful manner.
GUI developer skills: working with an understanding of current design trends and
human computer interaction is vital. The developer should also have experience with
various photo editing software suites, html, css, and xhtml, and basic understanding of
web programming languages so that the design and logic of the service can be separated.
GUI Expert
The GUI expert will oversee the GUI design and aid the GUI developer in
creating a layout that will resonate with university aged students.
Web Application Expert
The web application expert will be used to consult on the design and development
of BSimp. The expert will provide information and details on current design trends and
the most useful way to design and implement the technical aspects of BSimp.
Skills required are: knowledge of current application design trends and previous
experience in developing large scale web applications and services.
Database Expert
A database expert will be necessary to oversee the construction of the database
structure. The database expert will streamline the database structure and tables used to
run BSimp. The database expert will also consult on the most efficient way to structure
and cache the information stored in the database.
Security Expert
BSimp maintains various student and university information. As such a security
expert will be necessary to ensure that good security practices are used and that the
testing technician is looking for security flaws during the testing phases.
The security expert will be required to have a background in web application and
database security, since those are the main two technologies used to run BSimp.
Project Manager:
Responsibilities include assembling the team, contracting with vendors for
necessary supplies (Dell, MySQL, etc.), assign tasks to team members, oversee project to
ensure it is on time and under budget, assist in the development of the product when
needed, ensure all necessary deliverables and milestones are met, act as liaison between
project team and upper management.
Required skills and experience: Bachelors degree in Computer Science. Previous
experience in project management, personnel management, and scheduling preferred.
Phase III
Phase III is the actual production of our product. The Managerial roles of the
team will continue through this phase and will exhibit themselves either in the production
of evaluation of the project. During this phase, the necessary personnel become more
customer oriented rather than technology oriented. The phase requires a software
engineer, a technical support manager, a GUI programmer, a database specialist.
Additionally, we will add a Finance Director, a Marketing Director, a Lawyer, a
Webmaster, several technical support staff and several office staff.
Developer
The developer on staff will be responsible for the customization of BSimp for
each university that it is being marketed to. This includes: changing basic themes and
layouts, adding the basic rule structure to the system for the university.
Required skills: working knowledge of the BSimp system, knowledge of css, xml,
html and experience with PHP and/or Ruby.
Finance Manager
Responsibilities include coordinating the with the marketing director on sales of
BSimp, documenting records for tax recording and auditing purposes, general booking,
forecasting of finances, preparation of financial statements.
Required skills and experience: A bachelor's degree with 2 years of experience in
the field or in a related area. A CPA license is desired.
Tech Support
Responsibilities include troubleshooting BSimp issues, implementing policies and
procedures regarding how problems are identified, received, documented, distributed, and
corrected.
Required skills and experience: A bachelor's degree with at least 2 years of
experience in the field.
Marketing Manager
Responsibilities include coordinating the marketing activities of the Bound
Simplicity including: advertising, direct mailing, printing, customer events, and trade
shows.
Required skills and experience: A bachelor's degree with 2 years of experience in
the field or in a related area.
Lawyer
Responsible include providing legal advice to the organization, preparing
resolutions and forms, and participating in major legal actions, and foreseeing and
protecting the company against legal risks.
Required skills and experience: Must be a graduate of an accredited law school
with 5-8 years of experience and admitted into the state bar.
Risk Management Plan:
Overview:
These are the potential risks to the Bound Simplicity development project. Risks
have been analyzed and classified in two categories: the probability of the risk occurring
and the how difficult it will be to correct the risk should it occur. This listing of risks has
been evaluated and ranked according to these characteristics.
Risk Chart
Risk:
1) No University Support

This is the likelihood and impact of universities not willing to license the
BSimp software. BSimp will be targeting universities as its primary customer.
Therefore, besides the initial SBIR grants, all funding will be provided by a
university customer base.
2) No Student Support

This is the likelihood and impact of student populations within a university
that has licensed the BSimp software. Since BSimp will receive its core
functionality
from
students
actively
participating
in
the
BSimp
communication efforts the functionality will be significantly affected if
students choose not to use it.
3) No Feasible Matches

