Share this: Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn WhatsApp

Table of Contents

Executive summary

The main purpose of this project is to provide a platform for RMIT to simplify its educational affairs management, which should be equipped with a user-friendly interface, an intuitive navigation structure, high compatibility, and a hierarchical access strategy.

To make the project proceed successfully, the following documents are built, including project charter, stakeholder management plan, scope management plan, schedule baseline, network diagram, cost management plan, as well as risk management plan.

The project charter describes the project in terms of functionality and scope and then announce the purpose of the project. In the stakeholder management part, the project identifies all the relevant internal and external stakeholders for the system. A stakeholder matrix is produced to recognize the importance and the impact of different stakeholders. According to this, a communication plan is built as well to improve communication with different stakeholders. Then, scope is defined and Work Breakdown Structure(WBS) is produced to group all the work. With the help of the schedule baseline and network diagram, the activities required to ensure the completion of the project are defined and allocated with resources. After identifying all the tasks, the cost plan is generated to determine the budget of the project. Finally, in the risk management plan, the possible potential risks are identified, and suitable strategies are made to control the risks.

Definition

Project stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or project completion.

Project Cost Management includes the process required to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. It includes cost estimating, determine budget, and cost control.

Scope management plan, by definition, is the collection of processes which are used to ensure that the project includes all the tasks that are required in completing a project, while excluding the work which is out of the “scope”.

A function point is a “unit of measurement” to express the amount of business functionality an information system (as a product) provides to a user based on the user’s external view of the functional requirements.

Version Control

1. Introduction

1.1 Introduction

With the rising number of international students attending RMIT, the academic management system needs to be improved to serve students from all backgrounds, which includes ensuring access and effective support for all students, and to embracing the global diversity and talent of their students and staff. SRS project is set up to meet this requirement, which provides a platform for RMIT students to simplify their academic affair managements.

1.2 Purpose of the report

To make the project proceed successfully, the project team should follow the methodology of pmbok. As a result, this report is built to guide the project from different perspectives. Several plans are made for the project team to define scope, allocate resources as well as control risks.

1.3 Historical background

In 1999, RMIT used to conduct an AMS project. But the project failed out of some reasons. From their failure experience, the project team realizes how project management can affect the result of the project. So, in this project, more efforts are made to make planning, manage resources, produce documents, and control risks.

1.4 Scope of the report

In this report, project manager goes through seven documents which includes project charter, stakeholder management plan, scope management plan, schedule baseline, network diagram, cost management plan, as well as risk management plan. This report also records all the team meetings since the project was conducted.

2. Project charter

The charter below formally demonstrates the existence of a project and provides direction on the project’s objectives as well as management. It also formally authorizes the work to begin on the project (Brewer & Dittman, 2013).

PROJECT TITLE: Student Recognition System Start Date: 9/8/2018

Version control: V2.2018 End Date: 22/09/2018

Description:

The aim of the Student Recognition System (SRS)project is to overcome the problems of RMIT’s AMS system like a communication problem, technical problems, weakness in managing resources, weakness in time frame management and planning. In this way, the SRS project will implement a role-based permission management and hierarchical authorization system and phase out dependent infrastructure to make contents and functionality fully integrated on a single system. It also contains project major deliverable schedule, critical success factor, constraints, and risks. Finally, this project aims to address all these needs and result in a consolidated system to improve the efficiency of student management activities.

Project Manager: Anoop Shetty

Purpose:

Major Deliverable Schedule:

