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Running head: CIS 517 Week 10 Technical Paper
Technical Term Project Paper
CIS 517
Executive summary:
This plan walks through the Data center migration and Network design project plan that needs to
be undertaken for Fiction Corporation. There is an organized study of the problem and the
approach that can be followed to solve it in a planned comprehensive manner. We’ll start with
the study of the various project goals and then move on to break down our strategic goals into
small term tasks. After careful analysis, we’ll come up with a plan to migrate the Data-center.
Some proposals pertaining to network design change are also made. Our approach keeps in mind
the business needs of Fiction Corporation. We have taken the required uptime and financial
constraints into consideration. The plan includes all the processes and knowledge areas, a
complete implementation plan has been discussed together with the time-line, resource
utilization plan and budget figures. Our team has the credentials to carry out the outlined work.
We have expertise in project management, networking and internetworking. To back this claim,
we have certifications under our belt (PMP). A team of 10 such experts will be allocated to
Fiction Corporation’s project.
Data center Migration project: Goals
As this project deals with a major Data-center problem of Fiction Corporation, it is an ambitious
project with various project goals. Let us look at the major project goals.
Migration of Data center:
Fiction Corporation needs to shift one of its data centers from its current location to the
headquarters (several miles away). The shift has to be a smooth one. It should not affect daily
operational activities of the company. There has to be a duplication of Data storage at the remote
location. And only when the new site is ready for hosting operations, the old site will be
dismantled or made dis-functional. This way, operations won’t get disturbed.
Network and infrastructure upgrade:
Fiction Corporation’s management sees this as an opportunity to upgrade their infrastructure and
network. While making the transition, Wide-IP’s team will also work on analysis of current
network designs and their further improvisation. There has to be a scope for optimized and
quality operations (compared to the current status). New network architecture and technologies
can be deployed as a part of migration.
Cost-effective Implementation:
Fiction Corporation’s management has set an upper limit of migration cost. It is $500,000. The
project cost has to be kept under the boundaries as provided by Fiction Corporation’s executive
committee. Such major projects can only be undertaken if they provide a business return (on
short or long term basis). While designing network, Return on Investment (ROI) has to be kept
in mind.
Project scope:
Data center and network infrastructure of a company touches its business in many ways. There
are limitless tasks that can be associated to a project dealing with Data management and
Networking of a company. It is very important to set limits to any project. We can’t include
every aspect of Network design/infrastructure and Data management. There are priorities to be
fixed and tasks to be defined for a better project management. Let us study the scope of project
that Wide-IP is taking up for Fiction Corporation:
The scope of this project is limited to following deliverables:
1) Fiction Corporation currently possesses network design/infrastructure architecture.
Analysis of current portfolio of Fiction Corporation Network has to be done. This will
help in coming up with an improvised design. Implementation of that newly developed
network design is also to be undertaken.
2) Data storage infrastructure is to be deployed at the new proposed site (headquarters).
This Data center is then to be networked in accordance with the new developed design.
Setting up internetworking of this center with other existing parts (retail stores, call
center etc.)
3) We don’t want to disrupt operations of the company because of this project. It is for this
same reason that necessary testing should be done on the newly deployed internetwork.
The uptime that Fiction claims is pretty high. So, Quality check and testing has to be
done rigorously before using the system in a live environment.
4) Once the new data center site and internetwork is tested, we need to migrate our data
from the old site to the new center. Only when migration of business data is complete we
can host our business from the new center. Thus, Successful migration of Data should be
done to the new site.
5) Wide-IP’s team will be coming with some new network design and technologies. They
will also be deploying them successfully. So, there is a need for post-project support
from wide-IP’s experts. Thus, one of the main deliverables is providing support and
training to Fiction Corporation’s network Managers for few months (till they are ready to
steer it on their own).
NOTE: Post project support and training (point -5) will be provided for not more than 4
months. Further extensions can be provided but only at extra cost. It is the responsibility of
Fiction Corporation to schedule their manager’s tasks in a way that training gets completed in
the stipulated time frame.
Work breakdown:
We know there are 5 processes through which our project should go in order to have a well-
managed plan (Kim Heldman, 2009). Attached below is a table that breaks down our entire
project work (done in OpenProj software (Open Project)):
Our work has been broken down into 5 major process areas – Initiating, Planning, Executing,
Monitoring and controlling, Closing (PMP Certification Exam material). All these process
areas have various tasks associated with them (as can be seen in the table above).
