The Project Intake Proposal process is a service offered by the Portfolio and Strategy area of the Portfolio Management group in IST. The process includes identification of the various elements required for successful IT project delivery, including analysis of risk and long-term sustainability. The service supports decision making processes that enable IST to be engaged and its clients (customers) to collaboratively develop, evaluate and discourse project ideas.
The project intake process includes completing a project intake proposal, a business case, contact from the Portfolio &
Strategy group regarding the proposal, and discussion/decision meetings. The end result of this process is a funded, strategically aligned, feasible project request/idea, collaboratively reviewed by appropriate committees or business stakeholders. The procedure stages an approved project proposal for project initiation where a project charter is developed and a project manager is assigned.
The information provided in the proposal will help to:
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 understand factors such as strategic alignment, financial requirements, people resources, risks and timing constraints that may affect the project;
 assess long-term sustainability and feasibility of the project's solution;
 provide valuable information for project sponsors, collaborators and team members for dialogue, collaborative decision-making, and project progression purposes; provide visibility into IT work; identify who needs to be involved in/informed of decisions regarding the proposal; and create a solid foundation of information related to the project and overall portfolio.
You are asked to complete the project intake proposal and business case. Please submit your proposal and business for a project involving IST resources to Portfolio Management. Any and all information and questions are welcome. It is understood that the information provided is what is known at the time submission, and serves as a basis for meeting and discussion to progress the project.
Please review the definition of a project as described on the IT Portfolio Management web page.
1.
Proposal Date:
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2.
Project Name:
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3.
Project Contacts (where known):
Business Owner
Name
Project Sponsor
Project Manager
Key contact for this proposal
4.
Is the project part of a program?
☐ YES ☐ NO
Department
If YES, please specify the name of the program.
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Email Phone

Key Program
Contact
Name Department Email Phone
5.
Project Description <Description of initiative and business need/problem being addressed>
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6.
At this time, are the project’s business requirements well-defined and understood?
☐ YES ☐ NO
7.
Are the project’s business requirements complex?
☐ YES ☐ NO
8.
Current workaround(s) in place < Indicate what actions are being taken today to address the need before project is completed>
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9.
Expected benefits of completing the project < Please describe known tangible and intangible benefits. E.g. Increased user satisfaction, $50,000 savings in operational costs>
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10.
Would unsuccessful completion of the project damage the University’s reputation?
☐ YES ☐ NO
11.
What are the missed opportunities of not doing the project?
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12.
What are the business challenges if the project is not done?
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13.
The University of Waterloo collects, uses, maintains, discloses and disposes of information for the purposes of operating the programs and business functions of the University in a manner consistent with the Freedom of
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). Does the project proposal involve Personal or other Sensitive
Information?
☐ YES ☐ NO
*Please Note: As a publicly-funded institution which operates with a high degree of autonomy and self-regulation, the
University of Waterloo affirms the importance of the principle of freedom of information and the obligation to conduct its operations as much as possible in ways which are open to public scrutiny. The University is also committed to the protection of the privacy of those who work and study at the University.
If you have any questions or concerns about the University of Waterloo's approach to providing access to information or protecting privacy, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page or contact Waterloo's Privacy Officer .
14.
This project involves a substantial amount of change (disruption) to existing technology, business processes, procedures and/or policies and could lead to a short-term decrease in productivity during project implementation.
☐ YES ☐ NO
15.
Successful or unsuccessful delivery of the project will have consequences in the following areas:
Departments Impacted How are these areas impacted?

16.
End users are likely to include the following constituent groups: <Mark all that apply>
☐ Current undergraduate students
☐ Current graduate students
☐ Future undergraduate students
☐ Future graduate students
☐ Faculty
☐ Staff
☐ Alumni
☐ Employers
☐ Other <Please specify>
17.
Other Dependencies <List all projects or activities that this request is dependent on>
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18.
Mandatory Project ☐ YES ☐ NO
If “YES”, please select reason:
☐ Mandatory (Directive/Compliance-Related/Funding-Related including Audit, Regulatory,
Legislated Change, Policy and “Use it or Lose it” Funding)
☐ Mandatory (Stay-in-Business including Software Compliance for continuing vendor support)
Comments:
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19.
Department Priority
< Please indicate by Importance and Urgency rating the Priority of this project for your department and provide comments, as appropriate>
Importance of project to department:
☐ High ☐ Medium ☐ Low
Comments: >
Urgency of project to department
☐ High ☐ Medium ☐ Low
Comments: >
20.
Requested Project Completion / Delivery Timeline
Requested Delivery Date:
Reason for Requested Date: <Indicate any time sensitive factors that affect the requested delivery date.>
21.
Funding for this project is still to be secured.

