Introduction
Give a brief introduction to the project and this document.
Project Overview
Provide a brief description to the project here.
Project Objectives
Objectives of the projects can be outlined here.
Project Scope
Clearly define the scope of the project. In particular, identify the areas that are closely related, but not covered in this project.
Stakeholders
Provide descriptions of stakeholders involved and their role in the project.
Project Team
Include details of people who will be involved in this project from Pinnacle Software, including the regional and overseas development teams and their key skills and roles.
Overview of System Requirements
System requirements needs to be provided under two categories: functional and non-functional requirements
Functional Requirements
All the functional requirements should be clearly identified and specified here.
Business functions and list of use cases (system functions)
You should first list the business functions and use cases here. Also they should be ranked (mandatory, preferred, optional) to show the importance of each one of them.
Non-functional Requirements
All the non-functional requirements of the system that the project team should take into consideration should be provided under this section.
Security and Privacy Considerations
Discuss major security and privacy considerations and implications
Legal Considerations
Discuss key legal aspects that should be addressed
IT Compliance
The compliance requirements that should be met by the proposed system should be highlighted here.
Environmental Sustainability Requirements
Environmental and sustainability requirements during development and operational phases that needs to be addressed are to be included here.
Other Special Requirements
Other special requirements, if any, needs to be highlighted here.
How identified non-functional requirements will be addressed
For each of the non-functional requirements identified above, you need to outline how you propose to address them, giving your rationale.
Constraints and Assumptions
The client brief may not provide complete information on the project. On such situations, make suitable assumptions and clearly specify the assumptions you have made in providing the details and preparation of your proposal.
Also identify constraints, if any. The constraints may be internal (e.g. not having an in house expert in data mining) or external (e.g. limitation in bandwidth at the client site), technical or non-technical.
Cost/Benefit Analysis
Provide a detailed estimated cost of development taking all tangible and non-tangible costs into consideration. You are advised to research and find cost details of personnel and equipment as per to the current Australian market.
Development release schedule and Project Plan
Detailed plan should be provided for the project. You are to provide any project management related diagrams, graphs, etc., as appendices to this section.
Plan for implementation of Recommended Quality Assurance Procedures
As the Horticultural Association of Australia (HAA) plans to implement the new Web-based system aimed at upgrading the accounting system, conversion of paper-based publications into electronic, and overall transition to online sharing and exchanging of information, quality assurance procedures should be adopted to control the whole process of bringing these ambitious plans to life.
High level of quality should be the hallmark of the HAA’s activities starting from the way employees and different structures within the organisation carry out their work and functions to the end products or services it specializes in. In order to provide the best quality on every level of operating companies launch specialized quality systems comprising of quality control procedures and quality assurance procedures (Manghani 2011, p. 34).
In the course of conducting the proposed research, we are interested in quality assurance procedures. Generally speaking, these are the procedures aimed at guaranteeing that the company’s structures carry out their functions appropriately on every level and that all the needed data are generated and documented according to the company’s standards and requirements. Carrying out quality assurance procedures is imposed on the quality assurance departments that comprise of well-trained and qualified personnel, operate apart from the company’s operational units, and perform activities focusing on quality review on the regular basis.
That said, the initial recommendation for the company is to create the quality assurance department and get its work on the right track. Bearing in mind that the first steps in implementing the new Web-based are due by June 2016, it is strongly recommended that the department is created before taking any of them so that it controls the whole process. The company might want to select the personnel for the department among those people who are already employed and gained a reputation of dedicated and highly professional. The only point is that there is a need to hire a quality assurance manager who will develop and maintain the needed quality assurance procedures and control the work of the newly formed department.
Quality assurance manager will, first of all, select people for his department. Together with them, he will focus on adopting such quality assurance procedures as:
- Those involved in the implementation process have written job responsibilities that define the area of duties and specifications of skills needed for the most effective, high quality, and timely implementation of the new Web-based system.
- Guaranteeing that those involved in the implementation of the new Web-based system are highly professional and obtain the skills for reaching the company’s implementation objectives by the set dates. The department will carry out this step by inspecting the work of the operational units involved in the process, e.g. by defining transitional dates for achieving the implementation objectives and checking whether the interim tasks are fulfilled. For this purpose, it is recommended that at the end of every month, say, every 30th day of each month before the terminal date, quality assurance department will carry out an internal audit aimed at guaranteeing that the mid-term goals are reached.
