Project Background
The project is created to bring efficiency in statistical computing (Joseph, 2003). The project will be done in the United Arab Emirates, in Abu Dhabi. The reason behind this project is the fact that many countries in the UAE lack the capital and the expertise to sponsor their students and researchers to developed countries and that they learn the statistical calculations. These calculations are run in powerful machines. The company was formed to fill the gap between these disparate motives. With this company, students and researchers are now able to work on statistical data which could have been very expensive if they would sought otherwise (Young-Hoon Kwak, 2005). The computing power is provided in a cloud computing environment. The logic behind developing this is that the university that will access this virtual service will be able to pay for services that have been used. The software will make it possible for education and training in third-world countries. It is therefore very possible to face the challenges that come with the use of the R-Language platform head-on.
Market
The market of the software will entail the students who are pursuing the statistical course and lack the systems to do that. High demand for statistical computations using supercomputers, especially now that there are many students who are pursuing higher education in the United Arab Emirates. There will be a need to want to use these tools in their course of study. Many students have opted to travel overseas to look for these services. This is now a thing of the past as it is now possible for students and universities who have a virtual computing environment to access these services from the cloud.
- Need to support researchers in the area of Statistics so that there are many researchers in this field.
- Need to have improved access to computing power.
The company employs IT staff who will monitor and maintain the system so that there is continued and reliable service to the users. There are mathematicians and computer scientists who have been hired by the company to make sure that the data and the program are logically correct. The concept of cloud is you pay for what you have used only. Accordingly, the university will be paid for what will be used.
Current status
Currently, supercomputing power is available in very few companies. What is more, the companies which have supercomputers don’t have the software that is used by researchers. The researchers need a platform where they are able to access the computing power that they need. There are many challenges faced by these researchers and students. The issues include the fact that the countries which have efficient and reliable R-Language platforms are far, usually, they have to go abroad to access the same. With this scenario, many bright and talented researchers have had to relinquish their careers opting to do other things which are accessible locally.
Project purpose
Starting this project will enable the students to access the R-Language and statistical tools from their locations without the need to travel abroad. The researchers will also do their research analysis using the Curve-R computing platform (Martin, 2002). What will be required after this is done is that the users and those who are interested in the service develop their virtual environment. Unlike in the earlier times where they have been required to purchase, configure, and set up the servers for the same. What is required now is that access to the Internet and enough computing resources to be able to use the cloud service. What is more, they will only use the service that is paid for, thus reducing the cost.
This system, Curve-R is a system used to teach programming in R-Language to students from developing countries especially Africa and Asia. This software is the first software developed to solve the large complex mathematical formulas that are traditionally developed through supercomputers thus there are no competitors in the market.
Project sponsor
The sponsor of the project is Curve-R Company. Curve-R is a company which was established in the year 2009. It is new in operations. It helps to bring a supercomputing environment to researchers and students of the R-Language. Located in the United Arab Emirates, in Abu Dhabi, the reason behind the creation of this company is the fact that many countries in the UAE lack the capital and the expertise to sponsor their students and researchers to developed countries and that they learn the statistical calculations. The company was formed to fill the gap between these disparate motives. With this company, students and researchers are now able to work on statistical data which could have been very expensive if they would sought otherwise.
Project location
The project will be located in Abu Dhabi. The reason behind this is the fact that most universities in this region do not have the supercomputing power that enables them to do calculations that they do in the course of their studies. Most students go to universities that are located abroad so that they get access to these resources. The facilities that will be used here include supercomputers and the R-Language that will be used in the programming. Also included will be the data and specifications that are used in the whole process. Most of the time, these resources are only accessible in overseas countries.
Project duration
The project is expected to take approximately 1 month and ten days. The representation of the same is shown in the table below:
Project team
Project Responsibilities
The following are the responsibilities of the various personnel in the carrying out of our project.
Project manager
This is someone who is responsible for project management from initiation to approval through to project finalization.
The role will include the development, implementation, and finalization phases of the project. He will take accountability for the establishment of a baseline for the project. The key responsibilities of the project manager will include:
- Project integration management
- Project scope management
- Project time management
- Project cost management
- Project quality management
- Project human resource management
- Project communication management
- Project risk management
- Project procurement management
System analyst/designer
The role of this staff differs in different organizations. The most outstanding and common responsibilities include the following:
- Analysis of systems in the organization. This will include getting facts to getting facts about business activity within the organization.
- Designing of the system. This will require the system analyst to come up with new systems and design a news system/application.
- System programming. Most of the time, the analyst doubles up with the programmer. He will usually work in collaboration with the programmers in the various tasks.
Quality engineer
The responsibilities will include the following:
- Plans and directs activities concerned with development.
- They make sure that the standards required in the programs are met and maintained. In this case, the quality engineer will develop standards to be used in developing the media management system.
- They set the standards for inspections.
Programmers
The programmers have the role of coding the system. They are conversant with one of the programming languages. Their responsibilities include:
- Coding and testing the system for bugs
- They are responsible for refining data and formatting the final product.
