COMP507 IT Project Management
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Assignment 1 – Software Development Project Plan 50%
COMP507 IT Project Management
Version 4.0
This assignment is worth 50% of your overall final grade and is submitted on Canvas. It is due at 6pm on Sunday 17 April 2022 New Zealand Standard Time (NZST) (end of week 7). This is an individual assignment.
For this project, you are required to investigate and develop project plans for a new Software Development Project that will follow the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) approach. Out of the 100 marks for this assignment 90 marks will be for your project planning and design components; 10 marks will be for a reflective self-assessment submission on your individual learning this semester.
Background
In 2018 the School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences developed a progressive web application, called Careers Connect, to allow a student to scan in to the AUT ICT & Engineering Careers Fair using a QR code and to print on-demand an AUT- branded name tag that showed their name, degree and major to the 170+ recruiters on-site at the event. Being able to see a student’s name and what they were studying was a big bonus to recruiters. Colour labels for the recruiters were introduced at the 2019 Careers Fair along with the ability to sign in and enter the Careers Fair from multiple floors of the WZ building.
The CV Beacon Initiative
On the back of the success of these initiatives the school now wants to create a new software application to be called CV Beacon™, that can further enhance student-careers engagement. They are seeing a new software application that can scan the internet for ICT and engineering job adverts for junior roles that can match the skills that students have and develop whilst studying AUT’s technical degrees. It is envisaged that the system would provide a searchable database of current graduate and junior roles that can be searched by students seeking part-time or full-time roles and internships.
There will be a requirement for a secure login, a web scraping tool that has some text mining aspect to identify jobs based on some rules – i.e., junior roles only, currently available, ICT or Engineering and not in other fields. A feature for intuitive and user-friendly search with filters. Another high-level requirement is a feature that allows students to automatically build their CV based on the papers that they have studied. This could match papers with technical and inter-personal skills. Finally, a further text mining feature that automatically attempts to match of jobs on offer in the database to the skills in a student’s CV with a recommender type feature for possible jobs they may suit them.
AUT is providing the server, networking and hardware required, however, the project will need to propose a recommendation of a high-level target platform architecture - perhaps a
PEAN, MERN or MEAN stack, as an example. Containerisation of the system components should also be considered, along with the need to ensure security and privacy of any personal information.
The objective of your project planning is that the school can initiate and issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire the skills and development team that the project will need or require based on your plans and reports, and the final solution will be developed by a 3rd party vendor.
Given usability and a satisfying user experience are critical aspects for students, you are required to incorporate a visual representation of your recommended interface designs based on your high-level requirements identified in the Scope Statement. These interface designs might be paper sketches or mockups, digital, or native followed by explanation of the designs to help understand the functions.
See Google’s Rapid Prototyping videos:
Sketching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMjozqJS44M
Digital: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWGBGTGryFk
Native: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lusOgox4xMI
This step in the planning will help create a specification by design and provide a representation of ideas that propose what a future system may look like. Don’t worry too much about needing them to be aesthetically pleasing. Use this process to inform the business case you are developing for the new platform.
You could also consider making a design on Adobe XD or Figma (limited to a number of projects) to show the interaction between pages and features that have emerged from your understanding of the proposed system’s requirements.
The Project
The School of Engineering Computer and Mathematical Sciences (SECMS) has allocated NZD200,000 to undertake this project and believes it will return to the school NZD600,000 per year for the next three years in recruiter licences.
For your assignment you can assume that, through an initial preliminary investigation that the project is expected to start on 19 July 2022 and finish (including the completion of all deliverables) on the 29 August 2022. The new platform should be up and running live by 21 February 2023, so it can be available to the school’s students at orientation ahead of the beginning of semester. The usage fee for the software is expected to be NZD5.00 per user per year. The estimate is that 250 students will sign up and use the software each semester in the academic year until 2025. In addition, it is expected that the monthly server charge per student will be NZD4 for 2022. However, the school expects an increase in the internet charge by 10% every year until 2025. The existing infrastructure is sufficient and new hardware will not be required.
Your stream’s Teaching Assistant (TA) will be the Acting Sponsor for your project. As part of your business case development ask your Teaching Assistant (TA) for the discount rate for your project.
You may need to look at competing tools on the market to determine crucial features and key capabilities that should be included in the requirements. The school expects a high- quality system and related documentation. Hence, you must identify and clearly state the quality goals in the scope statement document.
Assignment
Submission Requirements:
• A zipped file of all the project plans, Gantt charts, and related planning materials to be submitted via the Assignment 1 form on Canvas.
• For the team charter aspects and team contract, you may need to identify placeholder roles, or specialisation roles, that might be vital for the success of the project.
• A document with a design prototype or a document with an introduction and a link to a design prototype.
• A reflective self-assessment on the personal learning about IT Project Management and the assignment 1.
• Make use of version control and include a version number, date, author and student ID on all documentation.
• For Normal text body use Calibri (Body) size 11
Learning Outcomes
This assignment provides the opportunity to apply project techniques to the pre-initiation, initiation, planning, execution and monitoring and control of a project. It relates directly to the following learning outcomes:
• To appreciate the need for and application of organisational strategies required to initiate a project
• To experience personal competencies of the project manager
• To experience planning of a project
• To use typical project management software to organise, execute and control a project
• To develop an appreciation of the need for professional standards and ethical practice
• To apply styles of communication appropriate to the project
Project Content
You are expected to produce project management plans and documents (see Schedule 1) to successfully deliver this project based on your undertaking of practices, techniques and the tools explained in the PMI knowledge areas and process groups of project management.
