Alpha Project Status

[article]
As of September 15, 2008
Summary:

Design and implement a new call-tracking system.

Project Objective
Design and implement a new call-tracking system on October 20, 2008 for $200,000

Status Summary
The project is currently on pace to implement the call-tracking system on November 2, 2008 for $209,000.

  • Initial delays getting the project started and getting user approval of story specifications have been absorbed and are reflected in this schedule. User stories have all been approved.
  • The projected budget increase reflects overtime in early September to regain lost time as well as expedite charges to accelerate delivery of hardware originally slated for October delivery.
  • Data conversion went more smoothly than anticipated and is complete, eliminating the risk of schedule delays due to conversion issues.

Schedule

  • Conversion was completed ahead of schedule on 9/10.
  • Hardware was made available early to support conversion.
  • Current plans suggest production implementation 11/02 and project completion 11/20 versus the baseline values of 10/20 and 11/08.

Resources

  • Overtime costs exceeded expectations in September in an attempt to regain time lost due to delays getting user stories approved. Overtime expenses were partially offset by savings from early completion of the data conversion. The net increase in project costs is estimated at $4,000.
  • A one-time charge of $2,000 was incurred to expedite delivery and set up production hardware in order to support conversion efforts.
  • Initial experience with the journaling feature suggests that it will be more complex than anticipated. Estimated cost of additional complexity $3,000.
  • The initial budget of $200,000 did not include integration of the product with the organization's disaster recovery plan. A change order for $5,000 has been submitted to address this oversight (not included in figures below).
  • Current projections suggest the final project cost will be $209,000 rather than the approved $200,000. The project is currently expected to remain within its 10 percent ($20,000) change budget.

 

Scope

  • Data conversion has been completed.
  • Change orders have been submitted for three user stories beyond the original fifty envisioned for the project. One of these stories accounts for disaster recovery and is likely not optional (it was an omission from the original charter). The other two represent simple reports identified during a joint design session (will be discussed as part of change management below).
  • The data throughput/performance observed during data conversion exceeded requirements, validating the capability of the proposed production hardware configuration.
  • Testing issues identified to date are being resolved promptly and do not suggest significant quality problems.

 

Issues

Issue ID

Description

Status

AI20080821.1


DB V11 and the Twonky
feature

Need upgrade to
production DB software prior to go live - Version 11 of the database
software supports the Twonky feature needed for the Alpha application. 
V11 is not scheduled for production implementation until January. 
Options:

1. Remove Twonky feature from scope

2. Design and implement homegrown Twonky feature on V10 and implement
with production rollout.

3. Delay Alpha implementation until January to use V11.

4. Expedite production implementation of V11 to support current Alpha rollout schedule.

 

2008.09.15--Closed

Operations reports October 10 implementation of V11 appears feasible. 
Option 4 is now plan of record.



2008.09.01--Opened


Issue discussed with
steering committee. Preferred approach is 4. Operations will explore
implications of early V11 implementation.

 

 

AI20080910.3


Disaster Recovery

 

The initial project
charter and plans omitted integration of the production system with
existing disaster recovery plans and procedures  (see change order 
AC20080912.1).

2008.09.10--Opened

To be discussed with the steering committee at late September status. 
PM recommends charter and plans be amended to include.

Changes

Change ID

Description

Status

AC20080912.1


Disaster Recovery

 

The initial project
charter and plans omitted integration of the production system with
existing disaster recovery plans and procedures.  This change order
amends the charter to include integration with disaster recovery and
authorizes a project expenditure of $5,000 to support this effort.

2008.09.12--Opened

To be discussed with the steering committee at late September status. 

PM recommends charter and plans be amended to include disaster recovery
integration.

AC20080912.2


Two reports for CSD

 


The initial project
charter assumed that five reports would be required to support
production implementation of the Alpha system.  During user design
sessions, two additional reports have been identified that would help
the customer service department better manage their workload.  This
change order amends the charter to include the two additional stories
required to implement these reports and would authorize $2,000 from the
change budget to pay for this work.  The schedule impact is expected to
be one to two days if this change is approved before October 1.

2008.09.12 - Opened

To be discussed with the steering committee.



PM has no recommendation and defers to Mary Smith of the customer
service department who requested this change.


 

AC20080915.1


Journaling complexity

 

The implementation of
the journaling feature is proving to be more complex than anticipated. 
Additional costs to support this complexity are projected to be $3,000.

2008.09.15 - Opened

To be discussed with the steering committee.

PM recommends additional funding be allocated from the change budget.

Risks

Risk #

Description

Description

Status


AR017

Currently projected
implementation schedule is approaching Thanksgiving holiday.  Further
slippage may result in resource issues due to holidays and vacations.
 

M/M


 

2008.09.15--Risk opened.


If the implementation
schedule expands beyond 11/15, the resource impact will become severe
and may jeopardize successful implementation due to operations,
applications, and contractor schedules.

AR002


Expected differences in
the data model between the existing call-tracking system and Alpha make
the cost and schedule estimates for the conversion unreliable and could
cause project cost and schedule issues

M/M


 

2008.09.12--Risk closed.

Conversion completed ahead of schedule and no significant issues were
found.

2008.08.15--Risk identified.

Initial assessment probability: Medium and impact: Medium

Decision was made to fast path data conversion to eliminate the
uncertainty of the data cleanup issue.

Decisions
Apart from decisions related to change orders, there are no outstanding decisions awaiting steering committee action.

Next Meeting
October 4 in Executive Conference Rm. 4 2:00pm

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