This is the likelihood and impact of the BSimp rule-based matching engine
being unable to find useful matches between any of the members listed for a
rule-set. Without matches the BSimp system will have no information to
communicate to its users which reduces its functionality.
4) Server Failure

This is the likelihood and impact of the servers which house the BSimp
software being unable to process anymore requests either because of an
inundation of requests or significant hardware failure.
5) Website Failure

This is the likelihood and impact of the BSimp software itself failing to
process the information it has stored, or displaying information to its users.
This would be the result of a software bug.
6) Database Failure

This is the likelihood and impact of the database which stores all BSimp
information failing to retrieve information. A failure would occur due to any
combination of data loss, or server failure.
7) Security/Privacy Issues

This is the likelihood and impact of a student's information being revealed
inadvertently to unverified users.
Mitigation:
Risk Mitigation Chart
Description
Mitigation
University does not
buy-in
Students do not use
2
service
Matches cannot be
3
found
Proper marketing toward universities focusing on
retention
Universities will provide student users (captive
audience)
4 Server failure
Acquire decent hosting with redundancy
1
Universities will provide enough users to minimize this
Scripting error within
Proper and intensive testing
website
Database
6
Regular data backups and redundant hosting
functionality/data lost
Users only provide information they wish to be shared,
7 Security/Privacy
and universities already manage all other private data
5
1) No University Support:
Probability: High
Impact: Very High
With proper marketing this risk can be properly mitigated. The BSimp
organization will rely heavily on its Marketing Director for proper customer relations
during phase 2 and 3 of development. This will insure that a significant customer base is
developed and secured over the course of the project's out-years.
2) No Student Support:
Probability: Low
Impact: Very High
Student use of the BSimp software will be heavily determined by the university's
own adoption of the software once it has purchased a license. If the university properly
supports the software then students will be aware of it. This means that the BSimp team
will work closely with universities who have licensed the software to insure that they are
making the software clearly available for all students. In order to capture the student's
attention and further use it will be important for the BSimp team to develop easy to use
and understand GUI's for the students to interact with. This will insure that the
functionality of the software is quickly grasped by the student population, therefore
encouraging future use.
3) No Feasible Matches:
Probability: Low
Impact: Very High
The availability of feasible matches is heavily dependent on student use of the
BSimp software. As long as enough students use the system and supply regularly updated
information the software will be able to find proper matches for any rule-set. Therefore,
the mitigation to this risk is coupled with the mitigation for insuring student support of
the software.
4) Server Failure:
Probability: Very Low
Impact: High
The BSimp software must be served from a machine capable of processing its
rule-based matching system, as well as serving this information to the university
population that it has been licensed to. In order to avoid server failure the BSimp team
will work closely with the universities that purchase licenses to educate them on adequate
server needs. The BSimp team is also willing to provide co-location plans that allow
universities to license hardware configurations from our offices that would adequately
serve that university's population requirements.
5) Web Site Failure:
Probability: Medium
Impact: Medium
As a software solution to a communication problem the BSimp software will be
liable to technical failures from time to time. However, to avoid this as much as possible
proper testing will be done to each component as they are developed, and integration
testing will be done to the system as a whole once complete. This same rigor of testing
will be applied to all intermittent upgrades, as well. The BSimp team will also provide
24/7 customer support for any problems that may arise when using the software. This,
coupled with a part-time development team during the out-years, will allow the BSimp
team to quickly handle any issues that may come up during the use of the BSimp
software.
6) Database Failure:
Probability: Very Low
Impact: Very High
The BSimp software relies on a database to store all user information that is used
during the rule-based matching process. Due to this it is a possible point of failure in the
software. There are only two ways to avoid database failure: prevention, or rapid
recovery. Prevention is much more difficult but can be adequately handled by housing the
BSimp software and accompanying databases on a robust server solution. Rapid recovery