There are some tasks that are done in parallel, while others have interdependency.
We can see that setting up hardware has two tasks under it which can be done in parallel.
Also, configuration process can be done in parallel (Virtual systems and Network devices)
Work breakdown structure:
NOTE: This tree has been reproduced in MS word. The original OpenProj software generated
tree was not well formatted. So, it was not possible to incorporate it here.
Data center Migration and
Network up gradation Project
Initiating the project
Project execution
Understanding requirements
Getting our PMs started
Project PlanningUnderstanding data storage facility
Understanding current network infrastructure
Analyzing current design and state
Coming up with new design
Monitoring and Controlling Setting up SNMP based remote monitoring systems
Testing entire system for loopholes
Closing the projectData migration from old location to new one
Hardware Set-up:Data center hardware (UPS, servers)Network hardware setup (routers, switches)
Configuring devices:Data center (Virtual systems)routers, switches configuration
T1 links, frame relay leasing and configuration
Post Project support
Training/knowledge transferCustomer support
As you can see in the Work Breakdown structure, we have planned all process areas. Therefore
it is in accordance with PMBOK standards (Phillips, 2004).
Also, there is a post project task which has been included in our scope. We’ll be providing
knowledge transfer sessions and customer support to Fiction Corporation. So, that their network
experts have a smooth transition in getting expertise over controlling and monitoring this new
infrastructure. This has been included in the Work breakdown table also. It is after the 30 day
duration of the project.
Work breakdown structure for post project support:
Resource allocation:
We have a team of 10 certified experts in project management. After breaking down the tasks,
we assign each task to a team of project managers. There are some tasks that are taken care of by
multiple teams of project managers. Also, we have a time constraint of 30 days and budget
constraints. These are also a part of our resource portfolio. We have planned to utilize available
resources in the best possible manner to get the job done.
In the above resource sheet, you can see that our resources are – Project managers (10 in
number), Hardware equipment, Software licenses and Miscellaneous. Each resource has a cost
attached to it. One more thing to observe is that all the material resources have “accrue at” field
as “start”. The reason for that is, Fiction Corporation has to pay for all tangible resource
purchase beforehand.
If we try to see the economy of resources:
Project Manager’s work cost = 1600x 10 = $160,000
Hardware cost = $150,000
Software licenses cost = $200,000
(NOTE: Licenses are required for configuring routing protocols, VLANs and other networking
software. Also VM applications will be licensed.)
Miscellaneous cost = $50,000
Therefore, total anticipated expense = $160,000 + $ 150,000 + $200,000 + $50,000 = $560,000
So, you can see our current resource allocation is just going beyond the budget. Therefore, in
order to have budgetary constraints followed, we’ll provide discount on our expert fees. Fiction
Corporation won’t be charged a penny more than $500,000
Project staffing chart – As per each execution task:
We are showing resource allocation only for execution related tasks because, all other tasks
(initiation, planning, etc) are taken care of by all the PMs as a team. All 10 project managers act
as a committee to take care of other tasks. For execution, work is divided. Let us see the breakup
of resource division as per each execution task:
Task no. Task Task
Responsibilit
y
Skills reqd. No. of PMs
reqd.
Estimated
time reqd
1 Data center
Hardware
setup
Managing
Data center
set-up
Project
Management
4 Less than 10
days
2 Network
device
installation
Managing
Network
devices set up
Project
Management
4 Less than 10
days
3 VM
configuration
IT project
management
Project
Management
2 Less than 5
days
4 Network
Device
configuration
IT project
management
Project
Management
2 Less than 5
days
5 T1
links/frame
relay config
IT project
management
Project
Management
2 Less than 3
days
6 SNMP based
monitoring
system
IT project
management
Project
Management
4 Less than 5
days
7 Migration IT project
management
Project
Management
6 Less than 3
days
8 Testing IT project
management
Project
Management
6 Less than 4
days
Covering Knowledge areas: A Discussion
The plan that has been drafted covers all the knowledge areas of Project Management (as per
PMBOK) (Schwalbe, 2009). Let us discuss how it touches each aspect:
1) Project Integration Management: In the execution of this project, several different tasks
were distributed amongst different experts (as can be seen in the project staffing chart).