The prescribed textbook and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) provides detailed information on the knowledge areas and process groups for this assignment. This Assignment 1 is based on the Initiation and Planning phases following project management techniques and concepts.
Schedule 1
Pre-project initiation
• Business Case - includes a summary statement of rationale and motivation for the project
Project Initiation
• Team formation
• Role clarification and assignment
• Statement of rationale and motivation for the project with supporting reasoning
• Initial specifications of what must be produced
• Project charter
• Team contract
• Stakeholder analysis and management strategy
• Kick-off meeting
• Responsibility assignment matrix
Project Planning
• Statement of work
• Project management plans
o Scope statement document showing requirements (functional and non- functional requirements), project and product deliverables
o Defined Scope
o Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
o Project schedule (Gantt chart)
o Network diagram
o Milestones
o The critical path or sprint cycles with start and finish dates
o Issue log
o Risk Register (Identify risks, plan risk management, perform qualitative & quantitative risk analysis, plan risk responses) - include Disaster Management
o Change management plan
o Project review plan
o Lessons learned report for initiation and planning phases
Project Interface Design (UX)
• Design report on your proposed interface designs - these could include paper sketches, digital or native representations.
• Where design artifacts are online - include a document with an introduction and accessible links
• An Issues log should be dated maintained and visible. Note any issues or risks that surface through the design
Assignment Notes
• Please Note: As plans or documents change or are updated save them as different versions so that you evidence the change history for all plans and documents.
• For creating project plans and documents, select templates either from Canvas or from other reputable sources (acknowledging your source with APA 7 referencing, or another recognised referencing format).
• When choosing a template assess whether the template is appropriate for the purpose of the project and the process group you are following. The evidence of following the process and resulting content will be the main criteria for judging the quality of your work.
• Develop a good understanding of each plan and document that you are being asked to create for this assignment.
Checklist
This assignment will be marked out of 100, and this contributes 50% towards your final mark for the paper. This is a checklist identifying the plans and documents that must be produced and submitted for this assignment along with an indicative distribution of marks.
Project Wiki |
Marks |
1. Business case |
15 |
2. Stakeholder register and Stakeholder management strategy |
5 |
3. Project charter including roles and responsibilities (must include a project manager) |
5 |
4. Team contract (with placeholder roles) |
5 |
5. Kick-off meeting agenda and minutes Note: Subsequent meeting agendas and minutes should be included (Yes, you should have more than just the Kick-off meeting) |
5 |
6. Client meeting agenda/minutes |
5 |
7. Issue register |
5 |
8. Risk register |
5 |
9. Change management plan |
5 |
10. Scope statement |
5 |
11. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) |
5 |
12. Project schedule a. Schedule baseline showing originally planned activities and their durations and milestones, then versions through until final. b. Network diagram c. Critical path analysis with accompanying discussion on the critical path and changes |
15 |
13. Project Interface Design (UX) a. Design report on your proposed interface designs - these could include paper sketches, digital or native representations. |
10 |
Self-Assessment a. Self-review (see Appendix A) |
10 |
Total |
100 |
Referencing
There are a number of internationally recognised formats for references in academic writing and it is recommended that students review the AUT library resources on referencing (https://aut.ac.nz.libguides.com/APA7th) or to consider attending one of the library’s referencing workshops on the APA referencing style (or use of the EndNote referencing software perhaps) to find out how to complete references formally. APA or IEEE are the common referencing formats used in Computer Science or Information Systems research.
Referencing tools such asEndnoteandZoterocould be a good idea to use as they are highly effective if learnt and used well.
Please also note the following:
It is your responsibility to check assignments for grammar and spelling errors before submitting them. You do not want your Teaching Assistants or Lecturer’s to be your assessment quality control process.
To improve the quality of your submissions, there is a great and free proofreading service Studiosity at AUT that you can use 24x7 to improve your writing - See the link on Canvas.
Appendix A Self-Assessment
Purpose: To reflect on learnings from the Assignment 1 and learning about IT project management so far.
Time: 10 minutes Fincher, Petre and Clarke (2001) in their book entitled Computer Science Project Work: Principles and Pragmatics place special emphasis upon the value of reflection, “Reflection on experience underpins the process of successful learning and is essential to the success of education.” (p. 226). Engaging in reflective practice creates a mindset that is invaluable for workplace professional performance well beyond your degree. Fincher et al. draw their ideas from earlier work by Donald Argyris and Chris Schön (1974) in which professional work involves self-monitoring, continual improvement and cycles of planning, putting things into action, observing how they work, and then reflecting on them for further rounds of plan, act, observe, reflect.
Process
This is a process for self-assessment following a period of significant activity. It is for use by an individual wanting to learn from reflecting on their own learning, or it could be a part of a more formal performance review at stage completion. The process can also be used as part of a review of a team project. Consider the following questions and post them along with your responses to your Individual Learning Journal:
Now that it's over, what are your first thoughts about how well you undertook the assignment?
What were some of the most interesting discoveries you may have made while working on this? (About the problem? About yourself? About others?)
What was the most challenging aspect and what made it so?
What is the most important thing you have learned personally?
What would you do differently if you were to approach the same assignment again?
Affirmation
Congratulate yourself on what you have achieved. It’s not always easy tackling a project planning assignment and you have stepped up and put yourself on the line to deliver. Find a way to internally affirm your efforts preparing and delivering your assignment.
2022-03-15
Software Development Project Plan