Background of the company:

XYZ Company is a company that sells vacation packages to several of its beach resorts in Florida, Texas, the Caribbean, and Mexico. The company needs to design, develop, and implement a new enhanced reservation software application system that will provide a competitive advantage among its competitors within the industry. The system should be implemented in order to increase revenues during the peek market. If the system is delayed, they could miss out on revenue opportunities during the peek reservation period starting January 3^rd and ending March 15^th, where sixty-five percent of the reservations for the year are typically booked among potential vacationers. Therefore, the system needs to be fully implemented before January 1^st in order to not lose out on business opportunities. Timing is very important for this project.

System developers that include both programmers and database analyst are currently in short supply. The company currently have the necessary resources but each one is paid on average about fifteen percent below the median salary of these types of resources. Also, one of the programmers has significant health issues. The potential for hurricanes to hit the location of the office is around a twenty-two percent chance during the month of September or October which could cost a delay of approximately five days.

There is a potential to automate some portions with some additional functions that would eliminate some staff in the company but would cost $5000 more and add three more days of development time unless we crash the project by paying overtime to existing resources, costing $9000 more. The company could save another $48,000 per year with these additional functions.

Generally, software projects can suffer with poor code quality and technical risks that the software may not function with current hardware or other existing software. User engagement on a project such as this is very critical, but the company has a history of business users not being interested in software development projects. Additionally, while management is excited about this new software package, many of the business users that will be utilizing the new software typically do not like changes.

In the past, the software development team have had issues with data integrity and security, along with software integration issues during the deployment stage of some of the past projects. Thirty-two percent of the past projects have seen data security issues, twenty percent have seen data integrity issues, and forty-four percent have seen issues with software integration. John Doolittle, who has been the past project manager on other software projects for the company is confident that they should not have any issues, but the business sponsor is not as confident due to these issues affecting past software projects. Additionally, the typical stakeholder engagement is typically low based on past software projects for this company.

Here is the project schedule for the software development project. Click on each milestone to see the associated activities.

Software Development

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Software Development	95.75 days	Fri 8/20/21	Fri 12/31/21

Scope

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Scope	3.5 days	Fri 8/20/21	Wed 8/25/21
Determine project scope	4 hrs	Fri 8/20/21	Fri 8/20/21	Management
Secure project sponsorship	1 day	Fri 8/20/21	Mon 8/23/21	Management
Define preliminary resources	1 day	Mon 8/23/21	Tue 8/24/21	Project Manager
Secure core resources	1 day	Tue 8/24/21	Wed 8/25/21	Project Manager
Scope complete	0 days	Wed 8/25/21	Wed 8/25/21

Analysis/Software Requirements

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Analysis/Software Requirements	14 days	Wed 8/25/21	Tue 9/14/21
Conduct needs analysis	5 days	Wed 8/25/21	Wed 9/1/21	Analyst
Draft preliminary software specifications	3 days	Wed 9/1/21	Mon 9/6/21	Analyst
Develop preliminary budget	2 days	Mon 9/6/21	Wed 9/8/21	Project Manager
Review software specifications/budget with team	4 hrs	Wed 9/8/21	Wed 9/8/21	Project Manager,Analyst
Incorporate feedback on software specifications	1 day	Thu 9/9/21	Thu 9/9/21	Analyst
Develop delivery timeline	1 day	Fri 9/10/21	Fri 9/10/21	Project Manager
Obtain approvals to proceed (concept, timeline, budget)	4 hrs	Mon 9/13/21	Mon 9/13/21	Management,Project Manager
Secure required resources	1 day	Mon 9/13/21	Tue 9/14/21	Project Manager
Analysis complete	0 days	Tue 9/14/21	Tue 9/14/21

Design

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Design	14.5 days	Tue 9/14/21	Mon 10/4/21
Review preliminary software specifications	2 days	Tue 9/14/21	Thu 9/16/21	Analyst
Develop functional specifications	5 days	Thu 9/16/21	Thu 9/23/21	Analyst
Develop prototype based on functional specifications	4 days	Thu 9/23/21	Wed 9/29/21	Analyst
Review functional specifications	2 days	Wed 9/29/21	Fri 10/1/21	Management
Incorporate feedback into functional specifications	1 day	Fri 10/1/21	Mon 10/4/21	Management
Obtain approval to proceed	4 hrs	Mon 10/4/21	Mon 10/4/21	Management,Project Manager
Design complete	0 days	Mon 10/4/21	Mon 10/4/21

Development

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Development	21.75 days	Tue 10/5/21	Wed 11/3/21
Review functional specifications	1 day	Tue 10/5/21	Tue 10/5/21	Developer
Identify modular/tiered design parameters	1 day	Wed 10/6/21	Wed 10/6/21	Developer
Assign development staff	1 day	Thu 10/7/21	Thu 10/7/21	Developer
Develop code	15 days	Fri 10/8/21	Thu 10/28/21	Developer
Developer testing (primary debugging)	15 days	Wed 10/13/21	Wed 11/3/21	Developer
Development complete	0 days	Wed 11/3/21	Wed 11/3/21