☐ YES ☐ NO
22.
Is there anything involved in delivering this project that may not have been budgeted?
☐ YES ☐ NO
If Yes, please comment.
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23.
Does the project require substantial training for successful project implementation?
☐ YES ☐ NO
24.
Is integration with other systems expected as part of this project?
☐ YES ☐ NO
If YES, please describe any systems or software applications that require linking or may need to “talk” to each other.
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25.
Is procurement of an IT solution and/or consulting services part of the project?
☐
YES
☐
NO
Supporting Documents
<Please list any supporting document (links or attachments) for this proposal>
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Thank you for proposing a new project using the Project Intake Process form.
Service Commitment and Project Intake Meeting: A member of IST’s Portfolio Management Group will make contact within three (3) business days with the Key Contact, as identified above to schedule a Project Intake Meeting for the purpose of discussing the proposed project, using the information provided, and deciding how to proceed.
Confirmation of Project Request details: Prior to the Intake Meeting, a member of IST’s Portfolio Management Group will electronically provide an overview of the process and follow-up on details of the project request, in preparation for the intake meeting.
After the Project Intake Meeting: The Project Intake Process form will be updated and distributed, by IST’s Portfolio
Management Group, to communicate the decision about how to proceed with proposed project as well as the suggested project management approach (as appropriate).
For More Information: see a complete overview of the Project Intake Process (embedded link).

Feel free to answer any of the following questions prior to the intake meeting.
<Indicate how this initiative aligns to components of the current University, departmental and/or IT Strategic Plan(s).>
A.
>Please comment on how this project aligns with the University Strategic Plan v1.0 2013
>
B.
>Please comment on how this project aligns with your department’s Strategic Plan
>
C.
˃ Together, when meeting with members of the IST Department to discuss this project, we will discuss how this project aligns with the IT Strategic Objectives (v6.4) found in the IT Strategic Plan.
Intake Meeting Notes >
< Please indicate measurable criteria by which the delivery/completion of the project would be considered successful>
>
☐ Application(s)
__ New __Enhancement
__Replacement
☐ Service(s)
__ New __Enhancement
☐ Hardware or Other Equipment
__ New __Enhancement
__Replacement
__Replacement
☐ Other
< Please expand on the Anticipated Technology Involvement – provide enough detail, including name of application/service, and any links or associations to systems used by the University, so that the type of work, its size and impact can be assessed. If Anticipated Technology Involvement includes new applications, services, hardware or other equipment, then please expand on what options have been considered>
>
Enterprise Architecture (EA) is the overall representation of the organization’s business and information technology. EA plays a key role in formulating strategic plans and offers architectural principles, standards and policies to guide the procurement, development and deployment of an integrated technology to meet the business needs within an enterprise.

This project involves technology changes that do not fit with currently supported Enterprise Architecture and requires an exception: <Indicate and describe below>
☐ Yes
☐ No
☐ Unknown
>
Deliverables are often considered to be the tangible goods and services provided to internal or external project
“customers” once the project has been completed. Examples of deliverables can be training documentation, a new software application, a server hardware upgrade, and improved course registration services.
< Identify the deliverables and any time sensitivities for this project>
Deliverable Name Proposed Completion Date
When we think about planning for the project, we need to think about what activities and deliverables (see definition above) are within the project’s boundaries or mandate and which activities and deliverables are outside (not on the project’s “To Do” list).
In-Scope: <List activities that are In-Scope for this request e.g. procurement of solution and/or resources>
>
Out-of-Scope: < List activities that are Out-of-Scope for this request e.g. integration>
>
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Small
Medium
Large
Light Project Coordination
Moderate Project Management
Substantial Project Management by a Skilled Project Manager

The chart will assist in determining the complexity of your Waterloo IT project.
RISK RESOURCES
How likely is it that the project will meet expectations and objectives without close risk monitoring and mitigations?
How costly is the project in terms of expenses AND average salary of FTEs required to meet project expectations and objectives?
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
Small Sized,
Managed Work
Project
(short timeframe, no more than a few months)
Very likely: Risks are low impact, low likelihood with no required identification of mitigations
Little Cost: <= $40,000 in expenses and average resource FTE
Light project coordination
Medium Sized,
Moderate
Complexity Project
Somewhat Likely: Risks are low-medium impact with low-medium likelihood.
Some mitigation may have to be identified in advance and risks may have to be monitored for changes.
Somewhat Costly: <=
$250,000 in expenses and average resource
FTE
OR
(medium timeframe, does not exceed one year)
Little Cost: <= $40,000 in expenses and average resource FTE
Moderate project management
Moderate project management
Very likely: Risks are low impact, low likelihood with no required identification of mitigations
Costly: > $250,000 in expenses and average resource FTE (many resources, usually spanning many departments)
OR

Somewhat Costly: <=
$250,000 in expenses and average resource
FTE
Large Sized,
Substantial
Complexity Project
(long timeframe, close to a year or longer)
Unlikely: These projects are typically cross functional with high impact. There will be high impact risks, with high probability. Mitigations will have to be identified in advance and risks will have to be continuously monitored and reassessed throughout project.
Costly: > $250,000 in expenses and average resource FTE (many resources, usually spanning many departments)
OR
Somewhat Costly: <=
$250,000 in expenses and average resource
FTE
Somewhat Likely: Risks are low-medium impact with low-medium likelihood.
Some mitigation may have to be identified in advance and risks may have to be monitored for changes.
Costly: > $250,000 in expenses and average resource FTE (many resources, usually spanning many departments)
Heavy project management by a skilled Project Manager
Heavy project management by a skilled Project Manager
High Risk Questions to ask if there are project dependencies.
1.
This project’s dependencies and linkage projects can be described as highly dependent, because the project cannot proceed without deliverables from linkage projects.
☐ YES ☐ NO
2.
Linkage projects are high risk initiatives.
☐ YES ☐ NO