- They are responsible for maintaining and modifying existing programs. They make changes and amend flow charts to suit the said changes.
- They are responsible for writing new code according to the specifications.
- They are supposed to monitor programs and give suggestions on the path to be followed in improving them.
- They are supposed to write program documentation.
- Their task is also to document the code and the procedure they followed while developing the program
Salespeople
These are the people who will be involved with making sure that the sales are made. After the system is up and running, clients who are to use the service will be required. The system will serve no particular purpose if there are no users from the various remote places.
Finance personnel
These are very important people in the project. It is they who will take of all the financial transactions required in the organization. The project will have a lot of activities that will need the use of money: in fact, virtually all the activities to be done within the project require money. The work of this person is very crucial.
Cost Benefit Analysis
Projected costs.
Projected revenues
For the desktop applications that we have studied, we were able to find out that students are charged according to the time they spend accessing the program. In developed countries, students who access and use the R-Language program use it for 6 hours per day three times a week. Each hour, a student is charged 60 AED. This will mean that students will be charged 360 per day. In these countries, students who use these services are estimated to be 8 per day. For a whole day, the revenue will be 2880 AED. Per week, the total cost will be 14,400 AED translating to 748,800 AED per year. The estimated profit will therefore be 700,000 AED. It is also projected that with intensive marketing, as outlined in the marketing paper, it is expected that service use will increase. There will be more students who will be interested in this venture as time goes by.
After the system has been setup, it is expected that the cash flow from the service rendered to mathematicians and researchers will be shown as follows:
The net profit that is shown in the table above still has not factored in the annual maintenance fee and the license fee for the programming languages. Subtracting these costs, which are 1500 and 10,000 AED respectively, we get 419,700 AED. The return on investment, therefore, comes to 37.3%.
Risk scope management
There are risks that are expected to be encountered in the course of implementing the project. Risk management is required to manage the uncertainties that might happen and thus affect the project either in a positive or in a negative way. There should be a way of dealing with these risks.
Risk factors
Sponsorship risk factors
These are risks that might arise from the sponsor of the project. They include factors such as the management of the organization losing interest in the project, an environment that is not stable, failure of the management to make decisions at critical times, a conflict between the departments who are going to use the project, unethical behavior.
Management strategies
The strategy which will help solve this risk is the use of avoidance; trying to deal with the problems before they occur. There should be a vision for all to follow in order to manage this risk.
Finance and scheduling risk factors
The factors that come as a result of this include requiring budgeting the entire project at the outset leading to underfunding in later stages, deviation from the set budget, having a user lead the project. Budgeting at the onset of the project is another risk that might cause serious flaws. There are changes that can occur in the course of project implementation.
Impact of this risk
This risk will bring the impact that the project might be underfunded. This is because the factors of inflation are not taken care of when the initial budget is created.
Management strategies
For this risk to be minimized, the initial budget on it should not be an issue so much. There should be funds that are used for emergencies so that when some issues arise, they can be dealt with effectively. To manage this risk, there will be a need to realign the strategies stated and that the sponsor, Curve-R, commit to further funding or limit the extent of the project.
Personnel risks
These are risks that arise due to human resources. The lack of people with the right skills is the most significant risk.
Management strategies
For the project to really go on well there should be other expertise on the reserve so that the three experts working on the project can have a replacement in case they, by any chance, are not able to go through with project implementation. If the project is already underway and it is not possible to have new staff with the required skills, it will be reasonable to obtain temporary resources, and replace or reassign the already taken people.
Requirements are handled poorly
This factor arises when the team chases technology and fails to solve the problem they were working on in the first place. Chasing technology instead of satisfying legitimate requirements causes serious problems because, in the end, new technology has been used but the problem has not been solved.
Project Planning
Software life cycle model
The software model that will be employed in this project is the incremental software development model. The phases are divided into small phases which are manageable. The advantage of this model is that each phase is closely looked at (Ireland, 2006). The first phase could bring working software already. This will mean that the programmer will have a chance to test each small achievement of the project. It does not necessarily mean that all modules or parts must be completed for testing to be done. Each phase will go through the legally recommended phases of a project. Working software will be available in the first cycle. The project will involve developing the database that will be used to manage the requests to use the Curve-R services. It is also justified in this project because of its flexibility. It has less cost when changing scope and requirements.
Organizational structure
This organizational structure represents the various people who will play different roles to make sure that the project will be completed on time and with the required functionalities incorporated in it.
The project roles will be as follows:
- Project manager: this is the person who is appointed to manage a project right from the start of the project to its approval. This is somebody who is senior in the development of the project.
- Quality engineer: this is someone who is appointed to make sure that the project meets all the requirements and that all that it was supposed to perform has been achieved.
- System analyst: this is the person who is responsible for guiding through the development of a system. In performing these tasks, he should make sure that the objectives of the organization are well catered for.
- Programmer: This is the person who is responsible for coding and debugging the system. He will normally use a programming language he/she is comfortable with and liked by the organization.
