Implement and update the site ongoing basis

Final Graded Case Study: Comprehensive Project Analysis, Part I

Project Selection and Initiation

Based on McKenzie's brief description over the phone, DiBello understood that the project was to develop a "sales training intranet" (code named HighLEARN) for Hightower's 350 geographically dispersed sales associates.

A Fortune 500 firm specializing in financial services technology and
outsourcing solutions, Hightower had more than 100 complex products and services to offer its diverse client base of banks, mutual fund complexes and

Before you move on to the next section of the case study, identify the problems and/or issues that you'll need to include in your analysis.

Document this information, and consider how you will integrate it into your evaluation of the project.

While aware of the critical nature of a well-organized project plan, DiBello found it tedious to build new GANT charts and workflows from scratch.

Having been involved in the Sales department's Salesforce.com
implementation several years ago, he decided to pull up the project plan from that initiative. Noting the similarities in the two projects and the involvement of some of the same people, DiBello decided it would be much

DiBello then created the Risk Register:

Based on the WBS above, DiBello created Responsibility Assignment Matrices (RAMs) for each of the major activities identified. He integrated these with the WBS document to help establish accountability for project tasks. Following is the RAM for the "Login/Registration Completion" activity, indicating people in the IT department who are actively involved in the task or will need to be consulted and/or informed:

Although DiBello knew that it would be very difficult to accurately estimate costs for this project, he sat with McKenzie and Arjun Mehta from
Hightower's Finance Department to communicate budget-related input he had gathered from speaking to project team members and researching comparable projects. He showed them a cost worksheet and a suggested cost baseline, which Mehta reviewed carefully.

 Peter McKenzie

Before all of the bids were received, however, McKenzie introduced DiBello to Jed King, an old college friend who had just joined the advisory board for Taurus Design, a newly established web design agency on the west coast.

King had promised McKenzie that Taurus could develop a state-of-the-art portal at a favorable hourly rate. McKenzie was eager to give the business to Taurus: "These young developers really know so much about cutting edge social technologies; I think they will bring us into the 21st century." Rather than challenge McKenzie, DiBello suspended the RFP and proceeded to negotiate terms for a Time and Materials contract with Taurus' Accounts Director.

Mean Project Duration = (160 days + 190 days + 240 days) / 3 = 196.6 days or 6.5 months

With the project due to kick off the first week of January, McKenzie was confident a mid-July project delivery date was achievable. DiBello was more pessimistic ‐ he felt it was much more likely they would miss the deadline than finish the project early.

With a successful project kick off meeting behind him, DiBello felt that things were going quite well. After robust planning, he wanted to ensure alignment within the team and others in the organization to the overall vision. At McKenzie's direction, he also engaged several quality experts to help the team implement a software quality management program to make sure that the end product meets requirements and satisfies users. The team learned to use multiple Ishikawa tools, such as development flowcharts and cause-and-effect diagrams, that would help them analyze and correct any problems that surfaced along the way. When they finished the exercises, DiBello filed the Ishikawa tools and resources on his hard drive, making a mental note to upload them to the project's Google Site at some point.