You work for FutureNow, Inc., an international firm with more than 20,000 employees in several countries. A strategic goal is to help improve the environment while increasing profits and reducing expenses. The Environmental Computing Program just started, and the VP of Operations, Vivian, is the program sponsor. Pablo is the program manager, and there is a steering committee made up of 10 senior executives, including Vivian, who oversees the program. Several projects operate within this program, including the Sustainable computing Research Project. The CIO and project sponsor, Chad, has given this project high priority and plans to hold special interviews to hand-pick the project manager and team. Chad is also a member of the program steering committee. Before coming to FutureNow, Chad sponsored a project at a large computer firm to improve data center efficiency. This project, however, is much broader. The main purpose of the Sustainable computing Research Project is to research possible applications of green computing, including the following: Datacenter and overall energy efficiency Disposal of electronic waste and recycling Telecommuting Virtualization of server resources Thin client solutions Use of open-source software Development of new software to address green computing for internal use and potential sale to other organizations The budget for the project is $650,000, and the goal is to provide an extensive report, including detailed financial analysis and recommendations for which green computing technologies to implement. Official project request forms for the recommended solutions will also be created as part of the project. Chad decided to have six people working full-time on this seven-month project and to call on people in other areas as needed. He wanted to be personally involved in selecting the project manager and to have that person help him select the rest of the project team. Chad wanted to find people already working inside the company, but he was also open to reviewing applications for potential new employees to work specifically on his project as long as they could start quickly. Because many good people were located in different parts of the world, Chad thought it made sense to select the best people he could find and allow them to work virtually on the project. Chad also wanted the project manager to do more than manage the project. The project manager would also do some of the research, writing, and editing required to produce the desired results. Chad was also open to paying expert consultants for their advice and to purchasing books and related articles as needed.

You have been selected as the project manager for the Sustainable computing Research Project. The main products you will create are a series of research reportsone for each green computing technology listed earlier and a final report that includes all data. You will also produce formal project proposals for at least five recommendations to implement some of these technologies. Chad suggested that the team should develop at least 25 different project ideas and then recommend the top five based on extensive analysis. Chad thought that some type of decision support model would make sense to help collect and analyze the project ideas. You are expected to tap into resources that are available from the Environmental Technologies Program, so you need to include some of those resources in your project budget. Chad mentioned that some research had already been done on increasing the use of telecommuting. Chad also showed you examples of what he considered good research reports. You notice that his examples are very professional, with plenty of charts and references; most are 20 to 30 pages and are single spaced. Chad has also shown you examples of good formal project proposals for FutureNow, Inc. These proposals are quite detailed as well; they often reference other research and include a detailed business case.

Question 1 - List some of the requirements of this project. Question 2 - Write a Scope Statement for this project. What are out of scope? Question 3 - Develop a work breakdown structure (WBS) for the project. Break down one of the level 2 items to level 3 or level 4, as appropriate. Question 4 - Identify a milestone? Why is this a Milestone? Describe the milestone using SMART criteria. Question 5 - Develop a list of at least three quality standards or requirements related to meeting stakeholder expectations. Question 6 - Name one quality tool you will use as part of the quality management process. Explain the rationale for using the tool. Question 7 - List three risks with this project? What will be some of the preventative and contingent actions you can take to mitigate these risks? Question 8 - Describe how you are going to manage changes to the scope? Question 9 - You are in month two of the project. You are reviewing Earned Value Management report and noticed that Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is 0.75. What will you do? Question 10 - You are in month three of the project. You are reviewing Earned Value Management report and noticed that Cost Performance Index (CPI) is 0.85. What will you do?