can be handled by regular backups of the databases. Regular backups can either be as
low-tech as regular tape backups, or as high tech as a robust RAID mirroring array of
hard drives (combined with regular, off-location, and backups).
7) Security/Privacy Issues:
Probability: Very Low
Impact: Very Low
In order to facilitate communication better, the BSimp software must have access
to sensitive student information; both through the school and information that is supplied
directly by the student. A lot of privacy issues can be avoided by simply insuring that the
information is housed on a secure server, in a secure location (one which is only attended
by trustworthy technicians). However, the BSimp software is also liable for protecting
this information through the use of the software itself. In order to do this the BSimp team
will take special care to properly secure all transmissions made to/from the BSimp
servers and each user. Additionally, the way the software works precludes users from
actively searching for other student information, and all information supplied by students
is (by default) being supplied with the intent to allow services to contact each student
based on that information. This means that the BSimp software does not add much onto
the security/privacy risks that universities must already face (and already take care of).
Funding Plan:
In order to make BSimp a success, we must provide enough revenue to cover the
cost of the project. The orange team will submit a Small Business Innovative Research
(SBIR) grant proposal for Phase I and Phase II to the National Science Foundation
(NSF).
The team will apply for small business or government loans to help with
additional funding needed in Phase III.
The National Science Foundation is an organization whose primary goal is to
increase incentives and opportunities to small businesses to take under new cutting edge,
high risk research that has the potential to have an outstanding economic payoff. Under
the Directorate for Engineering Office of Industrial Innovation, is the topic of
Information Technology; this topic solicits many innovative proposals that can increase
quality of business and commerce, industry processes, education, work life and personal
life. The organization break down for BSimp is as followed:
Funding Agency:
National Science Foundation SBIR
Division:
Directorate for Engineering Office of Industrial Innovation
Topic:
Information-Based Technologies (IT)
Subtopic:
Education Applications
Area:
Applications in Support of Learning
Deadline:
June 13, 2007
Awards Amount:
Phase I award:
$100,000
Phase II award:
$750,000
Budget Phase Breakdown:
The BSimp team will be using NSF funding for Phases I and II. For Phase III the
team will apply for small business loans and grants to help with the cost of implementing
BSimp. Below is the breakdown on how the team plans to use the funding:
Phase I
Hardware
Number
Required
Cost
Total Cost
Dell Precision 380
2
$1,490
Linksys Ethernet
Router
1
$60
Number of Hours
Pay Rate
Student Interns x 6
704
$10
$42,240
Security Expert
200
$40
$8,000
Web Application Expert
200
$40
$8,000
Database Expert
200
$40
$8,000
Staffing
$2,980
$60
Overhead (40%)
Total Pay
$27,712
Total Cost
$96,992
Phase II
Staffing
Number of
Hours*
Pay
Rate**
Yearly
Salary
Total Pay
Project Manager
832
$42
$79,128
$34,944
Software Engineer x 3
1368
$35
$65,100
$143,640
Testing Personnel x 2
528
$32
$59,700
$33,792
Graphical Design Expert
400
$31
$57,600
$12,400
Technical Writer
400
$28
$53,500
$11,200
Database Specialist
400
$32
$60,000
$12,800
Security Specialist
600
$33
$62,000
$19,800
Web Application Expert
352
$29
$54,100
$10,208
Overhead (40%)
Total Labor Cost
$111,513
$390,297
Phase III
Staffing
Number of
Hours
Pay Rate
Yearly
Salary
Total Pay
$23,100
Project Manager
550
$42
$79,128
Marketing Director
1848
$33
$62,600
Finance Director
480
$34
$63,200
$16,320
Developer
300
$35
$65,100
$10,500
Customer Support Tech
x2
1000
$20
$37,600
$40,000
Lawyer
100
$200
$378,775
$20,000
Overhead (40%)
Total Labor Cost
$60,984
$68,362
$239,266
Evaluation Plan:
BSimp will be evaluated comprehensively in order to ensure a complete and
robust product that will be destined for success. The individual phases of the project, as
well as the project as a whole will be evaluated based on specific criteria. The testing and
evaluation periods of the project are outlined in the WBS.
Although we have
documented and placed these items on the project timeline, we have recognized the need
to be flexible and to “take a step back” to look at the project to ensure we are reasonable
and complete with our efforts. As noted in the WBS, all phases will be considered
complete when the tasks that are associated within the phase are successful and this
success is documented.
Each phase will be evaluated based on the evaluation checklist for that phase.
Evaluation will occur every 3 months or as deemed necessary by the PM. The evaluation
checklist consists of four identification points. They are as follows:

Marketing: the current target customers, the scope of this market audience and an
updated list of competitors will be validated.

