Careful planning was needed because AET operates in the highly competitive petroleum industry. AET is one of five national software companies that provide an accounting and business management package for oil jobbers and gasoline distributors. A few years ago, AET jumped into the “application service provider” world. Their large data center provides clients with remote access to AET’s complete suite of application software systems. Traditionally, one of AET’s primary competitive advantages has been the company’s trademark IT reliability. Due to the complexity of this project, the Executive Committee insisted that preliminary analysis of the anticipated completion date be conducted.

Brian compiled the following information, in preparation for some PERT analysis:

The significance of this project has the executive committee very concerned. The committee has decided that more analysis of the duration of each activity is needed. Prior to conducting that effort, they asked Brian to calculate what the expected project duration would have to be to ensure a 93 percent chance of completion within 68 days. 

Time in Workdays Optimistic Most Likely Pessimistic Dur. Immediate Predecessor Task Name Dur. Dur. Critical Path 1 AET DATA CENTER MIGRATION 2 54 0.5 6 12 68 92 1.5 8 16 Team meeting Hire contractors 3 4 2 2 Network design Ventilation system Order ventilation system Install ventilation system 14 6 18 21 30 2 5 6 New racks Order new racks 13 14 21 2 Install racks Power supplies and cables Order power supplies & cables Install power supplies Install cables 10 17 21 25 11 12 2 12, 16 12, 16 3,4 3,7, 10 13 5 11 14 6 10 15 Renovation of data center 19 20 27 16 City inspection Switchover Meetings Facilities Operations/systems Operations/telecommunications Systems & applications Customer service Power check 2 17 18 14 19 14 14 14 14 13, 14, 15 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 1, 23, 24 25 26 27 20 21 13 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 5 0.5 5 13 1.5 Install test servers Management safety check Primary systems check Set date for move Complete move 3 2.5 1 3 1.5 1. 172 212 1554