Testing

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Testing	48.75 days	Tue 10/5/21	Fri 12/10/21
Develop unit test plans using product specifications	4 days	Tue 10/5/21	Fri 10/8/21	Testers
Develop integration test plans using product specifications	4 days	Tue 10/5/21	Fri 10/8/21	Testers
Unit Testing	15 days	Wed 11/3/21	Wed 11/24/21
Review modular code	5 days	Wed 11/3/21	Wed 11/10/21	Testers
Test component modules to product specifications	2 days	Wed 11/10/21	Fri 11/12/21	Testers
Identify anomalies to product specifications	3 days	Fri 11/12/21	Wed 11/17/21	Testers
Modify code	3 days	Wed 11/17/21	Mon 11/22/21	Testers
Re-test modified code	2 days	Mon 11/22/21	Wed 11/24/21	Testers
Unit testing complete	0 days	Wed 11/24/21	Wed 11/24/21
Integration Testing	12 days	Wed 11/24/21	Fri 12/10/21
Test module integration	5 days	Wed 11/24/21	Wed 12/1/21	Testers
Identify anomalies to specifications	2 days	Wed 12/1/21	Fri 12/3/21	Testers
Modify code	3 days	Fri 12/3/21	Wed 12/8/21	Testers
Re-test modified code	2 days	Wed 12/8/21	Fri 12/10/21	Testers
Integration testing complete	0 days	Fri 12/10/21	Fri 12/10/21

Training

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Training	45.75 days	Tue 10/5/21	Tue 12/7/21
Develop training specifications for end users	3 days	Tue 10/5/21	Thu 10/7/21	Trainers
Develop training specifications for helpdesk support staff	3 days	Tue 10/5/21	Thu 10/7/21	Trainers
Identify training delivery methodology (computer based training, classroom, etc.)	2 days	Tue 10/5/21	Wed 10/6/21	Trainers
Develop training materials	3 wks	Wed 11/3/21	Wed 11/24/21	Trainers
Conduct training usability study	4 days	Wed 11/24/21	Tue 11/30/21	Trainers
Finalize training materials	3 days	Tue 11/30/21	Fri 12/3/21	Trainers
Develop training delivery mechanism	2 days	Fri 12/3/21	Tue 12/7/21	Trainers
Training materials complete	0 days	Tue 12/7/21	Tue 12/7/21

Documentation

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Documentation	30.5 days	Tue 10/5/21	Tue 11/16/21
Develop Help specification	1 day	Tue 10/5/21	Tue 10/5/21	Technical Communicators
Develop Help system	3 wks	Tue 10/19/21	Tue 11/9/21	Technical Communicators
Review Help documentation	3 days	Tue 11/9/21	Fri 11/12/21	Technical Communicators
Incorporate Help documentation feedback	2 days	Fri 11/12/21	Tue 11/16/21	Technical Communicators
Develop user manuals specifications	2 days	Tue 10/5/21	Wed 10/6/21	Technical Communicators
Develop user manuals	3 wks	Tue 10/19/21	Tue 11/9/21	Technical Communicators
Review all user documentation	2 days	Tue 11/9/21	Thu 11/11/21	Technical Communicators
Incorporate user documentation feedback	2 days	Thu 11/11/21	Mon 11/15/21	Technical Communicators
Documentation complete	0 days	Tue 11/16/21	Tue 11/16/21

Pilot

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Pilot	70.25 days	Tue 9/14/21	Tue 12/21/21
Identify test group	1 day	Tue 9/14/21	Wed 9/15/21	Project Manager
Develop software delivery mechanism	1 day	Wed 9/15/21	Thu 9/16/21
Install/deploy software	1 day	Fri 12/10/21	Mon 12/13/21	Deployment Team
Obtain user feedback	1 wk	Mon 12/13/21	Mon 12/20/21	Deployment Team
Evaluate testing information	1 day	Mon 12/20/21	Tue 12/21/21	Deployment Team
Pilot complete	0 days	Tue 12/21/21	Tue 12/21/21

Deployment

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Deployment	5 days	Tue 12/21/21	Tue 12/28/21
Determine final deployment strategy	1 day	Tue 12/21/21	Wed 12/22/21	Deployment Team
Develop deployment methodology	1 day	Wed 12/22/21	Thu 12/23/21	Deployment Team
Secure deployment resources	1 day	Thu 12/23/21	Fri 12/24/21	Deployment Team
Train support staff	1 day	Fri 12/24/21	Mon 12/27/21	Deployment Team
Deploy software	1 day	Mon 12/27/21	Tue 12/28/21	Deployment Team
Deployment complete	0 days	Tue 12/28/21	Tue 12/28/21

Post Implementation Review

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Resource Names
Post Implementation Review	3 days	Tue 12/28/21	Fri 12/31/21
Document lessons learned	1 day	Tue 12/28/21	Wed 12/29/21	Project Manager
Distribute to team members	1 day	Wed 12/29/21	Thu 12/30/21	Project Manager
Create software maintenance team	1 day	Thu 12/30/21	Fri 12/31/21	Project Manager
Post implementation review complete	0 days	Fri 12/31/21	Fri 12/31/21
Software development template complete	0 days	Fri 12/31/21	Fri 12/31/21

1.Provide four risk for this company two negative and two positive. The company's current budget for this project is $275,000 for this project and not plan to exceed ten percent of the budgeted costs. However, the company will entertain extra costs if there are opportunities to increase the bottom line accordingly. When this software is implemented on time, the potential for increased revenues is predicted to be a little over two million dollars. For each day the project is delayed, the company could lose approximately $28,000 per day.