Project Proposal
Project Name: Opening a New Computer Laboratory at Hunter Institute of TAFE.
Project description: the main purpose of this project is to open a new computer lab at Hunter Institute of TAFE. The necessity of this project can be explained by the fact that many computers in this organization have become out-of-date and some of them continuously malfunction. Many software solutions cannot be run at this hardware. Finally, it is hardly possible to make an upgrade because new components will be incompatible with the old hardware. This is why we insist that the administration of TAFE Hunter Institute should build this facility. This computer lab should be able to host thirty students at a time.
Project Manager: (The Name of the Student)
Project deliverables: in this context the term deliverable can be defined as a tangible and measurable output; deliverables should not be confused with long-term strategic objectives (Greer, 2002, p 9).
It should be noted timeframes for several deliverable will overlap, for example, purchasing new software and equipment. Overall, we can argue that some these tasks are interdependent, which means that if we fail to do one of them we will not be able to proceed to the next stage. For instance, we cannot buy software for our computer lab unless we do not know their exact capacity.
Project Brief
Background: Hunter Institute of TAFE has long established its reputation as an organization that provides a high quality vocational training. They offer courses in computer-aided design, engineering, renewable energy system and so forth (Hunter Institute of TAFE, 2009, p 5). Therefore, the students must have access to the most cutting-edge technologies in order to improve their professional skills. Information technologies are an integral part of self-education. More than that, there is modern software applications are becoming more and more demanding, and out-of-date hardware is no longer suitable for such programs. Students, who attend Hunter Institute of TAFE, face many problems while working on these computers.
Links to strategic objectives: this project is linked with many strategic objectives, postulated by the administration of Hunter Institute, namely:
- To continuously improve the quality of training;
- To prepare students for the demands, set by modern companies (Hunter Institute of TAFE, 2010 unpaged).
It seems that creation of a new computer lab is quite consistent with these goals.
Links to related projects:
Project Scope: this project will encompass acquisition and installation of new computers and software at Hunter Institute of TAFE.
Included in scope: evaluation of the organizational needs, selection of suppliers, preliminary testing
Excluded out of scope: maintenance of computers is not included in the scope of this project.
Project Constraints: we can single out several project constraints:
- Budgetary constraints. It is quite probable that our financial estimations are not accurate and that this project will require extra investments, which would be unavailable to us;
- Resource constraints. The team members will be able to participate in this project only on a part-time basis. Moreover, the team members have never undertaken similar projects before, and this lack of experience can significantly downgrade the eventual outcomes.
- Delivery Constraints: there is great likelihood that this project will not be approved immediately.
Project Proposed Budget:
While drawing up a budget, we need to consider the following costs:
- Hardware
- Software
- Furniture
- Installation
- Preliminary Testing
According to our rough estimations, this project will require approximately $ 100.000. While calculating the budget, we went by the premise that this computer lab would host thirty students. We will be able to give more accurate numbers only when we thoroughly research the prices on these products.
Project Signoff
Project has been approved by Hunter Institute of TAFE
Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure should not be regarded as a schedule, though we have presented the key activities in chronological order. The purpose of this tool is to accurately describe each part of the process (Haugan, 2002). This information will help us at later stages of project implementation.
Computer Lab
- Purchasing new computers
- Evaluation of current and future needs of the organization;
- Assessment of the technologies, which are available on the market;
- Selecting a supplier;
- Delivery;
- Purchasing new software
- In-depth analysis of educational programs, provided by Hunter Institute of TAFE. This analysis will show which programs students will need.
- Evaluation of various programs in terms of their functionality, reliability and price.
- Selecting a vendor.
- Installation of software
- Finding an appropriate location for a new computer lab. One should not disregard this task, as it can be quite challenging especially if we are speaking about an educational institution;
- Assembly of various components if needed;
- Preliminary Testing;
- Follow-up assessment. The administration of Hunter Institute should ask learners and teachers for their feedback about a new computer lab. Perhaps, they will help to eliminate many problems.
Five Whys
Why does the organization need to set a new computer laboratory?
The organization has to make this step because many existing computers malfunction and students as well as teachers cannot make full use of information technologies. In turn, this shortcoming downgrades the quality of educational services, provided by Hunter Institute of TAFE. Furthermore, it prevents the administration from offering new and more advanced courses to students.
Why do computers malfunction?
The computers at Hunter Institute malfunction because the hardware (processors, graphics and sound cards) have long become dated while modern software solutions require high-performance computers. Even if one installs them, he/she would not be able to take full advantage of these programs as they will work very slowly.
Why cannot we just upgrade the already-existing hardware?
We cannot do it because new components such video cards, processors, may be incompatible with the old hardware, particularly the old motherboards. In fact, this is one of those situations, when an upgrade of computer would be much more expensive than purchasing a new one.
Why did not the organization purchases computers which can be easily upgraded?
The development of informational technologies is very difficult to predict: the equipment, which is at the cutting edge at the present moment, can become obsolete within a year. Besides, modern software solutions also change; the developers try to enlarge their functional capabilities of these programs and improve their design. This is the reason, why they require only hard-performance software.
Why did not the management take this information into account at the time we bought these computers?
Obviously, the management was firmly convinced that this problem would not occur.
Therefore, we can say that while selecting hardware for computer, the management should carefully assess the needs of the organization for the near future. The acquisition of new technologies has to be based on a thorough analysis of organizational structure, goals, stakeholders’ needs and so forth.
Conclusion
Thus, in this paper we have tried to outline the scope of this project, its main deliverables and constraints. Overall, the outcomes strongly depend upon the attitude of the main decision-makers, in other words, the administration of Hunter Institute of TAFE. Moreover, the team will have to spend much time and effort while making budget estimations.
In this case, any inaccuracy can lead to delays or complete failure of the project. As it has been mentioned earlier, the overall results will depend on the experience of team members. These are the key factors that should be taken into consideration by the participants.
Reference List
Dobson. M. S. 2004 The Triple Constraints in Project Management. Management Concepts.
Greer. M. 2002 The project manager’s partner: a step-by-step guide to project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Hunter Institute of TAFE. (2009). Annual Report. PDF File. Web.
Hunter Institute of TAFE. (2010). Hunter Institute of TAFE Website. Web.
Haugan. G. (2002). Effective work breakdown structures. NY: Management Concepts.