Management: scheduling, task breakdown analysis, application of human
resources, and overall project scope is included in this evaluation identification
point.

Technical: the components of the software, hardware, interfaces and overall
system will be evaluated for completion, and interoperability.

Cost: the scheduled budget for the current phase will be evaluated for cost
efficiency, funding allocation, and mitigation/impacts of potential risks.
Marketing:
The identification of customers, market share, and competition helps to mold how
the product will eventually look. In order for user acceptance to occur, the market must
be explored for consistency or for changes in societal and technological trends.
Success is when the following are obtained:

Customer base is clearly and accurately defined

Documentation is up to date on competitive threats
Management:
The BSimp team is driven by upholding professionalism amongst its team
members. The team will strive to become a performing team as quickly as possible, as
well as to maintain this performing status. This will require oversight and insight from
the team leader and constant positive communication amongst the team members.
Viewpoints and ideas are to be respected and discussed with only constructive criticism.
On an aggressive project like BSimp, negativity is the breeding ground for failure.
Success is when the following are obtained:

Collaboration is the leading factor in discussions

Open, Honest, and Direct Communication is present

Each members’ contributions are satisfactory

Schedule for meetings clearly articulated

Every meeting is documented
Cost:
One of the largest driving factors of all projects is the bottom line (how much will
it cost and how much will I profit from it). Each phase of the project hinges on the
funding and the wise spending of this funding. Truly, the only successful way to migrate
into the next phase of the project and to achieve success of the outlined goals in the WBS
is to be sensitive to the cost. The break even points for the business and its sustainability
must be monitored by all team members. Forecasting, budgeting, and reconciliations will
all prove critical tools in this indication point.
Success is when the following are obtained:

Budget that meets the SBIR funding allocated

Budget broken down by phase and reviewed periodically

Break-even point is documented and realized
Technical:
There are four components in determining the technical success of the project:
hardware, software, interfaces and overall system integration.
Software:
Software is managed and evaluated under the Capability Maturity Model
Integration (CMMI: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/cmmi.html).
Testing will be performed whenever new features are added to ensure
functionality. Integration testing will be performed at every level of development.
Hardware:
The hardware to be used will undergo exhaustive testing (if it performs well under
a heavy load, then other states will be non-issues). The network infrastructure will be
also tested to determine sufficiency of bandwidth.
Interfaces:
The interfaces are the key aspect to creating the community on BSimp. With our
first instantiation to be housed at ODU, we must successfully create the tie in to their SIS,
which is Banner. Other schools will have different SISes that will need to be accounted
for. By creating a model for the Banner information pull, these principles and data
elements will be examined and documented for future implementations.
System:
The system will be tested to ensure that the software and hardware components
work together seamlessly to provide a quality product. Rigorous in-house testing will be
performed on a regular basis and in fact may encapsulate both the hardware and software
testing once both facets of the project are sufficiently complete.
Success is assured when the following are obtained:

Functioning GUI prototype

Functional interface with Enrollment Database

Functional hooks to enterprise level databases

Documentation of interoperability components are published

Functional integration of hardware and software

Technical documentation for software and hardware
Testing Defined:
The BSimp project is going to be taking a unique approach to testing. There are
three identification points that must be evaluated by an expert on the team. These are
outline in the WBS and listed below:

