Exercise 6

Schwalbe P.243 - Chapter 6, Ex 4

You have been asked to determine a rough schedule for a nine-month Billing System Conversion Project, as part of your job as a consultant to a Fortune 500 firm. The firm's old system was written in COBOL on a mainframe computer, and the maintenance costs are prohibitive. The new system will run on an off-the-shelf application. You have identified several high-level activities that must be done in order to initiate, plan, execute, control, and close the project. Table 6-4 shows your analysis of the project's tasks and schedule so far.

a. Using the information in Table 6-4, draw horizontal bars to illustrate when thing each task would logically start and end. Then use Project 2003 to create a Gantt chart and network diagram based on this information.

b. Identify at least two milestones that could be included under each of the process groups in Table 6-4. Then write a detailed description of each of these milestones that meets the SMART criteria.



Horizontal Bar Chart



Gantt Chart




Milestone 1: Project charter signed - SMART criteria

• Specific - A formal commitment.
• Measurable - Done at the moment of signatures down in black and white.
• Assignable - All sponsors and responsible parties are involved.
• Realistic - It is an achievable and important event.
• Time-framed - It has to be scheduled in an appropriate time to signify formal approval and kick-off of the project.

Milestone 2: Team contract signed - SMART criteria

• Specific - A formal commitment.
• Measurable - All details set and confirmed by signatures.
• Assignable - Clear job allocation announced by Project Manager, and acknowledged by concerned staff.
• Realistic - It is an achievable event.
• Time-framed - It has to be signed off before commencement of jobs.

Reference

Schwalbe, K. (2006). Information Technology Project Management (4th ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Thomson Course Technology.