Project Discovery Document
Project Name:
Project Number:
Project Manager:
Sponsor:
Document Version and Date: (mm/dd/yyyy-Vx.y)
Project Type:
Refer to the “Project Types” section in the Discovery stage of the ITS Project Management Framework
for more information.
Related Projects: (List any related projects)
Project Classification (Use these as guidelines):
Characteristic
Low
Medium
High
Complexity
Deliverables, requirements,
High
and technology are well
Medium
understood
Low
Deliverables, requirements,
and technology are mostly
understood
Deliverables & requirements
have elements that are
complex and/or the
technology is new to campus
Impact
High
Medium
Low
<50 users, or
Minimal change, or
Minimal political interest
51-1000 users, or
Moderate change, or
Moderate political interest
>1000 users, or
Significant change, or
Highly political
Resources
High
Medium
Low
<5 people, or
40-500 hours of staff and
customer effort, or capital
funding < $25K
5-10 people, or
500-2080 hours of staff and
customer effort, or capital
funding $25K - $100K
>10 people, or
>2080 hours of staff and
customer effort, or capital
funding > $100K
Aligns directly with ITS goals
or key initiatives
Aligns directly with strategic
goals of the University or IT
Strategic Plan
Alignment
Project at customer request;
High
Not consistent with ITS
Medium
strategic direction
Low
Urgency
High
Medium
Low
Project has no required
completion date
Project has a flexible
completion date
Project has aggressive
deadlines
Dependencies
High
Medium
Low
Does not rely upon other
projects or availability of
resources
Some progress can be made,
but completion relies on other
projects or availability of
resources.
Any progress relies on other
projects or availability of
resources.
Overall Project Classification:
Governance Level:
Bronze
ITS Workgroup
Collegiate/Niche
Silver
ITS Department
 Collegiate/Divisional
Gold
Org (ITS)
 Enterprise
Discovery Stage Outcomes (select one and optionally add comments)

Move forward to Planning Stage

More information requested [come back]

Cancel

Hold for some other reason
Discovery Template v 3.0
Comments
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Project Discovery Document
The purpose of Discovery is to communicate with the Directors what problem you’re trying to solve,
any questions you may have for the Directors, and to determine if the project should move on to the
Planning stage.
Project Overview
Provide a brief summary of the proposed project, including the goals, objectives, and other key
Project
Overview
considerations. You should also provide background information as to why this Project is being brought
forward for consideration (e.g., mandate, customer request, service improvement, etc.).
The Overview should be brief—no more than one to two pages.
To upload a Project Discovery document to the Project List, select the project entry from the list. On the
project details page, click “Edit Item”. On the Edit page, click “Attach File”. Browse to the location of the
file, select it, and click “Open”. Click the OK button and then click “Save and Close” on the toolbar.
[You should remove this text before sharing or posting the document.]
Discovery Template v 3.0
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