Hi all,

I'm in my final year and I'm supposed to do an IT Project Managment Assignment. I have little knowledge in IT Proj. so I need your assistance and guidance to put me on the right track.

Some points and hints from you will make my life easier. I don't want a full solution, but some guidance on where to start and the road map to finish this assignment in peace.

I'm run out of time and that's why I need someone to give the direct, fast and easy way to do it.

Much appricated.

Regards,

Human01


This is the assignment:

Specification

Title: Content Management Systems
As a manager in a business you will often have to decide which of several alternative products to
purchase. Some products may be free to use, but that does not necessarily mean they are the
best option. The Total Cost of Ownership is usually more important than the initial purchase price.
Some products may have many features you do not need; others may lack the feature you
specifically want. Some products are easy to use, others are not. For web-based solutions it is
important that the usability (eg as defined by Nielsen http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/ ) of
the system be of a high standard and that requirements for accessibility (eg
http://www.w3.org/WAI/ ) be met.
A Weighted Scoring Model can help you make a reasoned decision that you will be able to justify
to your manager.
For the purposes of this coursework, assume that you have just become the IT manager of a large
company that wants to replace their existing extensive intranet and web site with a new system
based on a Content Management System. There are a number of products that can be used for
this purpose and you decide to evaluate a range of alternatives.

These are:
1. An open source Content Management System such as PHPNuke (http://phpnuke.org/) or
DOTNETNuke (http://www.dotnetnuke.com/)
2. A proprietary Content Management System such as SharePoint
(http://www.microsoft.com/Sharepoint/default.mspx)
3. An in-house system developed using ASP.NET or PHP
You will need to consider the usability and accessibility features of the system, and the Total Cost
of Ownership, as well as the functionality of the software. The manager of the company has asked
you to present the best alternative.
You have also been asked to plan the implementation of the chosen alternative to replace the
existing company intranet and web site over a 2-year period. You need to decide how this is to be
done, identifying responsibilities, milestones, costs, etc. Make sure you allow for determining the
requirements of the new system, and testing that the chosen solution meets your requirements,
and allow for post-implementation evaluation.
Part A
1. Decide on a set of appropriate business-related factors and criteria to decide which
alternative to recommend. NB: A 2-level Weighted Scoring Model MUST be used. Three
of the factors must be the Total Cost of Ownership, Usability and Accessibility – there must
be at least 2 others.
2. Compare and contrast the features of the alternatives.
3. Evaluate the alternatives against your factors and criteria.
4. Justify the factors and criteria that were selected and the scores that were given to them.
Part B
1. Plan a spreadsheet-based 2-level Weighted Scoring Model to assess the alternatives
against the factors and criteria.
2. Extend your spreadsheet to calculate the Total Cost of Ownership for each of the
alternatives.
3. Implement your plan to produce a robust (eg validation of input, cell protection) and flexible
(eg ease of adding extra factors and criteria) spreadsheet system for the purpose of
selecting the best alternatives.
4. Document the spreadsheet appropriately within the system (eg comments within the
spreadsheet, named cell ranges)
Part C
1. Develop a plan that will implement the chosen alternative for this project. This should
include allocation of responsibilities and resources, a Work Breakdown Schedule, a Gantt
chart, a network diagram, identification of the critical path, etc.
2. Implement the plan using project management software.
3. Document the plan appropriately within the system (eg using notes with the project)
Deliverables
1. A formal report justifying choices of factors and criteria, and recommending the chosen
alternative, with full details of how it would be implemented. The report should include
output from the spreadsheet model and project management software where
appropriate.
2. A spreadsheet-based 2-level (ie factors and criteria) Weighted Scoring Model.
3. A spreadsheet-based detailed Total Cost of Ownership analysis for each alternative
4. A formal project proposal for the chosen solution, including output from the project
system where appropriate

Computer janitor questions belong in the computer janitor forum.

Just assume you own a big programming forum like daniweb and start from there , what all you need to do , e.g take backup, communicate to advertisers,etc . You have got a tough project assignment I would say.

Read this interview: [link removed] - if you think this guy knows what he's talking about, go here - this book, which may be in your local public library, has an excellent chapter on project management - as well as discussion of Business/IT plans and policies: [link removed]

>if you think this guy knows what he's talking about
I'm sure you're simply trying to be witty, but speaking of yourself[1] in the third person is generally viewed as highly pompous. A smiley would go a long way toward helping us understand that you aren't really that arrogant.

>has an excellent chapter on project management
Using heavily biased adjectives to describe your own work[1] raises a lot of red flags about both the actual quality of the material as well as the credibility of its author.

[1] Please correct me if I'm wrong in assuming that you're the subject of this interview and the author of the book that you keep promoting.

Not sure who all is responding to my post; However, the original person needed help so I responded. If you didn't like the manner of response, ok. That said, the book is an MBA text (at U of W), and you can read the Business Forum review and interview for yourself. Whether you think the book is "suspect" or not, it has great material on a number of IT and business subjects. I receive a lot of correspondence regarding the book, some just recently from a person on IT Toolbox who was desperate for readily available, understandable, material on Content Management. I steered her to my book - I know it helped her. Regards, DS

>Not sure who all is responding to my post
That would be me, as can easily be seen in the list of posts. I don't see any other replies to you, so I'm not sure why you're not sure.

>If you didn't like the manner of response, ok.
I don't really care how you present yourself, but I still felt the need to inform you that you come off as a very self-important fellow. I got the impression that it's unintentional and wanted to help.

>I know it helped her.
Oh, well that settles matters then. As the author of the book (and thus, an extremely biased source), you feel it is excellent and guaranteed to help everyone you recommend it to.

By all means recommend your book (though if you start spamming it, you'll discover that I also wear a moderator hat). Be aware, however, that when you state your personal opinions as if they were fact, you're hurting your credibility. In my opinion, it's also bad form to review your own book and deem it exceptional to the same effect as if it were reviewed by an unbiased third party.

I checked back in to DaniWEB after receiving one of those "We've missed you" automated e-mails, indicating I had not posted in awhile. Upon checking in, I noticed the request for info. Because I have info, I volunteered mine, and even said the book might be in the public library (it's in several), as I didn't want to generate a sale necessarily (although those are helpful), but wanted to help someone. However, I see and take your points. The forum doesn't appear to be what I seek in discourse, so I will happily bow out and post elsewhere. Regards - DS

>However, I see and take your points.
Thank you for not dismissing my comments straightaway.

>The forum doesn't appear to be what I seek in discourse
I can only imagine what you expected. I have a fairly good idea because I've seen it countless times already, but I don't want to be excessively rude.

>so I will happily bow out and post elsewhere
Running away when it turns out to be harder than you thought, huh?

ummm, at first, I was so happy to know there are 7 replies, but I wasn't happy to see this cross-fire ...

Thanks ithelp, that's good, at leat I know where to start.


DavidScott999, I like to thank you for your reply and your intension to help me. Maybe you should have read the Memeber Rules clearly at the top of page.

I'm sure Narue will be gald if you stay in Daniweb and share your information and knowledge. Isn't it Narue?

Narue, I respect your point of view as a moderate member.

Thanks to all of you guys.

I'll be back to check for new comments

Human01