- Guaranteeing that all the data and documents while implementing the new Web-based system are generated and documented in compliance with the company’s, regional, national, and international standards and requirements so that in the case of the external audit the company does not face any difficulties with the documentation.
- Putting forward initiatives aimed at constant improvement of the quality of the functioning of the operational units involved in the whole process of implementation, i.e. promoting taking training and practical courses and constant self-development for the purpose of complying with the job responsibilities.
- The continuous search for the newest global practices and the experience of the world leading companies in the similar area of the development. That means that the quality assurance development remains in the constant search for techniques that would help in timely achieving of the implementation objectives.
In order to carry out the quality assurance procedures listed above, we recommend the following plan for their implementation:
- Hiring the quality assurance manager who will create the quality assurance department selecting the personnel from the already employed people;
- Developing job responsibilities and required skills sheets and spreading them to everybody involved in the process of implementing the new Web-based system;
- Setting up transitional dates and mid-term objectives for the implementation of the new Web-based system, e.g. every 30th day of the month, so that the company is guaranteed that the implementation steps will be carried out by the set dates;
- Developing company’s standards for generating and documenting data that comply with the regional, national, and international ones;
- Developing strategies for the further self-development and skills improvement of the employees involved in the implementation of the new Web-based system on grounds of the newest global practices and the experience of the world leading companies in the same area.
Bearing in mind that the first steps in implementing the Web-based are planned to be taken by the end of June 2016, there is no time for carrying out the whole plan for quality assurance procedures. That is why the company should, first of all, hire the quality assurance manager, create the quality assurance department, and define interim dates and mid-term objectives, and then launch the rest parallel to the steps for the embodiment of the new Web-based system.
Your recommendation
Having studied the HAA’s profile, the development team has made its opinion regarding the company and the potential barriers and risks that may emerge during the process of implementing the new Web-based system. The organisation has particular problems that, at the same time, may become major risks that may have an impact on the effectiveness and timely implementation of the new Web-based system for sharing and exchanging information. These primary problems are the size of the company, the geographical dispersion of the employees and members of the company as well as the voluntary nature of contributing resources and difficulties in reaching those resources that are available.
Nevertheless, these problems are not the primary source of the potential barriers to the embodiment of the new system; instead, they are secondary. The foremost problem is the deterioration of the whole database, as all the documents are kept in paper form. Together with that, all the software that is available is also undergoing obsolescence and does not move with the times, so there is a high probability that it will not be technically supported in the nearest future, as the pace of development of the newest technologies is explosive.
That said, taking into consideration the company’s size and the nature of contributions of the resources, Pinnacle Software Solutions’ senior management should realize that the company very often faces the deficit in financing its primary needs. However, because of the obsolescence of the software and databases the company was forced to find the money for the project. Hence, the primary recommendations to Pinnacle Software Solutions’ senior management and the development team are as following:
- Those employees who will be involved in the embodiment of the new Web-based system should not forget about the organisation’s financial difficulties. That means that the development team should provide the company with the mid-term plans of implementation and respective financial requirements so that it has time to find the source for providing the necessary financing;
- Pinnacle Software Solutions’ senior management should not forget about the development risks that may emerge from the HAA’s difficulties with the deteriorating software. Bearing in mind that most systems used by the organisation are incompatible with each other, the development team should consider designing the universal Web-based system that would be technically compatible with the available software before the company finds the resources that are needed for overall software upgrading.