Now, each of the tasks was independently done by the team of experts which was
deployed on it. Later on, integration of those independent modules was done. In
monitoring and control phase, we do a testing of the entire network. This takes care of all
integration related issues. Therefore, integration management is a part of our project
plan.
2) Project scope management: Our first two phases – initiating and planning are concerned
with understanding the current state of infrastructure and Fiction corporation’s
requirements. Also, we analyze the requirements to list down deliverables that would
fulfill Fiction’s requirements. Therefore, we have a well-defined scope before entering
the execution phase.
3) Project time management: Based on our previous experiences and our experts’
productivity, we have kept feasible deadlines. So that the probability of defaulting is
minimum. Also, as mentioned earlier, we have a damage management/emergency team
deployed. They will act as a helping-buffer to teams that are lagging behind. Therefore,
time management has been done within our own limitations.
4) Project cost management: We have chosen most appropriate technologies for Fiction’s
network. Unnecessary high end solutions are not planned. We will deploy T1- link only
for the call center (for other retail stores and warehouses, frame relay over ISDN will be
leased), this will save a lot on money. Similarly, even for network devices, reasonability
has been kept in view while making selections. Our return on investment analysis is
favorable. For cost management, one should go step by step – Resource planning, Cost
estimation, cost budgeting, cost control. So, the final selections of resources are made
after executing the final step of cost control.
5) Project Quality Management: We are planning on doing thorough testing in the
“monitoring and controlling” phase of project plan. Also, we plan on giving post project
support. This makes certain that quality management is a constituent of our planning.
6) Project Human Resource Management: Project human resource management is a
knowledge area that essentially involves following steps:
- Human Resource Planning
- Acquire Project Team
- Develop Project Team
- Manage Project Team
We have implemented all these steps in managing our experts. As it can be seen in our project
staffing chart, an explicit planning of expert deployment has been done.
7) Project Communication management: We are going to study Fiction’s requirement in
first two phases of project (Initiating and planning). Also, as mentioned earlier, there is a
provision for impromptu weekly suggestions. We want Fiction’s executive committee to
be in touch with our experts during the course of the project. Also, we plan on
communicating/transferring the knowledge to Fiction’s in-house experts. This will help
Fiction Corporation in maintaining the new infrastructure.
8) Project Risk Management: In this project, there are risks like security aspects of
network, scalability issues, and wastage of resources. We have planned a thorough
testing task (in Monitoring and controlling phase). As per PMBOK, risk management
should consist of following steps:
o Risk Management Plan
o Risk Identification
o Quantitative Risk Analysis
o Risk Response Planning
o Risk Monitoring & Control
We have identified and also planned monitoring/ controlling for those risks.
9) Project procurement Management: As you can see, we have planned contracting all the
experts and also have planned purchase of all material resources. Therefore, procurement
management is taken care of.
Project challenges and approaches to handle them:
Project management has many challenges associated to it. Much of the plan depends on
anticipations and simulations. Although, we tend to define our resource utilization and deadlines
in a feasible manner, but there can be uncertainties and disruptions during the execution of
project. Let us discuss some of the challenges that can be encountered by our team:
Uncertain dependencies: Though, we have thought the entire project and established
dependencies. There could be possibility of occurrence of hidden dependencies. To counter this,
we will be reviewing our iterations in every 5 days. So that if any small changes in plans are
required, those can be taken care of.
Consistent Deadline meeting: Our project schedule is very tight. We need to stick to the deadline
for every task. If we default at any small subtask, the effect will show in the overall project
schedule. So, we are going to have an emergency team of experts, who will be our buffer. We
can deploy them at any task in an impromptu way (to make sure the task is complete in time).
Scope changes: We are going to spend 2 days on initiating the project. We'll define its goals,
scope etc. But, from our experience, we have seen that project's scope keeps on changing from
time to time. We would like Fiction Corporation’s executive team to have a close watch on our
task list. If anything pops up at later stages, let us know as soon as possible. So, that new task
can be incorporated in the plan.
Works Cited.
Kim Heldman, V. M. (2009). PMP Project Management Professional Exam Review Guide. John Wiley and Sons.
Open Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from sourceforge.net/projects/openproj/
Phillips, J. (2004). IT project management:. McGraw-Hill Professional.
PMP Certification Exam material. (n.d.). Retrieved from Project Management made easy: aditya369.com/processgroups_ka.aspx
Schwalbe, K. (2009). Information Technology Project Management. Cengage Learning.
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