Marketing: Marketing Director

Management: Project Manager and Operations Manager

Cost: Financial Director and Risk Manager
It should be noted that the Technical testing and evaluation are missing from the
above list. This is where the uniqueness of BSimp’s evaluation plan coming into being.
As contained in our WBS, BSimp is gong to hire 1 testing technician in Phase 1. This
individual will eventually become the lead BSimp expert in the technical realm. We will
hire another testing technician in Phase 2 and will continue with the two technician
approach throughout the project. When we have achieved success and are experiencing
the out-years portion of the project, we will convert the testing technicians to BSimp
Experts. These experts will act as second layer support to the BSimp system, as well as
becoming intimately involved in the inner workings of BSimp.
Resource Plan:
Abstract: This document describes what hard resources are required to complete the
BSIMP project. The resources are broken into four phases ranging from 0-3. Each phase
will provide a short description of why the resources are needed and the estimated cost
associated.
Phase 0:
Phase 0 is primarily the idea phase of the project and thus does not require any
hard resource requirements.
Phase 1:
The objective in Phase 1 is to prove the concept that this product is needed and it
is technically feasible. We will develop and test a basic prototype of BSimp
Hardware:
Dell Poweredge 1430
Linksys - 4-Port Ethernet Broadband Router
Dell 19 inch UltraSharp™ 1907FP Flat Panel
2
1
2
Total Hardware Cost:
$2,750 $5,250
$60
$60
$0
$0
$5,910
Dell Poweredge 1430 (server) – At this phase in the project we will be purchasing two
server computers from Dell to develop the prototype. One computer will be utilized as a
server for development and the other will be a testing server.
Dell 19 inch UltraSharp™ 1907FP Flat Panel – These monitors come with the Dell
Poweredge 1430 (Server).
Linksys - 4-Port Ethernet Broadband Router - Connects up to 4 computers to share
broadband Internet access, files, printers and more. It comes equipped with a built-in 4port switch and an advanced SPI firewall.
At this phase in the project we will be utilizing the software licenses and
workstations acquired through Old Dominion University.
Phase 2:
The objective in Phase 2 is to design and develop a functional prototype and
design testing scenarios that will accurately represent conditions that our product will
confront. We will be producing production specifications, contracts, management plan,
personnel plan, test and evaluation plan, and marketing plan.
Software:
Microsoft Office 2003 Pro
MSDN Universal Subscription
Microsoft Project 2003 Standard
Macromedia Studio 8
Microsoft Project Server 2003
Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium
Windows® Server 2003, Web Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP 2
Total Software Cost:
*included in hardware purchase
Number
Required
7
2
6
2
2
2
3
6
Cost
$499
$2,799
$599
$1,000
$999
$415
$0
$0
Total
Cost
$3593
$5,598
$3594
$2,000
$1998
$830
$0 *
$0 *
$17,613
6
1
1
1
7
$2,425
$2,750
$1,478
$473
$25
$14,550
$2,750
$1,478
$473
$175
7
$0
$0 *
$19,426
Hardware:
Dell Precision 690
Dell PowerEdge SC1430
Cisco 2610XM T1 Router
Dell Color Laser Printer 3100c
25' CAT6 Network Cables
Dell 19 inch UltraSharp™ 1907FP Flat
Panel
Total Hardware Cost:
*included in hardware purchase
Total Resource Cost:
$37,039
Dell Precision 690 (Workstation PC) – There will be 6 team members in phase 2,
therefore 6 workstations will be required. The systems will have Microsoft Windows XP
Professional, Microsoft Office Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 suite, Microsoft Project and
Microsoft Project Server. Two of the machines will also feature Macromedia Studio 8
and Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium for GUI development.
Dell PowerEdge SC1430 (Server) - This server will be utilized for file, print, and
application serving for the development team. The server will be installed with
Windows® Server 2003, Web Edition.
Dell Color Laser Printer 3100c – Used to print our documents and other necessary hard
copies.
Cisco 2610XM T1 Router – This is used to network the computers together. In phase 2
we will be developing and testing the functional prototype. We will need a larger, more
stable network. This justifies the more expensive Cisco router.
25' CAT6 Network Cables – These are used to patch the PCs into the switch.
Dell 19 inch UltraSharp™ 1907FP Flat Panel – These monitors come with the Dell
Precision 690 (Workstation PC) and Dell Poweredge SC1430.
All software must be updated as new versions are released and as new hardware is
purchased.
Phase 3:
The objective in phase 3 is to produce and sell our product. We will also need to
support existing customers for a negotiated timeframe, until they train there own support
team.
All software must be updated as new versions are released and as new hardware is
purchased.