Free «IT Management Project» Essay Sample

Identify the stakeholders of the project

The project’s stakeholders are all of those parties and/or individuals that are directly involved in the project and have some stake or some interest in the project’s development and successful completion. This being said, in the development project for an Online Registration for Alain University of Science and Technology, the first stakeholder is clearly the university itself. The University is interested in getting the project completed so that it can have an online presence for potential undergraduate/graduate students in each of the programs it offers. As well, it is important to point out that the University can benefit from online registration insomuch as it enhances efficiency and minimizes costs.

The project’s second stakeholder would be Sedona Management Group (SMG). This company, which specializes in developing custom software for Websites, intranet, extranet, and electronic commerce applications, is in charge of developing the University’s online registration. SMG’s interest lies not only in the fact that they have been commissioned for developing the online registration site, but also because successful and punctual completion reflects well on the company’s image and prestige inside its market niche. SMG is interested in doing a good job, because this might signify more business in the future.

Thirdly, high school graduates that are about to enroll as college freshmen are also stakeholders in this project; college graduates seeking continued graduate studies are stakeholders too. The online registration site is being developed for their benefit, so that they can have access to the university’s programs and register if they find any program that catches their interest. These potential students are interested in having detailed information on educational programs; they are also interested of being able to begin registration processes rapidly and easily in case they decide to register.

Show the major deliverables as milestones.

In completing the University’s Online Registration Project, there are certain major deliverable milestones that must be taken into consideration. The first of these milestones would naturally be rendering the results of the activity definition process. First, SMG must identify exactly what needs to be done in order to deliver a project that meets all of the University’s needs. The other deliverable milestones will naturally be each of the core activities previously identified (as these activities will ultimately allow for SMG to articulate a successfully completed project.). Following this line of thought, the second major deliverable milestone will be the site’s database design; this design is quintessential as it will be the actual site’s blueprint and its foundation. Third, SMG will have to deliver the content that will be presented in the actual site. This will require research as to what the University offers and what it wants for potential new students to view once they log into the site.

Fourth, the SMG team will have to deliver a finalized layout design of how the content will be displayed on the actual website once it is launched. At the same time, when completing the layout’s design, the actual web site’s presentation will also have to be delivered so that the University can visualize what the finished website will actually look like. A fifth major deliverable milestone would naturally be the connection between the presentation layer and the website’s database. This connection is quintessential for the project’s success given that it will ultimately allow for the users to be able to browse through the site and go from one window to another without any complications (and without the site crashing altogether). Finally, the finalized website also needs to be delivered to the University; the last major deliverable milestone is the actual finished project (which will be completed once the system has been implemented successfully).

Identify some challenges that you and your team members will face in following this schedule.

Challenges that might be faced by either me or my team members in following the schedule might include technical malfunctions. For example, it could happen that the system being worked on crashes; it could also happen that there is no Internet access. Another factor might be of an unexpected nature. Tardiness to work due to a traffic jam might be a good example. As well, medical impediments such as suffering from fever or any other disease; an accident involving either me or anyone in my team would also constitute a health constraint threatening the project.

Furthermore, there could be problems in communicating with the customer and having clarity as to what the University wants from their Online Registration Website. If the University is not forthcoming with information regarding site content, layout design, and/or visual presentation, this could also be costly for the company and generate tardiness in the overall execution of the plan.

Identify and explain different techniques you will use during the life cycle of the project to manage project time.

First and foremost, throughout each of the stages of the project’s life cycle, there is a need of a strong adhesion to scheduling. Planning is one of the stages of the project life cycle, and the schedule developed throughout that second stage of the cycle must be kept unless it is impossible to do so. In order to facilitate keeping up with the schedule, it would be advisable for the work team to meet periodically and discuss what developments have been made in each of the tasks being worked on (or setbacks, in case there may be any). During these meetings, it would be possible to monitor the project’s development and make any changes that might be required to guarantee that deadlines will be met and that the customer will not experience any delays. For example, additional resources might be put into a particular task to make sure that it is completed in time. Another alternative might be to work in a parallel fashion instead of a sequential manner; this would save time tremendously.