Costing System Development Project: Essay On Project Plan.

This project plan outlines the various plans that will be required to successfully complete a software project. The project aims at developing a costing system. This will be a bespoke system written in Enterprise Java programming language. The envisioned system will facilitate the creation of cost baselines, cash flow forecast, earned value management calculations and percentage complete proposal. With regards to data entry, the proposed system will accept keyboard user inputs, data imports in form of XML and CSV files.

Other project activities will include;

• Purchase of a server to run the application
• Setup and Testing of the server
• Identification and contracting of subcontractors who will develop the system
• Purchase of 30 client PCs
• Configuration of client PCs with Windows 10
• Deployment of client PCs to the existing corporate network

Costing System Development Project

• Project Sponsor
• Project Customer
• Project Manager
• Software Engineer
• Hardware Engineer
• Business Analyst
• A Contractor
• Test Engineer
• End users

It’s required that a costing system be developed. This will be a bespoke system written in C#. The envisioned system will facilitate the creation of cost baselines, cash flow forecast, earned value management calculations and percentage complete proposal. With regards to data entry, the proposed system will accept keyboard user inputs, data imports in form of XML and CSV files.

The goal is to develop a costing software system that will facilitate the creation of cost baselines, cash flow forecast, earned value management calculations and percentage complete proposal. The system will accept keyboard user inputs, data imports in form of XML and comma delimited files.

• 1 Server
• 30 Personal Computers
• Windows 10
• Software development Platform  (Microsoft Visual Studio)

• A costing system
• 30 Client PCs configured with Windows 10
• A server to run the system

Key milestones of the project include;

• Project plan is completed
• System requirement gathering is completed
• Technical specifications are generated
• A contractor is identified
• PCs are purchased and configured with windows 10
• A server is set up to host the system
• The complete system is delivered by the contractor
• Complete unit tests are performed
• User acceptance testing completed
• Deployment of the system complete
• The system has successfully gone live

This section presents a rough order estimate of costs required for this project, presented in form of a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM). The estimation is based on the project’s scope, risk, and schedule and approximated effort required. To facilitate estimation of cost, time requirements for each activity have to be approximated.

• It is assumed that sufficient resources will be availed to the project, on time.
• It is assumed that all stakeholders will cooperate to ensure the success of the project
• The main risk in the project is quality issues, since the software will be developed by an external entity

• Like any other project cost and time will be major limitations for the project

• The project will be accepted by the client if all the deliverables and functions of the system are tested, and found to be fully functional according to the customer’s requirements

This project Stakeholder Management Plan presents a list of the project’s stakeholders and approaches to manage the stakeholders.

For the Costing System Development project, the main stakeholders will be:

• Project Sponsor
• Project Customer
• Project Manager
• Software Engineer
• Hardware Engineer
• Business Analyst
• A Contractor
• Test Engineer

Knowledge dissemination in a project is critical, in ensuring the success of the project. Good communication within a project ensures all stakeholders and project participants participate or feel as part of the project. Information about the status of the project and how they are affected makes the participants want to participate more in the project.

This Procurement Management Plan outlines the framework to be used in procuring services and equipments to be using in this project. The management of this project will use this as a guide in managing procurements throughout the project’s life cycle, and may be updated as need arises. The plan outlines the approach to be used in any procurement activity. For this project a number of items have to be procured, including Client PCs, a Server and software development services – which will require hiring a contractor to provide the services.

Project Goals and Objectives

The project manager will lead and provide oversight in coordination with the procurement staff. The PM will coordinate activities of identifying items to be procured. The list of items will then be presented to the Steering Committee for review and approval.

The following products and services require to be procured for a successful completion of this project;

Equipment and services to be procured for the Costing System Project will be purchased under fixed priced contract. The project team will closely work with the procurement staff in defining the technical requirements of the server and client PCs. The project manager shall then invite bids from trusted vendors.

Evaluation of the bids will be coordinated by the Project manager, working closely with the procurement staff.

Selection criteria will be based on;

• Technical qualification and past performance
• Vendor’s ability to deliver the requested items.
• Experience and general qualification( especially for the staff to be deployed in developing the application)
• Quality and
• Cost

In general, the lowest quality bidder will be awarded the contract to supply the items. For a software development contractor, the selection process will coordinate with quality control department to ensure that the contractor has a track record of quality delivery based on previous projects.

The project manager will be responsible for the management of suppliers and contractors. Weekly meetings between the contractor or representatives and the project manager will be scheduled to review the progress of software development, with the aim of ensuring quality and timely delivery of the software.

To effectively manage time in this project, a project schedule has been developed, represented below in form of a Gantt Chart, Critical path and critical network.

Gantt chart

 Critical Path

Critical Chain

The purpose of the Cost Management Plan is to outline methods to be used to manage and control costs throughout the project’s lifecycle. The aim is to facilitate the completion of the project without experiencing cost overruns. The plan therefore outlines how the costs associated with this project will be measured, controlled and reported.

The projects costs will be managed by the project manager, and the steering committee, which will analyze costs and schedule in the weekly project meetings. The measures to be used to establish the project progress in relation to costs will include;

• Cost Performance Index
• Schedule Performance Index
• Cost Variance
• Schedule Variance

 References

Gray, C. F., & Larson, E. W. (2014). Project management: The managerial process (1st Australianed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Gray, C. F., & Larson, E. W. (2018). Project management: The managerial process 7th Ed.. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Schwalbe, K. (2012/2015). An introduction to project management (4th ed./5thed.). Minnesota, USA: Kathy Schwalbe.

 Meredith, J., & Mantel, S.(2011). Project management: A managerial approach (8th ed.). Indianapolis: Wiley.

Project Management Institute (2013) A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 5th ed. – abbr.

PMBOK/PMBOK Guide (5th. ed) Pennsylvania: Project management Institute.