Project Objective and Scope
The project aims at development of a new business portal for Sisense. A new business portal for the organization is needed because Sisense is an old company that started in early 2000s (Sisense 2018). The business processes of the organization are quite old and therefore it is needed to be redesigned. The organization works on simplifying the complex data preparation, analysis and visualization of the data. This helps the business to grow without the need for cumbersome and expensive IT investments. The business portal of the organization is to be modified or redesigned in order to make it easier for the clients to apply for the services in Sisense and would be easier for the organization to manage the different business process as well. The development of the new business portal is done keeping is mind the existing services of the organization. This was essential so that the employees can easily adopt the new business portal. The new business portal that is to be developed is expected to address the existing operational problems of the organization, which include difficulties in taking the orders from the client, the problems in product management and supply chain management along with the operational inefficiency. The project is expected to address these problems and enhance the business process of the organization. The new business portal of the organization is expected to develop a good customer relationship. The customers will be able to solve their queries easily as the new business portal will enable a direct interactive platform with the administrator. This increases the customer’s satisfaction, which is a positive point to any business. The business portal to be developed will therefore help in improving the existing business operation of Sisense and therefore the project is justified as it aims at development of a new business portal that will enhance the business process of the organization and will help in better managements of the projects undertaken by the organization and the customers.
The aim of the project is to increase the business opportunity of the organization by redesigning the business portal. It is expected to increase the customer reach and will automate the process of taking orders from the clients. The new business portal is to be developed in order to eliminate the operational inefficiencies that the existing business processes of the organization results in. The project aims at removing the operational efficiencies so that it becomes easier for the clients to reach the organization. The new business portal is expected to be more user friendly and customer centric. This will enhance the different business process of the organization. The aim of the project is to improve the business processes of Sisense.
Project Management Plan Deliverables
The new business portal that is to be designed is expected to update certain business details that will help the customers in understanding the services that are offered by the organization (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). The new business portal is expected to enhance the business operations of the organization since the new portal will enable regular report generation, generation of project progress report and live data updates that will help the management in better tracking of the orders booked and the milestones completed in an ongoing project.
Constraints
The project is undertaken in order to enhance the business process of the organization. The project constraint is that the maintenance cost is not included in the project budget. The schedule of the project is estimated considering the average implementation time for each project. The occurrence of certain unexpected delays or risks might result in delay in the project and therefore the project schedule is one of the major constraints associated with the project. Any delays in the project schedule can result in increase in the project cost which is not considered while developing the project budget. Therefore, cost is another major constraint associated with the development of a new business portal for Sisense.
Assumptions
In development of the project plan, certain assumptions are made. These assumptions are as follows (Harrison and Lock 2017)-
- The project team members will be working eight hours per day and five days a week starting from Monday to Friday.
- It is assumed that all the resources will be readily available at the time of project implementation.
- It is assumed that the rate of materials and the labours will remain fixed throughout the project implementation phase.
- It is assumed that the project can be completed within the set schedule and the estimated budget.
- It is assumed that the project risk management will be performed at the initiation phase of the project.
Key Deliverables
The key deliverables of the project are as follows (Schwalbe 2015)-
- Meeting with Sisense Board and delivery of the project Plan
- Requirements gathering and delivery of the project charter
- Performing the feasibility study of the project
- Calculating and producing the Budget of the Project
- Delivery of the developed software platform
- Development and delivery of the developed business portal after connecting it with the central server
- Error Detection and debugging
- Project handover and closing the project
These are the major deliverables of the project. The successful completion of each project deliverable is subjected to the completion of a number of smaller project tasks or phases (Lane et al. 2012). The deliverables of the project are set keeping in mind the selection of the aims and objectives of the project.
The project management plan that is prepared for the project is a formal document that is used to manage the execution of the project. This document will be a guide for the team members while executing the project (Martinelli and Milosevic 2016). This is because the project management plan identifies the project scope and goals, the concept of the project, project feasibility and further gives an idea of the stakeholders involved with the project. This document will therefore be helpful in identifying properly the project implementation process.
The Cost estimated for the project is represented in the following table (Pheng 2018)-
Sisense Project Cost Estimate |
|||||
Units/Hrs. |
Cost/Unit/Hr. |
Subtotals |
WBS Level 1 Totals |
% of Total |
|
WBS Items |
|||||
1. Project Management |
|
|
|
$2,57,400 |
15% |
1.1 Project manager |
112 |
$150 |
$16,800 |
||
1.2 Project team members |
2000 |
$80 |
$1,60,000 |
||
Contractors (10% of software development and testing) |
$80,600 |
||||
2. Hardware |
|
|
|
$3,00,000 |
17% |
2.1 Handheld devices |
500 |
$500 |
$2,50,000 |
||
2.2 Servers |
10 |
$5,000 |
$50,000 |
||
3. Software |
|
|
|
$7,60,000 |
44% |
3.1 Licensed software |
200 |
$300 |
$60,000 |
||
3.2 Software development |
$7,00,000 |
||||
4. Testing (10% of total hardware and software costs) |
|
|
$1,06,000 |
$1,06,000 |
6% |
5. Testing and Debugging |
|
|
|
$1,50,000 |
9% |
5.1 Testing Cost |
200 |
$300 |
$60,000 |
||
5.2 Debugging Cost |
100 |
$100 |
$10,000 |
||
5.3 Project team members |
1000 |
$80 |
$80,000 |
||
6. Reserves (10% of total estimate) |
|
|
$1,57,340 |
$1,57,340 |
9% |
Total project cost estimate |
$17,30,740 |
Table 1: Representing the Cost estimated for the project
The Cost estimate for the project is calculated considering the schedule of the project. The second column of the project cost considers the number of units that will be working per hour in the project. This column is filled on basis of the work schedule that is the number of unit multiplied by the time the unit will remain engaged with the project work. The hardware and the software cost are estimated on basis of the software that will be developed in the project and the hardware requirements of the project.
Business Portal Development Process
In order to manage the cost of the project, the project is to be implemented according to the planned approach. It is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that the project is implemented according to the plan. The daily progress report is to be circulated to the team members so that they have a proper idea of the project progress (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). Timely project implementation will ensure that there is no extra expenditure in the project.
The project might include change in project scope and therefore proper change management plan is essential in order to control the cost of the project. Since the budget of the project is estimated according to the deliverables and the schedule of the project, Microsoft Project software is used in scheduling and preparation of the project budget.
The Parameters for ROM includes the cost of the project per phase and the level of effort required. The cost estimation technique used in cost estimation is parametric estimating. The cost baseline is based on the amount of work that is complemented in a particular time. The variable cost management method is considered. The acceptable parameter of the project is that the new portal to be developed should be user friendly. The similar other historic projects are considered while developing this budget. The use of skilled labors and resources ensure that the project is completed within a set schedule and the budget of the project (Kerzner 2017). It is expected that the project will be delivered within the set schedule.
References
Agile Business Intelligence Tool for Complex Data | Sisense. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.sisense.com/why-sisense/
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2017. Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring and monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons.
Lane, J., Barker, T., Lewis, J.R. and Moscovitz, M., 2012. Keeping a Project on Track. In Foundation Website Creation with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript (pp. 11-30). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Martinelli, R.J. and Milosevic, D.Z., 2016. Project management toolbox: tools and techniques for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.
Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and technology. Taylor & Francis.
Pheng, L.S., 2018. Project cost management. In Project Management for the Built Environment (pp. 97-112). Springer, Singapore.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.