The purpose of this plan is to identify all the tasks, activities, and phases that will be entailed in the creation of an e-commerce website. It will summarize the requirements needed to maximize outputs. It will also include constraints and assumptions in planning and a schedule for implementing all the project components. A work breakdown structure will assist in achieving these issues after the identification of the project scope. The project schedule will only be written after a decision has been agreed on the delivery dates for the project outcomes. Furthermore, the use of resources will be specified and some rules for sticking to those resources will assist in achieving this.
Goals and objectives
The business-related objectives and aims of this project will be to implement an e-commerce website for Computerworld that will possibly result in: -Increased working hours that are adjusted to client time schedules
- An ability to offer information about the Computer world’s products to clients/stakeholders
- An advertising line for the products on offer by Computerworld
- An improved customer service achieved through better customer support service
- Market awareness of hardware products and purchasing methods available
- Another trading platform for Computerworld company through online sales (Bocij and Chaffey, 43)
Scope
Projected budget
$ 205, 340
Risk assessment
There are a number of risks that this project may have along the way. The first is related to sheer project size; it is likely that the project personnel may exceed specified amounts. This risk can be mitigated through thorough communication, well-planned project oversight and regular meetings between project members. The second risk is associated with the project definition. There may be an expansion of the project scope right in the middle of implementation and this can cause disorganization. One of the ways in which the risk can be mitigated is to enact three monthly reviews. Furthermore, the vendor who will be required to implement the website system may also have unclear deliverables (Drossos, 58). Mitigation here entails creating a project plan for the supplier too. Project definition risk may also be manifested through a lack of knowledge amongst team members concerning all the business that may have to be included in the e-commerce website; business operations and technology synchronization may be a problem but this will be mitigated through frequent identification of prevalent knowledge gaps and training for those found to fall in this category. The third risks all fall under project leadership. Management attitude to this project may be less than expected. Mitigation for this risk is continual feedback by team members on achievements to secure their support. Furthermore, users of the e-commerce website may also have a poor response to the initiative in terms of the value of the project. This risk will be mitigated by frequent feedback to the consumers so that they can fully support project implementation. The fourth category of risks falls under project staffing. Some of the team members may not be available for full team implementation; a risk that will be mitigated through frequent reviews on the rate of momentum sustained within the project and consultations on commitment levels. Also, teamwork experiences may lead to poor working relations. This is something that can be easily solved through creation of a broad communications plan. The fifth category of risks falls under project management. It is likely that quality management within this project may be quite problematic and it can be mitigated by thorough training and preparation (Schniederjans & Cao, 137).
Milestones
The first step will be conducting business requirements analysis. Once this has been completed the domain registration of the website will need to be done. Thereafter, the company will have to select the service providers for the new service. The fourth milestone will be design specification of the website. This will be followed immediately by implementation of the project where the e commerce website will actually be created and completed. Thereafter, a testing phase must commence so as to ascertain that everything is flowing accordingly and that the concerned parties are content with the product. Shortly after, testing, training will be done and a final launch of the website will be done. The last project milestone will be evaluation of the project.
Work breakdown structure: the following are the responsibilities of concerned members. (Haugan, 141). Planning will be carried out by the project manger while execution will be carried out by the rest of the team members
Assumptions
In this project, it has been assumed that all the staff members in this company are willing to alter their functionality and their operations to incorporate the new e commerce website. It has also been assumed that management will make available all the resources needed to carry the project out. Another assumption is that the project team will execute the project plan within set time schedules. It has been assumed that project participants are going to follow through on all the stipulations in the plan. Lastly, it has been assumed that there is adequate infrastructure within Computerworld to execute all aspects of the plan. (Chaffey, 24)
Constraints
In this particular project, it is likely that the major constraints will be resource based. First of all, there may be a shortage of funding. Additionally, during the course of implementation, prices may increase and hence go above the stated budget estimates. Since minimal contingencies have been put in place then chances are that project flow may be disrupted once this occurs. Alternatively, if there is a natural or man made disaster then this may direct resources to rebuilding other critical areas of the company infrastructure other than the actual project.
Project management approach
Problem solving steps
A range of procedures will be implemented for the management of issues that crop up during the project. In other words, the following path will be followed in case of modifications to the company’s project plan. First the project manager will be in charge of documentations of any matters that can alter schedules, expenditure or staffing. The second step will be to actually review the issue and verify the magnitude of impact that the issue can cause to the project. The third step entails including the rest of the team in analyzing the issue. Here consensus will be sought on modification, rejection or approval of the matter. If no consensus will be reached then the problem will be directed to the project administration that will look at the matter and then make the final decision about it. In the last step, the project manager will then tell the original stakeholder affected about the decision of the project administrator what to do. (Khosrowpour, 37)
Communication plan
Communication will be a vital part of the project’s success because the more people are informed, the more likely they to participate and complete the project. The audience under consideration for the communications plan will be the project administrator, manager and team members. The communications methodology to be employed will involve three major pathways i.e. bottom-up alongside middle-out and lastly top-down strategies. Top down communication will entail direct exchanges between administrators and project members. Bottom up communication will also be critical as this will instate an atmosphere of consultation amongst the members. Middle – out will involve giving support to the various levels of members involved in the process. Communication will entail monthly meetings of project team members where status reports will be provided. Here, tasks completed at the beginning of the month will be compared to those ones completed at the end and gaps will be discussed.
Project timeline
Refer to the appendix
Appendix
References
Bocij, P., & Chaffey, D. Business Information Systems: Technology, Development and Management. Boston, MA: FT Prentice Hall, 2008
Chaffey, D. E-business and e-commerce management: strategy, implementation, and practice. Boston, MA: FT Prentice Hall, 2008
Haugan, G. Effective work breakdown structures. NY: Management concepts
Drossos, L. Digital Rights Management for E-Commerce Systems. Hershey, PA: IGI Global snippet, 2009
Khosrowpour, M. Managing information technology in a global economy. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing, 2001
Schniederjans, J., & Cao, Q. E-Commerce operations management. New Jersey, NJ: World Scientific, 2002