Project Planning

3

Verizon Project Charter

Verizon communications is a worldwide leader in global technology that provides safe and secure means of communication services. Verizon must use cutting-edge anti-virus technology to ensure the security of Verizon’s and their user’s information. John Stratton CEO of Verizon has required that the corporation employ a new virus protection program company wide. Our team has a two-week time frame to successfully implement the new virus protection program and stay within the budget that has been prearranged. With careful planning by our team and dedication to detail, our team should execute this new software upgrade efficiently.

Background & Future Goals

Verizon Communications was established by Bell Atlantic Corp and GTE Corp. on June 30th, 2000. Verizon has become a successful global technology company serving millions of customers every day in more than 140 countries. The company employs over 177,000 workers and as of May 2016, has generated $131 billion in revenue. ("America’s Top Public Companies", 2016). The focus of Verizon is to continue to efficiently deliver integrated business services, communication, and entertainment services over their advanced fiber optic network while improving the security of customer related data.

As our company grows, John Stratton the CEO of Verizon is challenging our team to implement a virus protection program company wide. With the increase of our services and sensitive customer information, our corporation needs to ensure that all of Verizon’s information is kept safe and protected from any security breaches. There are many beneficial aspects of having anti-virus software; from real-time protection to schedule scan that keeps the companies data base free from viruses, malware, and hackers. We have a deadline of two weeks to have this implemented within our system to prevent inconsistencies within our database and to guarantee that all of our company files and customer information is safe.

Project Scope and Budget

The project has been given a deadline of two weeks to finish; there will be plenty more hours dedicated to preplanning to successfully implement the anti-virus upgrade. Once the anti-virus been installed, Verizon’s customers in the 140 countries serviced can be guaranteed that their information is protected. Verizon’s IT department will have to research and choose the anti-virus that will provide the best security for the company and its users. There will also be a brief period to train the rest of the IT department to become proficient with the new anti-virus. With the new antivirus and training of our employees of how to use the software, Verizon should be safeguarded from any new and old viruses, malware and hackers. With proper execution of our strategy, the measurable results should be attainable.

The budgetary limitations of designing and implementing new virus protection software, only allots $200,000 to work with to create this software package for Verizon. There will be no outsourcing resources; meaning will be working with the resources Verizon will be giving us. Since we believe the project will cost more than the $200,000 allowed, we talked to the finance department at Verizon. The Verizon finance department informed us that there would be no more funds available to us then the allocated 200,000$. However, we did submit an application for Federal Grants after Verizon suggested it and we were approved to receive the additional funds to complete the project. If we had to outsource resources versus using resources that Verizon is providing, the project would roughly cost around $500,000 or more. The money is the most important part of the project.

Conclusion

Our team has been issued a two-week deadline to successfully implement a company wide upgrade to Verizon’s anti-virus software. Our team has thoroughly mapped out and strategized how Verizon will successfully undertake this upgrade while ensuring that our corporation provides the safe and convenient service that Verizon’s customers are accustom to. If our team follows the guidelines of the strategy that we have implemented, we should stay under the budget that has been set for us. It is imperative that Verizon stay on the cutting edge of security for our customers to provide safe and secure lines of communication. Verizon sets the gold standard of protecting our company and its customer’s information.