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
1. Project initiation	8 days	06/08/2018	15/08/2018
1.1 Develop team	1 day	08//08/2018	06/08/2018
1.2 Meeting 1	1 day	08/08/2018	08/08/2018
1.3 Problem Statement	4 days	09/08/2018	18/08/2018
1.4 Outline the schedule plan	2 days	10/08/2018	13/08/2018
2. Project Planning and Execution	49 days	13/08/2018	18/10/2018
2.1 Project Charter	6 days	13/08/2018	20/08/2018
2.2 Stakeholder Analysis	6 days	20/08/2018	27/08/2018
2.3 Scope Management	6 days	27/08/2018	03/09/2018
2.4 Baseline scheduling	6 days	03/09/2018	10/09/2018
2.5 Networking	6 days	03/09/2018	10/09/2018
2.6 Cost Management	6 days	10/09/2018	17/09/2018
2.7 Risk Management	6 days	24/09/2018	01/10/2018
3. Project Monitoring and Controlling	42 days	13/08/2018	09/10/2018
3.1 Monitor and Control execution	42 days	13/08/2018	09/10/2018
3.2 Control scope of the project	32 days	27/08/2018	09/10/2018
4. Project Closure	6 days	08/10/2018	18/10/2018
4.1 Project Analysis	4 days	08/10/2018	11/10/2018
4.2 Project Finalization	2 days	12/10/2018	15/10/2018

Critical Success Factors:

Following are the critical success factor for this system should be successful:

The system must be available for 99% of the time.
The Average response time of the system is less than 1 second.
No negative feedback from the user.
Provides a simple and easy to use interface for the customers
Must be scalable to add new users to the system.
Easy access to users’ own personal data
The system satisfies 100% of the requirements mentioned in AMS
Providing data security means protecting digital data, such as those in a database, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of unauthorized users such as cyberattack or data breach.

Assumptions:

RMIT is committed to developing a system that is student-centred, not university-centred.

Constraints/Risks:

Tight timeframe: Although there used a similar system being developed, we still have

much to do to launch a new system.

Project team: we have complete confidence in the project team. However, we also realize that the individuals on the team have other units that might, at times, take priority.
The Timing of user testing: Getting students to participate in user testing can be difficult.
To truly develop a student-centred system, we will have to balance what we (i.e. RMIT stuff)

think is important for the system with user behaviours and needs, allowing the latter to take

priority when the two come into conflict.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

Below is the list of all people involved in a successful implementation of the project

Project Manager: Will be leading the project
Project Team Member: Will be actively working on one or more phases of the project.
Project Sponsor: Will be making key business decisions for the project.
Technology Support: Will be comprised of various members who perform technology support for the project.
Developers: Will be designing and implementing the system
Business Analyst: Gathering Requirements and coordinating with team members
Stakeholders: Will consist of community member affected by or participating in the project.
Key User: Will provide source information to the team or participates as required in User Acceptance Testing Activities.
Legal Team: Will aid in legal affairs.
Chief Financial officer: Will be controlling the cash flow

Approvals

Project Sponsor
Capital Review Committee

3. Stakeholder analysis

3.1 Definition of stakeholder

Project stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or project completion; they may also exert influence over the project and its result (Project Management Institute, 2000).

3.2 Importance of stakeholder analysis

Since, the importance of different kinds of stakeholders varies greatly among firms, as well as among various critical management issues (Post, Preston, 2002). Stakeholder analysis helps to identify the influence and interests of the various stakeholders and documents their needs, wants, and expectations. Also, A stakeholder analysis can help a project to identify

Potential issues that could disrupt the project
Key people for information distribution during executing phase
Groups that should be encouraged to participate in different stages of the project
Communication planning & stakeholder management strategy during project planning phase
Ways to reduce potential negative impacts & manage negative stakeholders