Organizational Boundaries and Interfaces
The project team will not be working alone to make sure that the project comes to a smooth completion. There will be other members who will be affected and will affect the way the project will be carried out. These members include the following:
- Project stakeholders: these are people who will get impacted by the project. In this case, our stakeholders will be the customers who visit Curve-R
- Project sponsor: this is somebody who has been nominated to represent the organization undertaking the project. In our case, the project sponsor will be a representative from Integral solutions.
- Project users: These are the person who will be using the system. In our case, these are the stakeholders of this company.
Managerial process
The management of Curve-R will be responsible for the smooth running of the project team and that communication will be channeled using the right path. For the success of any project, communication is the most important aspect to be given priority. When there is no proper communication in the execution of the project, the activities in the project are not well choreographed and there is poor coordination of activities.
Managerial objectives and priorities
Without effective communication, the project stops. If there is no honest and effective communication between project members and the management, everyday challenges can be disastrous. The philosophy of the management team is to develop a team and not a hierarchy. A team will ease communication because there is no authority to fear. Small issues will be brought to the book. The means of communication will be through team leaders heading the different components of the project. There will be meetings every now and then to assess the progress of the project. These meetings will be in such a way that the whole group including the stakeholders and sponsors will be having meetings fortnightly while module members will be having meetings weekly.
Resolving issues between members that are personal brings cohesion and reduces tension during project sessions. The management will strive to create an environment where there is open discussion and mutual problem-solving. This will help project members to respond better to relationship challenges in a more effective way and will enable them to maintain open lines and exchange ideas without unnecessary barriers. There will be an effort for the organization to be able to resolve interpersonal issues that arise between project members. They will, in particular, try to create an environment where project members address and resolve their personal differences openly; this will improve the success of the project changes. There will be at least two seminars that will be arranged and a human resource consultant will come and speak about self-management. This will enable project team members to solve personal issues. The team members will be taught the benefits of constructive confrontation. The management will encourage team members to raise issues more effectively.
Assumptions, dependencies, and constraints
There are a number of assumptions that will be taken in this project. One of these assumptions is that it is expected that the resources that will be required will be available when required. This project will require supercomputers and servers. The project members assume that these computers will available when they are needed. There will also be some hardware and networking material and tools that will be required when working on the project. All these resources will be expected to be there when the project is initiated.
It is also expected that technical expertise will be available when the project development will require new technologies to be used. It is expected that the chosen programmers will be able to handle all the technical issues that will arise in the execution of the project. It is expected that the two programmers will be able to source and learn new technologies when required.
It is also expected that there will be no industrial action that will affect the execution of the project. Changes like a change of rights and licenses of media to hospitality organizations like bars and restaurants will not be changed. The development of this project will continue with the assumption that the government will not change the rules and regulations concerning the playing of music and videos in bars and restaurants.
It is also assumed that the modules in this project will be capable of being integrated with minimum rework. The components which will be developed in this project will include the database module, security module, and the virtual environment module
Project constraints
The project will have some constraints if the staff of the project will not have enough experience to handle the technical issues that might arise in the development of the projects. If a significant percentage of the project staff will not be experienced with the operating environment it will cause some constraints in project execution. It is expected that the staff assigned for this project will be having the technical expertise required to perform this project.
If deliverables submitted for approval will require working days for review will cause constraints because there will be some delay in the whole project. There will also be constraints if Mr. Barlow has not described all the details required for the development of the system. It will therefore mean that more rework will be done which will cause further delay to the project.
Constraints will be experienced if key-decision makers will be difficult to contact when issues arise in the project. This will cause time wastage in the project execution. It is expected that these decision-makers will be reachable at any time and in all the development phases of the project.
Another constraint that might arise is if the project members will be new to the environment and may take time to learn the new developing environment. This will cause the delay to be experienced in the project execution.
Detailed Project Products
The project team and Gantt Chart
The project will cost 3 members who are working for Curve-R Company. Apart from the salary they are withdrawing from the company right now, they will be added project allowance on top of this. The project allowance will cost the company around 50,000 AED per staff. The team consists of:
- Mariam Al Maskari – Principal Investigator
- Nehal Al Hameire – Senior Technician for the project.
- Ayesha Ghubash – Co-investigator.
Work breakdown structure.
The Gantt Chart is shown below:
Network/precedence diagram
The network diagram is shown below:
Product Breakdown structure
As can be seen in the diagram the database and the application are in the cloud. The cloud will take care of the application, database, and data. It assures security as the security is also managed in the cloud. The cloud provides easier management.
References
Harrison, D., & Lock, J. (2004). Advanced project management: a structured approach‎. Illinois: Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Ireland, L. (2006). Project Management. Columbia: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Joseph P. (2003). PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide. Columbia: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Martin S. (2002). Project Management Pathways. London: Association for Project Management. APM Publishing Limited.
Young-Hoon Kwak (2005). A brief history of Project Management: The story of managing projects. Vol. 2.