Course Project Part 2�Due Week 4�
�
In project Part 2, we create a schedule and accurate budget for your project. You need to focus on
detailed cost estimating, scheduling, and cost justification. Estimating includes specific assumptions
made during the estimating process, as well as quantities, unit prices, hourly rates for tasks, and
accumulated totals. You must justify all of your costs; this includes direct, indirect, variable, fixed, and
overhead. �
�
The CP-2 Project Proposal will be structured with the following sections.�
�Cover page including assignment, project title, course, and student contact information�
�Executive summary summarizing the content from the entire document with quantifiable highlights,
Executive Summary
The proposed project is aimed at developing software that would centralize the operations of
Sparkle Enterprises Limited onto a single management platform for the purpose of improving
resource allocation, operations management, and prioritization of the organization’s different
operations/programs. Successful execution of the proposed project would help to
significantly reduce the organization’s schedule delays and cost overruns. This project would
be carried out over a period of 6 months starting January 16, 2016 and completing it on June
9 2016 at a cost of $172,000. One of the deliverables is new software that is tested and fully
operational free of errors and satisfies the stipulated specifications.
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 3
Course Project Part 2
Project Scope Statement
Project scope, as Schmidt (2011) pointed out, is the part of project planning in which
a listing of exact project deliverables, goals, deadlines, costs and tasks are determined and
documented. The documentation of a project’s scope defines the project’s boundaries,
explains the roles of every member of the project team and spells out the procedures for how
the finished work would be validated and approved (Patanakul & Shenhar, 2012). The
document might be called the scope statement. The proposed project is aimed at developing
software that would centralize the operations of Sparkle Enterprises Limited onto a single
management platform for the purpose of improving resource allocation, operations
management, and prioritization of the organization’s different operations/programs. All the
company operations would be managed in this new software.
In the project, new software would be designed, developed, tested and implemented at
Sparkle Enterprises Limited that would allow the company to track its operations and
effectively manage all current programs, future programs and/or operations in its portfolio.
By developing and implementing the new software, Sparkle Enterprises Limited would have
a better leverage on its limited resources through prioritization of operations, efficient
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 4
allocation of resources, and provision of proactive management oversight which is helpful in
the identification and mitigation of risks prior to their adverse impact on operations.
Therefore, successful execution of the proposed project would help to significantly reduce the
company’s schedule delays as well as cost overruns. Relevant permissions and access would
be granted to the administrator or a particular designated individual who will be in charge of
updating, managing, and viewing programs and operations. All programs and operations
would entail integration of a virtual dashboard including the important metrics for the
provision of consistency in the methodology of measuring the performance of the programs
and operations. Programs and operations dashboards will display budget data, schedules,
assigned resources, potential risks, in addition to attained milestones.
On the whole, the project comprises all the work that pertains to planning, designing,
developing/programming, implementing and installing the new software for Sparkle
Enterprises Limited. This would entail gathering functional requirements for the software and
obtaining input from the company’s departments and users of the system, server
configuration, technical and conceptual design and coding work, testing, troubleshooting, and
implementation of the new software across the company. The project scope will also include
training and/or operational manuals as well as troubleshooting guides. Following successful
completion and implementation of the proposed project at Sparkles Enterprises Limited, the
expected deliverables include the following:
Deliverable 1: New software that is tested and fully operational free of errors and
meet the stipulated specifications whose descriptions are in the Project Scope
Description based on the functional requirements.
Deliverable 2: New tested and operational software template allowing users to enter
software metrics and data consistently.
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 5
Deliverable 3: A complete and comprehensive user’s manual providing stepwise
instructions on the usage of the software.
Deliverable 4: A complete as well as comprehensive troubleshooting guide providing
corrective steps or measures to the software users.
With regard to cost and deadline, the proposed project would be carried out for a period of 6
months starting January 16, 2016 and completing it on June 9 2016 at a cost of $172,000.
The table below shows the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders and members of
the project team:
Name Designation Responsibilities
James
Daniels
Sponsor Approving or denying requests for scope change as appropriate
Evaluating requests for scope change need
Accepting project deliverables
Margret
Daniels
Project
Manager
Measuring and verifying project scope
Facilitating requests for scope change
Facilitating the assessments of requests for scope change impact
Organizing and facilitating meetings for scheduled change control
Communicating outcomes of requests for scope change
Updating project documents after all scope changes are approved
Mary
Roberts
Steering
Committee
Providing assistance to resolve issues arising from the project scope
that are beyond the jurisdiction of the project manager
Monitoring the progress of the project and providing necessary
support and tools especially when project milestones are in
jeopardized.