3.3 Stakeholders Table

Table 1. Stakeholder matrix

Stakeholder Name	Contact Person Phone, Email, Website, Address	Impact How much does the project impact them? (Low, Medium, High)	Influence How much influence do they have over the project? (Low, Medium, High)	What is important to the stakeholder?	How could the stakeholder contribute to the project?	How could the stakeholder block the project?	Strategy for engaging the stakeholder
Project team Anoop, Yizheng Luo, Nisha, Mohith	N/A	High	High	1.Bring profits to the team. 2.Ensure the completion of the project.	1.Plan for the project. 2.Conduct the plan 3.Implement the project	1.Find the project infeasible. 2.Cost exceeds budget. 3.Team disbanded	1.Weekly meeting 2.Review others’ work
Development team	N/A	High	High	1. Get experience 2. Get chances to access training 3. Get salaries.	Design the software and implement it	1. Find the project infeasible. 2. Stop working.	1. Weekly meeting 2. Review others’ work
Test team	N/A	High	High	1. Get salaries 2. Get experience	Test the software before going live	Stop testing	1. Weekly meeting 2. Review others’ work
Sponsor	N/A	High	High	1.Bring profits to the sponsor. 2.Win reputation	1.Provide financial support 2.Add requirements	Stop sponsoring the project	Monthly report.
Teaching staff	N/A	High	Medium	1.One of main users	Give feedback	Cannot block the project	1.Collect feedback from

				2.Provide access to manage activities 3. Provide access to manage information			Teaching staffs. 2.One-on-one interview.
Student	N/A	High	Medium	1.One of the main users. 2.Provide access to manage activities 3. Provide access to manage information	Give feedback	Cannot block the project	1.Collect feedbacks. 2.One-on-one interviews.
Government	N/A	Low	High	1. The highest power of society 2. One of the supervisor of the project	Formulate policies for the project.	Identify the project as illegal.	N/A
Bank	N/A	Medium	Low	Provide interfaces to connect banks.	Provide bank services	Cannot block the project	1.Collect feedbacks 2.Interview with bank manager
Security office	N/A	High	Low	Help users to contact the security office	Provide the location and the telephone number of the security office	Cannot block the project	1.Collect feedbacks 2.Interview with office staff
Google	N/A	Medium	Medium	Provide users with Google Map and Gmail	Provide the service of Google Map and Gmail	Stop providing the services	1.Collect feedbacks 2.Interview with Google Manager
Shops	N/A	High	Low	Help users to find the shops	Provide location and information of the shops	Stop providing the information of the shops	1.Collect feedbacks 2.Interview with shop manager
Monash shuttle bus services	N/A	Medium	Low	Provide schedule and stops for users	Provide the location of stops and schedule	The change of the schedule and stops may lead to the updating of the system	1.Collect feedbacks 2.Interview with Monash Connect staff

3.4 Communication plan

The following table is the communication plan designed for project team:

Table 2. Communication plan for project team

Communication plan	Objectives	Responsibility	Owner	Frequency	Main deliverable	Format	Method
Project team meeting	Review status of the project and identify progress and challenge	Development team	Project team	Weekly	Project progress, accomplishes, issues, challenges	Soft copy- report	Face to face
Project management meeting	Review the status of project management	Project manager	Project team	Monthly	Slides	Soft copy – report	Face to face or conference call
Design meeting	Discuss and develop technical design	Development team	Project team	Monthly	Use case, scenarios, sequence diagram and state diagram	Soft copy – report	Face to face or conference call
Test meeting	Discuss the status of testing and identifying bugs	Test team	Project team	Weekly	Test report	Soft copy – report	Face to face or conference call
Feedback meeting	Collect feedback from teaching staff	Teaching staff	Project team	Monthly	Feedback from teaching staff	Prototype	Survey or interview
Feedback meeting	Collect feedback from students	students	Project team	Monthly	Feedback from students	Prototype	Survey or interview
Feedback meeting	Collect feedback from Google	Google	Project team	Monthly	Feedback and advice of Google	Prototype	Survey or interview
Feedback meeting	Collect feedback from shops	Shops	Project team	Monthly	Feedback and information of shops	Prototype	Survey or interview
Feedback meeting	Collect feedback from security office	Security Office	Project team	Monthly	Feedback and information of security office	Prototype	Survey or interview
Feedback meeting	Collect feedback from Monash shuttle bus	Monash shuttle bus services	Project team	Monthly	Feedback, schedule and location of shuttle bus office	Prototype	Survey or interview
Feedback meeting	Collect feedback from bank	bank	Project team	As required	Feedback from bank	Prototype	Interview or email
Project team meeting	Collect the latest policy from government	Government	Project team	Monthly	Check the alignment with the policies and laws	Soft copy – report	View government official website
Financial status meeting	Providing Fund and expenditure for the pm team	Sponsor	Project team	As required	Fund, expenditure and requirements for the project	Project budget report	Monthly meeting and report

