This assessment task requires you to take on the role of a project management team to produce a project plan for your client. In this instance the project plan provides a detailed plan of the management of a proposed project. It is developed to provide the client with a detailed insight of how a proposed project will be managed. Additionally, you need to present your plan to the audience of project stakeholders, so they can determine if they want to proceed with the project as elaborated in the plan.

After successfully completing this assessment task, you should be able to:

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding on developing detailed documentation for project management

Build a detailed schedule and task plan using project management software

Estimate the resources, cost and budget required for a project

Developing risk management and communication plans for a project

Communicate using professional business language in written format

LEARNING OUTCOMES THAT ALIGN TO THIS TASK Evaluate critically IT contexts and client requirements to conceptually map project management steps to a business scenario;

Design, develop and implement IT project management frameworks to meet stakeholders expectations using the latest available project management software; and,

Integrate various business analytics design principles and concepts of project management to address complex contemporary system design challenges in local, national and global settings.

Recommend an appropriate project management approach to develop an authentic business analytics application for a variety of real-world scenarios

ASSESSMENT DETAILS This assessment covers the content discussed in Sessions 1-11 and contains two components: a project plan and a presentation, both components are group based.

Project Plan:

Firstly, you need to read the case for this assessment from VU Collaborate as listed below. Review the case carefully before you start preparing your project plan. Ask your teacher if you have any questions or require any further clarifications about the case.

Link to case in SAGE Business Cases:

Getting Data Analytics on Board at The Cage opens in new window Assuming that you are the project management team for this case, create a project plan for implementing the data analytics (DA) project in this business. You will need to complete the sections in the project plan based on the information provided in the case. For information not covered in the case (for example, schedule, budget, risks, etc.), you need to come up with reasonable estimations. Your group is encouraged to research into what a DA project consists of and what people are usually involved, so that a more realistic project plan can be produced.

Although not mentioned in the above case, it is believed that the DA project is expected to be commenced and fully implemented within 8 months with a working deadline of the end of this year. The budget is set at $1.5 million dollars. Additionally, it is expected that you will work with the VU Information Systems Corporation to get both hardware and software installed. Complete testing including acceptance testing shall then be carried out before finally implementing the DA systems across all countrywide branches and the headquarters.

The template of a project plan which outlines its structure can be downloaded here: Assessment 3 Project Plan Template opens in new window

The project plan needs to include sections as follows:

1. Introduction

2. Project scope

3. Business case

4. Project schedule

5. Resources

6. Budget

7. Risks

8. Communication Strategies

9. Stakeholder Management

10. Summary

In the provided template, please complete every section by removing prompts (highlighted parts) and replacing them with your responses to the case. This document should be in the format of a business report. Use Harvard referencing style to correctly cite external resources (including the case article) where needed.

You need to use MS Project to build a project plan with tasks, phases, milestones and resources needed. Costs and budgets should be created using this software too. You need to insert the content of your MS Project file to the sections of the schedule, resources and budget in your report. You may insert them as tables, screenshots and/or images.

Both the completed project plan template and the MS Project file need to be submitted. Name your files as follows:

Project plan: Group Number Date.docx MS Project: Group Number Date.mpp Upload these files to the assessment dropbox. You may submit as many times as you need before the due date, and only the last submission will be marked.

Presentation:

The presentation needs to include the key messages of all the sections in the project plan. This presentation should be targeted for the project stakeholders which are a non-technical audience. You have to use appropriate visual aids to illustrate the key messages.

Presentations will be carried out in Session 13 and your slides will need to be submitted before that session. Every member in the group must present.

INSTRUCTIONS: To get started on your assessment task, please follow the below instructions.

Read the case Download the case and the project plan template (below) Assessment 3 Project Plan Template opens in new window Create a project schedule and track resources, costs and budget using MS Project Review the case and complete the template by replacing the relevant sections with your content

Synthesis the content in the project plan to presentation slides; submit the slides to the assessment Dropbox

Upload the completed template file and the MS Project file (with the correct filenames) to the assessment dropbox

SELF-ENROL INTO A GROUP! You should have formed groups in your session, so the next thing to do is to self-enrol online via VU Collaborate. Please follow the simple instructions to self-enrol opens in new window.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA The following criteria will be used to grade this assessment task:

Project Plan:

Criteria 1: Quality of business requirement analysis

Criteria 2: Use of project management software

Criteria 3: Addressing system design with project management concepts

Criteria 4: Project management approach

Criteria 5: Overall presentation

Assessment 3: Group Project Plan - Rubric

Presentation:

Criteria 1: Content (whether the key messages from the plan captured)

Criteria 2: Organisation, clarity of argument, and justification

Criteria 3: Delivery, engagement with audience, and time management

Criteria 4: Supporting material

Criteria 5: Effective, cohesive teamwork