- There are other development risks that the team might want to focus on while implementing the new Web-based system. The primary problem that should be addressed is the software obsolescence that is why it should be born in mind while scheduling and planning the whole process of the embodiment. That said, it is strongly recommended to have one or two months in reserve so that the process of implementation is complete due to the set dates. Second, the development team should remember that there might be a sudden change in the requirements caused by the possible software upgrade if the company finds the investor or creditor ready to provide the necessary financial resources. Third, what should be born in mind is the possibility that some of the employees working on the project might fire, that is why it is recommended to involve some additional developers with fewer functions so that this risk is eliminated;
- The development team should remember that the employees and members of HAA work with the deteriorating software and machines so that it is of significant importance to design the system that is simple and intuitive in its interface and functioning so that it fully corresponds to the skills. What is more, it will lead to the need for upgrade and further development of the system once the employees improve their skills;
- It is recommended to implement quality assurance procedures aimed at providing high-quality services in time and guaranteeing that the new system for sharing and exchanging information is developed and launched before the dates determined in the initial schedule of embodiment;
- Returning to setting up a schedule for developing and implementing the system, it is recommended to design a realistic schedule bearing in mind all the risks and problems that may emerge in the course of carrying out the project. This step together with well-developed and organised quality assurance procedures are an effective tool for guaranteeing the high level of productivity of those involved in the project and completing it at the dates set;
- Senior management should not forget about the probability of the risks that cannot be predicted such as natural or man-made disasters, changes in the governmental policies and regulations, economic crises and turbulence, and possible breakthroughs in the information and communications technologies as the whole and programming and software in particular. According to this recommendation, it is better to design short-term plan for developing and implementing the system and not delay its completion if it is possible. It is even more beneficial for the company because the earlier the development team finishes the project for HAA, the earlier it can star working on the new ones.
So, bearing in mind everything that was mentioned above including about the problems of the organisation and the risks that may potentially emerge during the process of implementation of the new Web-based system, the senior management of Pinnacle Software Solutions should consider all the options before taking up the projects. On the one hand, it may be challenging because the organisation is experiencing financial hardships that is why there is a probability of arrears in payments.
On the other hand, though, in the case if HAA finds the source of necessary financing it might become a kind of gold mine. Initially, it will need the system that will be compatible with the available software but, in future, if it finds money for upgrading it, there might be a need for developing a whole new system. That said, there is the possibility of finding a long-term client that would need the Pinnacle Software Solutions’ services with every new wave of software upgrades.
What is more, bearing in mind that the new Web-based system will be unfamiliar to the organisation’s workers and members, there is a high probability that there will be a need for consulting services provided by the developer of the system. It means that even though the project is troublesome in the near future, it is profitable in the long run that is why the recommendation to Pinnacle Software Solutions’ senior management is to take it up and develop the new Web-based Information Management System for the Horticultural Association of Australia.
Conclusion
This document provides the proposal for the implementation of the new Web-based Information Management System for the Horticultural Association of Australia. It highlights the objectives and the scope of the project of the system embodiment. Together with that, it defines stakeholders and the team of developers who would be involved in it. Moreover, this document focuses on detecting all the requirements for the implementation including functional and non-functional requirements and the ways to address them.
The document also addresses constraints, barriers, and risks that may arise in the process of implementation of the new Web-based system and offers the cost-benefit analysis for the organisation. What is more, it provides the development release schedule, the project plan, the list of recommended quality assurance procedures and the plan for implementing them as well as the recommendation to Pinnacle Software Solutions’ senior management.
It was determined that the organisation’s primary problems that might lead to barriers in implementing the system are its size and, respectively, financial hardships, as it cannot afford to cover all the needs it has. Moreover, the problem lies in the software and database obsolescence because the systems that HAA uses are incompatible with each other, and there is a risk of growth of this incompatibility as the technologies develop rapidly.
With all the organisation’s problems and risks in mind, it was recommended to Pinnacle Software Solutions’ to take up the project of developing and implementing the new Web-based Information Management System for the Horticultural Association of Australia. The reason is that it might be profitable in the long run when HAA finds resources to cover the expenditures for the necessary software upgrades. What is more, it will need consulting and maintenance services with every new step of upgrades.
References
A full bibliography list of all references should be included here. The reference list should adhere to Harvard, APA or IEEE styles.
Manghani, K 2011, ‘Quality assurance: importance of systems and standard operating procedures’, Perspectives in Clinical Research, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 34-37.
Appendices
Any tables, graphs or images which are oversized to be placed within the document can be included under the appendices. Please take care to make correct references to them at the relevant place(s) in the text of the document.
Professional Development
Autumn 2013. Group Assignment Report Contribution Declaration.
Contributions of each team member into this report should be given here. Please make a table for each group member in the format provided below.
(the following filled in data is provided as an example only)