Communication plan for stakeholders is shown as follow:

Table 2. Communication plan for stakeholders

Communication plan	Objectives	Responsibility	Owner	Frequency	Main deliverable	Format	Method
Kick off meeting	Introduce project team and member	Project team	Sponsor, security office, Monash shuttle bus, Google	3rd Aug	Project charter	Soft copy – report	Face to face
Design meeting	Discuss and develop technical design	Development team	Project team	Monthly	Use case, scenarios, sequence diagram and state diagram	Soft copy – report	Face to face or conference call
Monthly report meeting	Review Project progress, accomplishes and identify issues, challenges	Project team	Sponsor	Monthly	Project progress, accomplishes, issues, challenges	Soft copy – report	Face to face
Monthly Customer interview	Deliver questionnaires to teaching staff	Project team	Teaching staff	Monthly	Questionnaires	Soft copy	Interview or survey
Monthly Customer interview	Deliver questionnaires to teaching staff to shop manager	Project team	Shops	Monthly	Questionnaires	Soft copy	Interview or survey
Monthly Customer interview	Deliver questionnaires to students	Project team	student	Monthly	Questionnaires	Soft copy	Interview or survey
Monthly Customer interview	Deliver questionnaires to managers of Google	Project team	Google	Monthly	Questionnaires	Soft copy	Interview or survey
Monthly Customer interview	Deliver questionnaires to students	Project team	Monash shuttle bus service	Monthly	Questionnaires	Soft copy	Interview or survey
Monthly Customer interview	Deliver questionnaires to the manager of banks	Project team	Bank	Monthly	Questionnaires	Soft copy	Interview or survey
Monthly Customer interview	Deliver questionnaires to security office staff	Project team	Security office	Monthly	Questionnaires	Soft copy	Interview or survey

3.5 Summary for this chapter

As analysed above, Influence on internal stakeholders (sponsor, project team, teaching staff) are greater than connected stakeholders (students, bank) and external stakeholders (government). As the impact of stakeholders can be positive or negative, a communication plan is made to improve the communication among stakeholders.

4. Scope management plan

4.1 Scope Management Definition

The Scope Management Plan details how the project scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and verified (PMBOK, 5^th Edition).

The Scope Management design must include the following:

All the needs and requirements of the clients that must be incorporated into the project, on paper.
A detailed description of the project prepared by the project manager enabling easy communication with the technical staff.
All the deliverables distributed among the technical and administrative staff working on the project.
Project manager should verify all the staff related to project are working on time and completing the activities assigned to them.
Monitoring of the scope and management of the scope creep, in case of a lag.

The processes may interact among each other or may use the other knowledge areas of project management. Moreover, some processes may require efforts of more than one person to complete that process. In addition, all the project functionalities and performance are defined in the scope management. All the potential risk factors are to be considered and also the proper implementation plans are to be defined. The critical success factor is dependent on the scope definition phase. Finally, according to professionals, the improper scope management is the main reason for the failure of the industry.

4.2 Scope Statement

The STUDENT RECOGNITION SYSTEM (SRS) will include all the data gathering tools required by the client that will prove help for the organization to generate and update all the annual reports, monitor the cash flow statements, staff performance as well as student performance which make the life of an organization simpler. It will also prove beneficial for the students as they can pay their fees online, get auto-generated fee receipts, facilitate enrolments, access of all the study material including library resources, book consultations online, print transcripts among more. In addition to this, a mobile application is also developed incorporating all of the aforementioned facilities which provides for easy access and quick responses, thereby reducing the stress on manpower. It also includes the count of all of the electronic appliances in the institute scheduling the maintenance of the equipment, a count of all the books in the library, and a layout of the organization as a whole.

