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