Bob
Williams
Team Lead Measuring and verifying project scope
Validating requests for the project scope change
Participating in assessing requests for scope change impact
Communicating outcomes of requests for scope change to the team
Facilitating change review process at team level
Dave
Jacobs
Team
Member
Participating in the definition of change resolutions
Evaluating the need for changing the scope and subsequently
communicating them to the project manager appropriately
Tom
Smith
Team
Member
Participating in the definition of change resolutions
Evaluating the need for changing the scope and subsequently
communicating them to the project manager appropriately
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 6
Resource loaded Work Breakdown Structure and schedule
A Work Breakdown Structure is essentially understood as a chart wherein the crucial
work elements, commonly referred to as tasks, of the project are shown to illustrate how they
relate to each other and to the entire project altogether (Killen et al., 2012). It is worth
mentioning that the Work Breakdown Structure’s graphical nature helps the project manager
in predicting outcomes basing upon different scenarios, which could ensure that the best
possible decisions are made with regard to whether or not to adopt suggested procedures
(Colber, 2014).
For the proposed project, the Work Breakdown Structure is illustrated in the chart below:
1.0 Software Development Project for
Sparkles Enterprises Limited
1.4Program
ming
1.6 System
Testing
1.7
Installation
1.3
Software
1.2 Systems
Engineering
1.5
Hardware
1.1 Project
Management
Softwre
requirem
ent
specifica
tion
Hardwre
requireme
nts
planning
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 7
The resources required to complete the project effectively comprise human resources
including the project manager, programmers and system analyst; financial resources; and
computer hardware resources such as computers, servers, a router, cables, backup devices,
disk storage devices, and universal power supplies (UPSs).
Schedule
Task Name Duration Start Finish
1 Scope 107 days 1/18/2016 1/29/2016
2 Determining project scope 1 day 1/30/2016 1/30/2016
3 Secure project sponsorship 2 days 1/31/20116 2/1/2016
4 Order preliminary resources 2 days 2/2/2016 2/3/2016
5 Secure core resources 5 days 2/4/2016 2/10/2016
Module &
subsystem
testing
1.3.1
Software
Design
Installation
planning
Technical
planning
Project planning
Cost & schedule
management System
integration
testing
Hardwre
system
definition
Softwre
requirem
ent
specifica
tion
User
support
document
ation
Requirement
s definition
Scope
management
Softwre
coding
Accepta
nce
testing
User
communic
ation &
training
System
architecture
and top-level
design
Hardwre
componen
t selection
Software
work
package
definition
Softwre
debuggin
g
Task
management
Risk management
Hardware
unit testing
Installation
managemen
t &
coordinati
on
Quality
management Software
prototypi
ng
Software
unit
detailed
design
Installation
testing &
verification
Installation
performanc
e
monitoring
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 8
6 Scope complete 0 days 2/10/2016 2/10/2016
7 Analysis of software requirements 20 days 2/11/2016 3/9/2016
8 Conduct analysis needs 2 days 2/11/2016 2/12/2016
9 Draft preliminary software
requirements
2 days 2/13/2016 2/15/2016
10 Develop preliminary budget 2 days 2/16/2016 2/17/2016
11 Review software specifications/budget
with members of the project team
1 day 2/18/2016 2/18/2016
12 Integrating feedback 1 day 2/19/2016 2/19/2016
13 Develop delivery deadline 4 days 2/20/2016 2/24/2016
14 Obtain approval to proceed 5 days 2/25/2016 3/2/2016
15 Secure the required resources 3 days 3/3/2016 3/7/2016
16 Analysis complete 0 days 3/8/2016 3/8/2016
17 Design 30 days 9/3/2016 4/19/2016
18 Review preliminary software
specifications
2 days 3/9/2016 3/10/2016
19 Develop functional requirements 3 days 3/11/2016 3/15/2016
20 Develop prototypes 14 days 3/16/2016 4/4/2016
21 Review functional requirements 2 days 4/5/2016 4/6/2016
22 Incorporate feedback 8 days 4/7/2016 4/18/2016
23 Design complete 0 days 4/18/2016 4/16/2016
24 Development 35 days 4/19/2016 6/6/2016
25 Review functional specifications 3 days 4/18/2016 4/21/2016
26 Identify design parameters 10 days 4/22/2016 5/5/2016
27 Implement prototypes 22 days 5/6/2016 6/6/2016
28 Development complete 0 days 6/6/2016 6/6/2016
29 Testing the new software 8 days 6/7/2016 6/16/2016
30 Training 4 days 6/17/2016 6/22/2016
As illustrated in the schedule above, the entire project would last a total of 6 months. The
human resources who would be required to ensure effective completion of the project are as
follows: 1 project manager; 1 team leader who will also act as the supervisor; 5 software
developers/software designers/analysts who are the team members. Therefore, the entire
workforce would comprise only 7 personnel.