USER REQUIREMENTS

FUNTIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

IN-SCOPE:

The user, faculty or student, is given a user id and a password to access their own accounts.
The user can track the customer or staff data.
Streamline the customer data from marketing, customer support and online portals.
The access of the data warehouse is given to all the concerned personnel of the business unit.
Generation of all the reports related to customer requirements based on the surf history.
Generation of service analysis reports to develop customer satisfaction on the basis of customer service quality to monitor improvements to be made, if necessary.
Generation of marketing analysis reports to develop marketing campaigns to improve the marketing efficiency.
Enabling business growth on the whole.

NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

Maximum responsive time of 1 second is expected from this system.
24/7 accessibility throughout.
Proper authentication to avoid data breach.
The present system will be compatible to all the future upgrades.
Proper backup system is also developed to avoid loss of data.

4.3 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

4.4 Control Scope (Change Control Process)

To account for the unforeseen conditions- change in requirements demanded by stakeholders, change demanded in functionalities, change in the budget, which may make the project team lose track of the process.

Changes are majorly incorporated in a project for business-sensible reasons and are seldom negative, but the major reason for incorporating a change control process is to keep in track the progress and to note the current position of the project.

CCP can be incorporated in the SRS project by following a simple yet standard procedure.

A Request for Change (RFC) can be generated using a template and can be sent across to the Project Manager or the Project team. The manager would review the RFC and analyze the effect of the change on the present scope, schedule and budget. They would also discuss the same with the sponsor or any stakeholder that may be directly or indirectly be involved by the incorporated change. Post this, the manager would come up with a decision or whether the proposed change should be incorporated in the present project and system. If the decision is positive, all the necessary paperwork and systems are updated with it. Irrespective of the nature of the decision, the person responsible for the generation of the RFC is informed about the same.

5. Schedule baseline

6. Network diagram

6.1 Definition

The pictorial representation and sequential planning of the project’s schedule is known as network diagram. Network diagram is complemented with PERT and Gantt charts. Boxes
(nodes) and arrows complete the network diagram. Nodes represents activities and arrows define the time the activity takes. Network diagram is used to represent all the activities in a project. It is also used for tracking the status of the project. It shows when the activity starts It shows how long the project is going to take. There will be many people working on various activities of the project, so this network diagram shows when to start activities so that how effectively an activity can be completed with the amount of resources available in time, cost effectively. (MarkC.Layton, 2012) (Ronda-Bowen, 2010)

Importance of network diagram: (inlooxstaff, n.d.)

6.2 Importance of Network Diagram:

Critical path can be identified with the help of network diagram. Critical path is the maximum time that a project takes to complete.
Their start and finish (work flow) are defined clearly.
Planning, organising and controlling is easy with the help of network diagram.
Opportunities could be found to improve the schedule of the project.
It shows tasks that could be done parallel
Resource schedule conflicts can be reduced.
What-if analysis can be included.

6.3 The Project Network Diagram (Gantt Chart):

NETWORK DIAGRAM (CRITICAL PATH IN RED COLOUR)

7. Cost management plan

7.1 Cost management plan

7.1.1 Definition of cost management

Project Cost Management includes the process required to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. It includes cost estimating, determine budget, and cost control (Project Management Institute, 2000).

7.1.2 Importance of cost management plan

The purpose of project cost management is to establish the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, managing, expending, and controlling project costs. As one of the triple constraint, the lack of cost management can also make a negative impact to time and scope. The list below shows the importance of cost management plan:

Lower Expenses-Before any project is taken up, it is appropriate to define the objectives to avoid any kind of cost over-runs. They also help in keeping away over or underestimation of costs.
Measurement of performance-Predefined costs can be maintained as records for the business. It helps in taking those actions that are necessary to assure that the resources and business operations aim at attaining the chalked objectives and goals. The actual cost incurred can be compared to the budgeted to see if any component of the business is spending more than expected.
Focal point of Decision making- It provides scientific analysis of facts and figures. This helps on evaluating the profitability of the project in the given circumstances so that a proper decision may be taken to minimize the risk involved in the project.

