BUS419 Assignment 4: Earned Value Management

Running Head: PROJECT PERFORMANCE 0

Assignment 3: Project Performance

Craig A. Alford

BUS 419 – Project Estimating and Budgeting

Strayer University

Dr. Shah Jamali

Spring quarter of 2015

Introduction

This project is about the development of an improved version of Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Client. The new product is meant to offer better-improved service to clients and to ensure that their computing experience is smooth and secure. The project has been initiated to come up with a better functioning operating system. From the project title, one can identify that the software under development is the second version with different patches being applied to the initial software to improve it. There is need for extensive research to be done on the new product under development so that the issues experienced in the first version are not experienced in the current version under development and that users can get a better experience from the new version as compared to the previous.

Key Objectives

This project is geared towards the development of a better version of the Microsoft Windows with secure implementations among other patches being developed. The need for this is to come up with a more usable operating system with more features incorporated within it. The product undergoing development is required to support integration with other operating systems to allow for a wider access with other systems and software for increased functionality. Users of the system will also receive patches and updates on previous software for increased functionality and better security as compared to peer operating systems. The aim of this is to strive to come up with a better functioning operating system with integration enabled for a smoother experience and increased usability and productivity.

Projected Costs

Within the project, there are some projected costs during different stages of the project development phase. For successful implementation of the project, there are a number of costs to be experienced through its lifecycle. Costs are such as staffing costs, research, purchase of software and equipment to carry out testing and development among other costs, which are bound to arise within the project.

Resources

During the project phases, there are a number of resources, which need to be set aside for the success and completion of the project. The different departments and teams

1. Human Resources

The human resources required for the implementation of this project vary since there is need for multiple teams to be brought together to ensure that the requirements are met. The first team is the team doing the initial research on the project. Secondly, there is need for the project planning team. There is also need for the human resources team to be involved in the process. In addition, after the human resources team has selected members of the project, there is need for creation of sub-teams within the project for delivery of objectives and accomplishment of tasks.

1. Computers

In accomplishment of this project, computers loaded with the appropriate software are necessary for purchase and implementation. The programmers need computers, which provide them with an environment where they can be able to perform adequate testing on the new platform being, developed to ensure that it meets customer needs and requirements.

1. Finances

In order for the project to reach completion, there are a number of financial implications, which have to be incurred. There is need to set and draft a budget for the project implementation. The budget should be inclusive of costs such as staffing costs, costs of purchasing

1. Time

There is need for a time schedule to be outlined for the project. The project timeline needs to be developed by the project manager and then communicated to the team members, project sponsors and stakeholders so that they can know the expected period of wait from start to completion. In addition, this helps in planning for different aspects of a project to allow for successful implementation and development.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix

The responsibility assessment matrix is a form of a linear responsibility chart developed for purposes of description of participation by various roles as per the tasks they are carrying out or the expected deliverables of the project from them. This is a useful tool to implement for information clarity in a multi-functional department project. The most commonly used responsibilities in this matrix are Responsible (R), Accountable (A), Consulted (C) and Informed (I). The responsible party is one whose work is to achieve the task; the accountable party is the one answerable, the consulted is one whose opinions are sought and the informed is one who is kept up to date with the progress of the project (Doglione, 2016).

Critical Path Analysis

Definition of Software Requirements

There is need for definition of the minimum operational and usage requirements for the project. The need for this is that it acts as a quality control measure where a system needs to meet certain criteria before installation or usage. The specification of requirements is an important aspect so that the team responsible can be aware of what developments are to be made to the system and software.

Requirement Project Plan

The requirements for the project to be completed successfully need to be defined and outlined properly so that the project manager and the respective teams can be able to plan for the project appropriately.

Software Integration

The software in development needs to be integrated within other software for increased productivity. Integration testing needs to be carried out

Software Testing and Quality Assurance

The software needs to undergo testing to ensure requirements are met and that the new operating system developed is bug free and usable. There is need for different forms of testing to be applied on the new software to ensure that all components are functional. The first test will involve the installation procedures to be analyzed whether they are working as they should and whether after installation, all required components are successfully installed and are functional. In addition, there is need for a functionality test to see whether the new operating system will be operational fully and whether all components work smoothly without interruptions.

There is need for a security test to be run on the new operating system to ensure that is it robust and secure form attacks. A good operating system should be secure from virus and Trojan attacks, network attacks, backdoors and brute force among other types on computer operating systems. The system needs to have a smart screen integrated within it to ensure that new software is tested and checked for validity before installation. The user needs to receive a prompt to give them details of the software, confirm whether they want to continue with installation as well as warn them about the potential harm, which could be caused by use of the software.

The system should also have secure authorization and authentication options to have increased security. The system should prompt for a password to be set during installation since most users tend to forget to set up passwords on further computer use until they experience an attack on their system. In addition, there is need for the software to be bundled with an in built firewall as a measure for protection from intrusion and other attacks.

The system also needs to undergo a compatibility test to ensure that the system can be able to function with other additional software from different vendors to allow different users to be able to have their needs met. Different software and utility packages offer different users’ different needs met therefor the need for compatibility testing.

Software Accreditation

This is the process of validation that a software has met all requirements and can be released for use. The software can only be validated if all the checks for quality assurance are passed and that the software meets the minimum user requirements and needs.

Patches and Updates

There is need for periodic patches and updates to be released and configured to be downloaded automatically to allow the system to be up to date and also protected from different types of attacks which might develop over time. Also, patches to software help in fixing possible bugs and other errors in system software, which may not manifest or be detected in the initial testing phases.

Documentation

It is important for a software to be tested and documented so that there can be ease f troubleshooting. This is the role of the developers of the system. A troubleshooting manual is easy to develop form the system documentation since there is outlining of all possible issues encountered and those projected to encounter during development and implementation as well as steps of development, which can be used to guide the user on what steps to take to manage issues and repair problems with functionality of an operating system. Failure to document can lead to major issues in troubleshooting since this would require the system to be analyzed anew, which would be tasking and time consuming. In addition, documentation of a project is good practice, which needs to be followed especially in an information technology project.

Total Float in the Project

The free float in project management refers to the total amount of time by which an activity can be delayed without the early start of the successor activity being delayed. This is achievable through the early finish date of each activity within the project being subtracted from the early start date of the next activity in the project. The total float is the total amount of time that an activity can be delayed from when it is started and the end date of the project is not delayed. The total slack refers to the total amount of time within a schedule where a task can be delayed before the completion of the entire project is delayed. There is need to identify the free slack and float times within a project for purposes of planning so that the project manager and members can be able to cater for any events that might lead to a project being delayed (Rouse, 2017).

Measures for Critical Path Management and Float Reduction

The critical path is a method in project management where there is identification of activities that are critical to the project. It makes use of an approach to scheduling where the project is broken down into a number of work tasks and they are displayed in a flow chart then there is calculation of the duration

Best practices for minimization are to calculate the shortest paths of processes. In addition, it is important for calculation of early starts and end dates so that slack and float can be accounted for and this can allow for better panning of activities within a project. A project needs to have free float and slack so that there is an allowance for flexibility in the event one or more tasks are slightly delayed and others are finished early. It is better for a project to be delivered before time as opposed to it being delivered after the deadline since there is an increase in costs and the budget might get overstretched.

References

Doglione, Cara (July 25, 2016). Understanding Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RACI

Matrix). Retrieved from: https://project-management.com/understanding-responsibility-

assignment-matrix-raci-matrix/

Rouse, Margaret (2017). Float (Project Float, Slack). Retrieved from:

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/float-project-float-slack