Cost estimates for every activity
Developing an effective budget for a software development project is often contingent
on developing all-inclusive software engineering schedule and cost models with the use of
industry-standard estimation methods. Pinto (2010) pointed out that to accurately determine
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 9
the budget for a software development project, it is important to first identify both the scope
and type of the software product being developed by the project team. Developing software
that has complex features and benefits would certainly increase the amount of time needed
for testing. It also increases the costs linked to production of the software.
With regard to the financial resources needed for the current project, the total estimated
budget is $172,000. This amount is broken down as follows:
Ref. Project Expenditures Quantity/units/days Rate per unit ($) Total ($)
1 Hardware costs
1.1 Computers 6 $500 $3,000
1.2 Servers 2 $3,500 $7,000
1.3 Backup devices 3 $1,500 $4,500
1.4 Disk storage 2 $300 $600
1.5 Universal Power Supply
(UPS)
1 $450 $450
1.6 Additional processing
services which could be
permanent or temporary for
instance through cloud
services
1 $1,000 1,000
1.7 Router 1 $1,000 $1,000
1.8 Cabling / cables 7 $200 $1,400
$18,950
2 Personnel
2.1 Project manager 1 $13,800 $13,800
2.2 Team leader 1 $12,000 $12,000
2.3 Software developers,
software designers, analyst
making up the project team
members
5 $13,800 $69,000
$94,800
3 Software requirements
analysis
20 days $500 $10,000
4 Software design 30 days $500 $15,000
5 Software development and
programming
20 days $500 $10,000
6 Software testing and
installation
35 days $350 $12,250
7 Security application for the
software
1 antivirus software
and firewall
$1000 $1,000
8 Training 1 day $5,000 $5,000
9 Contingency N/A $5,000 $5,000
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 10
$58,250
Total $172,000
Cost assumptions
This current project would be carried over a period of 6 months. When deriving the cost
estimates illustrated above, the cost assumptions that were made include the following:
The personnel would be paid not on an hourly rate, but on a monthly rate for a period
of 6 months. For instance, the cost of employing project manager is $2,300 per month
which adds up to $13,800 for the 6-month period, and that of employing one team
leader is $2,000 per month amounting to $12,000 for six months.
Once the system has been completed successfully and deployed at Sparkles
Enterprises Limited, a firewall and/or antivirus software would be installed, which
would cost an estimated $1,000. This would help in protecting the new system
against any malicious software from outside the organization.
The charges for software requirements, software design, software
development/programming, as well as software testing and installation are essentially
the funds which the project team members would incur in the course of the project.
They are not part of the personnel fees.
The contingency funds amounting to $5,000 as shown in the budget is reserved for
responding to any risks that are identified.
Indirect costs are the charges and other overheads which are shared out across
different departments or many activities such as computers.
Direct costs are the expenditures that are exclusive to this particular project and
consist of the resources that are directly involved in delivering the work and
managing it (Wysocki, 2013). The following charges are examples of direct costs for
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 11
this project: charges for software requirements, software design, software
development/programming, software testing and installation, and training.
Fixed costs do not change in spite of how much output is attained for instance cost of
the building, whereas variable costs change depending on the amount of resource that
is utilized, for instance wages for the personnel involved in the project (Kendrik,
2013). If the duration of the project increases to 7 or more months, then the salaries
would also increase.
References
Colber, V. (2014). Work Breakdown Structure. Moraga, CA. Bright ideas and concepts.
Kendrick, T. (2013). The Project Management Tool Kit: 100 Tips and Techniques for Getting
the Job Done Right, (3 rd ed.). New York, NY: AMACOM Books.
Killen, C. P., Jugdev, K., Drouin, N., & Petit, Y. (2012). Advancing project and portfolio
management research: Applying strategic management theories. International
Journal Of Project Management, 30(5), 525-538.
Patanakul, P., & Shenhar, A. J. (2012). What project strategy really is: The fundamental
building block in strategic project management. Project Management Journal,
43(1), 4-20.
COURSE PROJECT PART 2 12
Pinto, J. K. (2010). Project Management: Achieving competitive advantage (2 nd ed.). Boston,
MA: Prentice Hall.
Schmidt, T. (2011). Strategic Project Management Made Simple : Practical Tools for
Leaders and Teams. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons
Wysocki, R. K. (2013). Effective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme, (11 th
ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