7.2 Cost management over project

7.2.1 Cost Estimating

Estimate Costs is the process of developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities. To conduct this activity, there are three technologies that can be used. Firstly, analogous or top-down refers to ‘using the cost of a previous similar project as a basis’. Secondly, Bottom-up estimates individual work items and sum to get project total. And finally, Parametric uses project characteristics (parameters) in a mathematical model (pmbok).

7.2.2 Determine Budget

Determine budget is the process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline. This baseline includes all authorized budgets but excludes management reserves, which is used by project manager to monitor and measure the cost performance.

7.2.3 Cost Control

Cost control is the process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project budget and managing changes to the cost baseline. It is a continual process determining when to bring the project back into line with the current budget or make the needed changes to the actual budget.

7.3 Cost Estimate

This report utilizes the template provided by Schwalbe (2013) to estimate cost.

The cost estimate table and cost baseline are shown as follow:

Table 3. Cost estimate

WBS Items	# Units/Hrs.	Cost/Unit/Hr.	Subtotals	WBS Level 2 Totals	% of Total
1. Project Management				$986,000.00	76.74%
Project manager	500	$400.00	$200,000.00
Project team member 1	400	$300.00	$120,000.00
Project team member 2	400	$250.00	$100,000.00
Project team member 3	300	$200.00	$60,000.00
Developer 1	500	$300.00	$150,000.00
Developer 2	400	$250.00	$100,000.00
Developer 3	400	$200.00	$80,000.00
Developer 3	400	$200.00	$80,000.00
Developer 3	400	$200.00	$80,000.00
Tester 1	40	$20.00	$8,000.00
Tester 2	40	$20.00	$8,000.00
2. Hardware				$46,000.00	3.58%
2.1 Computer rental	100	$300.00	$30,000.00
2.2 Server rental	4	$4,000.00	$16,000.00
3. Software & Services				$23,990.00	1.87%
3.1 Licensed software	100	$200.00	$20,000.00
3.2 ISP	10	$399.00	$3,990.00
4. Testing				$6,999.00	0.54%
5. Training and Support				$7,760.00	0.60%
Trainee cost	10	$500.00	$5,000.00
Office rental	10	$276.00	$2,760.00
6. Reserves			$36,922.84	$214,149.80	16.67%
Total project cost estimate				$1,284,898.80

7.4 Cost Baseline

Table 4. Cost baseline

WBS	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1. Project management
1.1 Project manager	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$200,000.00
1.2 Project team member 1	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$12,000.00	$120,000.00
1.3 Project team member 2	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$100,000.00
1.4 Project team member 3		$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00				$60,000.00
1.5 Developer 1				$30,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$150,000.00
1.6 Developer 2				$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$10,000.00	$100,000.00
1.7 Developer 3					$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$10,000.00	$80,000.00
1.8 Developer 4					$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$10,000.00	$80,000.00
1.9 Developer 5					$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$15,000.00	$10,000.00	$80,000.00
1.10 Tester 1										$8,000.00	$8,000.00
1.11 Tester 2										$8,000.00	$8,000.00
2. Hardware
2.1 Computer	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$300.00	$3,000.00
2.2 Server					$4,000.00	$4,000.00	$4,000.00	$4,000.00	$4,000.000	$4,000.00	$24,000.00
3. Software & Services
3.1 Licensed software	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$200.00	$2,000.00
3.3 ISP	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$399.00	$3,990.00
4. Testing									$1,299.00	$2,000.00	$3,299.00
5. Training and Support
5.1 Work place	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$5,000.00
5.2 Trainee		$2,500.00	$2,500.00								$5,000.00
6. Reserves	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$21,414.98	$214,149.80

7.5 Function Point

7.5.1 Definition

7.5.2 Advantage of FPs

The advantages of function point analysis are:

FPs are independent of language, hardware, and platform.
FPs are understandable /comparable for non-technical users.
Method can be applied early in the specification process; only basic requirements are needed.
Very reliable for projects of medium and large size.
Can track FP results and improve FP estimates

Function point analysis is chosen to estimate size and effort due to the reason that SRS is a large project where FPs are suitable, and we assume that the sponsor is not a technical person. So, we decide to display the estimation result in a more understandable way. That’s why FPs are adopted.

7.5.3 Function Points table

While counting FPs there are five standard “functions”. The first two of these are called Data Functions, and last three are called Transaction Functions. The names of these functions are listed below.

Data Functions:
1. Internal logical files
2. External interface files
Transactional Functions:
1. External Inputs
2. External Outputs
3. External Inquiries

The table below is the unadjusted function point which shows the functional requirement of the SRS project. And the template is retrieved from Brewer & Dittman’s Methods of IT Project Management (2013).

Table 5. Function point

Unadjusted Function Points
Category	# of Low	Weight	# of Average	Weight	# of High	Weight	Total
User inputs	35	3	10	4	2	6	157
User outputs	25	4	5	5	1	7	132
User inquires	15	3	5	4	1	6	71
Files/ Structures	40	7	8	10	2	15	390
External interfaces	2	5	5	7	0	10	45
Total							795

The Unadjusted Function Point count is multiplied by the second adjustment factor called the Value Adjustment Factor. This factor considers the system’s technical and operational characteristics which are demonstrated as follow:

1. Data Communications
The data and control information used in the application are sent or received over communication facilities.

Ranks 1 because this is the most foundational function for a web-based system.

2. Distributed Data Processing
Distributed data or processing functions are a characteristic of the application within the application boundary.

Ranks 2 because for an academic management system, data processing may not be an essential part for the project

3. Performance
Application performance objectives, stated or approved by the user, in either response or throughput, influence (or will influence) the design, development, installation and support of the application.

Ranks 5 because performance is the essential part for a system where developer will spend much time.

4. Heavily Used Configuration
A heavily used operational configuration, requiring special design considerations, is a characteristic of the application.

Ranks 3 because the SRS will run in a heavily utilized operational environment

5. Recovery and Backup
Whether the system require reliable backup and recovery or not.

Ranks 3 because the data in the system needs to be backed up and ready to be recovered.

6. On-line Data Entry
On-line data entry and control information functions are provided in the application.
Ranks 1 because it is one of the most foundational function for all on-line system.

7. End -User Efficiency
The on-line functions provided emphasize a design for end-user efficiency.

Ranks 4 because SRS is expected to have high efficiency to bring its user good experience.

8. On-line Update
The application provides on-line update for the internal logical files.

Ranks 2 because for SRS there may not be many files that need to be updated.

9. Complex Processing
Complex processing is a characteristic of the application.

Ranks 3 because it is a characteristic of the application but for SRS there may not be much complex processing.

10. Reusability
The application and the code in the application have been specifically designed, developed and supported to be usable in other applications.

Ranks 2 because SRS is not an open source project.

11. Installation Ease
Conversion and installation ease are characteristics of the application. A conversion and installation plan and/or conversion tools were provided and tested during the system test phase.

Ranks 3 because the testing is important for this project.

12. Operational Ease
Operational ease is a characteristic of the application. Effective start-up, backup and recovery procedures were provided and tested during the system test phase.
Ranks 5 because the SRS project aims to provide convenience for students. This should be the most important part of this project.

13. Multiple Sites
The application has been specifically designed, developed and supported to be installed at multiple sites for multiple organizations.

Ranks 1 because this project is designed for RMIT only.

14. Facilitate Change
The application has been specifically designed, developed and supported to facilitate change.

Ranks 3 because the system should be able to handle changes.

Table 6. Function point system characteristic

System Characteristics	Scale (0-5)
Data communication	1
Distributed Data Processing	2
Performance	5
Heavily Used Configuration	3
Backup and recovery	3
On-line Data Entry	1
End -User Efficiency	4
On-line Update	2
Complex Processing	3
Reusability	2
Installation Ease	3
Operational Ease	5
Multiple Sites	1
Facilitate Change	3
Total	38

The table below shows the difficulty of function points. The scale ranges from 0 to 5 which means no effect to essential respectively (Brewer & Dittman, 2013).

Table 7. function point difficulty

Scale	Description
0	No effect
1	Incidental
2	Moderate
3	Average
4	Significant
5	Essential

By applying the formula Adjusted FP = Unadjusted FP * (0.65 + 0.01 * VAF), the final FP is 779.1.

Assumed that the number of hours needed per FP for java is 10.6 from reference.

Total hours = 779.1 * 10.6 = 8,258.46 hours

Assumed that cost/labour (in hour) = $120

Total function estimate = 8,258.48 * 120 = $991,015

7.6 COCOMO

COCOMO (Constructive Cost Model) is a regression model based on LOC, i.e number of Lines of Code. This model allows users to reason about the cost and schedule implications of their development decisions, investment decisions, established project budget and schedules, client negotiations and requested changes, cost/schedule/performance/functionality trade-offs, risk management decisions, and process improvement decisions (Boehm, Valerdi, Lane & Brown, 2005). This technology can be used in this project. It has the following advantages:

Quick, easy to use
Can be tailored for any organisation
Can be applied at different phases of life cycle

However, it focuses on the historical data. So, it also has the following disadvantage:

Ignores documentation and other requirements
No compensation for customer (availability, knowledge)
Only for estimating development effort
Based on historical data

7.7 Summary for this chapter

Cost Management plays an important role in project management, which includes cost estimating, determine budget, and cost control. In SRS project, by using Function Points Analysis, the final number of function points is calculated (779.1), which further helps us to estimate the cost of the system, which accounts for $991,015. Based on this figure, the overall cost estimation table and cost baseline are built, with the total estimation cost of $1,284,898.80.

8. Risk management plan

Reference

Post, J. E., Preston, L. E., & Sauter-Sachs, S. (2002). Redefining the corporation: Stakeholder management and organizational wealth. Stanford University Press.

Guide, A. (2000). Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® GUIDE). In Project Management Institute.

Brewer J. L. & Dittman K. C. (2013). Methods of IT Project Management (2nd ed.). Purdue University Press. Chapter 6

Schwalbe, K. (2013) Information Technology Project Management, Kathy Schwalbe, 7th Edition, Cengage Learning. Chapter 7

Boehm, B., Valerdi, R., Lane, J., & Brown, A. W. (2005). COCOMO suite methodology and evolution. CrossTalk, 18(4), 20-25.

Symons, C. R. (1988). Function point analysis: difficulties and improvements. IEEE transactions on software engineering, 14(1), 2-11.

Avantika. (2018, september 12). Project Scope Management: What It is and Why It’s Important. Retrieved from simplilearn: https://www.simplilearn.com/project-scope-management-importance-rar89-article

Onecampusstaff. (n.d.). PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP). Retrieved from OpenCampus:https://www.greycampus.com/opencampus/project-management-professional/scope-management-overview

Staff. (n.d.). Introduction to scope management. Retrieved from the chartered body for the project profession: https://www.apm.org.uk/body-of-knowledge/delivery/scope-management/

inlooxstaff. (n.d.). Project network diagram. Retrieved from InLoox: https://www.inloox.com/project-management-glossary/project-network-diagram/

MarkC.Layton. (2012). HOW TO CREATE A NETWORK DIAGRAM. Retrieved from dummies: https://www.dummies.com/careers/project-management/how-to-create-a-network-diagram/

Ronda-Bowen. (2010, may 19). Connecting a Project’s Parts With a Network Diagram. Retrieved from Bright Hub Project Management: https://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/12712-connecting-a-projects-parts-with-a-network-diagram/

Specialist Dissertation ServicesDissertation Examples