IT Project Management

June 2022 Examination

Q1. A consultancy organization is planning to implement Project Tracking applications

for their key projects. The senior manager wants to check the applicability and possibility
of implementing such an application inside the organization. They decided to conduct the
feasibility study for this application. Provide a report to the management about how to
conduct the feasibility study. (10 Marks)
Ans 1.

Introduction

The process of conducting an exercise to determine the value of a proposed IT solution is referred
to as a project feasibility study. This value might be expressed in monetary terms, technical terms,
or operational terms. In this question feasibility study of project tracking application must be
performed. A feasibility study is critical for any project since it helps the manager to determine
whether to pursue the project. Following topics are covered in a feasibility study-

• Would the suggested IT solution make the business operations more efficient?
• Is it reasonable to invest a significant sum of money in this IT solution?
• Is the existing infrastructure capable of supporting the IT solution?
• Will the suggested IT solution assist the customers?

These questions are then numerically translated to make it easier to deduce a conclusion. The
feasibility score is the name given to this numerical number.

Concept and application

In the current project tracking application project feasibility report following aspects of a project
are considered-
• Financial feasibility study: This part of feasibility report covers the following-

o What would be the rate of return?

▪ For the current feasibility it should be an internal project giving intrinsic
value rather than direct monetary benefit.
o Is it worth to spend so much money?
▪ In this case, if it helps move all projects faster and take quick decision, it
should be worth spending money.
o From where the money would be raised?
▪ In this project higher management and stakeholders should approve it.
o What is the time frame for the payback period?
▪ It can be defined based upon concrete requirements and resources.
o What is the life of the system? Will the proposed IT solution be able to generate
revenue?
▪ It may not directly generate revenue but can help expedite and add value in
other revenue generating projects.
o Who are the prime customers and what is their financial status?
▪ Internal employees and managers would be the customers in this case, no
direct external customers.
• Operational feasibility study
This part of feasibility for a project tracking application would involve the following-
o Will the proposed IT solution be operationally feasible to stake- holders?
▪ In current situation and subject of the question, it should be feasible.
o What would be the operational cost for running the system when it goes into the
production stage?
▪ It will depend upon number of projects, resources and timelines.
o What are the operational constraints of the proposed IT solution?
▪ Clear requirements, delivery and availability of resources can be a
constraint.
o Can the proposed IT solution operate continuously without any human
interventions?
 ▪ After it is implemented , tested and automated fully, it can operate without
manual interventions.
• Technical feasibility study
o Is the proposed IT solution technically feasible?
▪ Yes, if the company has potential resources of that technology
o Do we have enough technical expertise to handle day to day technical problems
which arise from the various operations?
▪ It depends.
o Do we have the requisite technical infrastructure to implement the proposed IT
solution?
▪ Yes, as other projects are anyways executing.

• Market feasibility study

The market feasibility study is an evaluation of how your team expects the project’s
deliverables to perform in the market. This part of the report includes a market analysis,
market competition breakdown, and sales projections. In this case it might not be needed
as it is an internal project tracking to be developed.

Feasibility Study Report(FSR) for Project Tracking applications

The first stage in conducting a feasibility study is gathering and analyzing data. These requirements
are analyzed w.r.t the business objectives. At this stage, information is gathered to determine
whether the new projects and requirements can be integrated with current systems, as well as
budgetary constraints. The data is gathered from a variety of sources, including multiple
shareholders and stakeholders who would use the system once it is implemented.
This report is the analysis of the information collection process on technical, financial, operational
and other aspects of the proposed IT solution. This report includes recommendations about the
proposed solution, the schedule considerations and suggestions, if any. The FSR report includes
the following aspects to be included:
 • General information about the feasibility study describing the scope, overview, reference
to the existing systems for project tracking system
• Environment of the proposed solution whether it needs to be an outside vendor integrating
in current system such as JIRA, AMDOCS or other project management tools.
• The functional objective of the proposed solution.
• The performance objective of the proposed solution to be defined by stakeholders and
project manager.
• Overview of the Evaluation and the various functions operating in the organization and
criteria for the evaluation of the proposed IT solution to be defined by higher management.
• Assumptions, dependencies and constraints of the proposed project.
• Methodology used in the conduct of feasibility and the methodology used to evaluate the
proposed IT solution.
• The description of the proposed IT solution most feasible including the software and
the impact it will have on the organization as a whole and on each of the business units
• Financial, Operational, technical and Market feasibilities of a project as defined in the
above section.
• Data Analysis for all the projects in the company which should be included in project
racking system.
• Alternative solutions to the proposed IT solution and risk mitigation plan.
• Timelines, Budget and Vulnerabilities of a project.
• Conclusion of the feasibility study.

Conclusion
It's critical to define feasibility of the project and assess risk. Economic feasibility, technological
feasibility, organizational feasibility etc. are all phases of feasibility study of a project. Cost,
benefits vs risk focuses on determining what is correct and incorrect in the planned project. It also
specifies how the organization will avoid or minimize the project's risk and make it viable to
complete on time , so that organization can be benefitted with the project undergoing feasibility
study. For project tracking feasibility study above mentioned items under report should be
considered by stakeholders to decide whether to go ahead with project after analyzing cost vs
benefits of the proposed project. Feasibility study report should cover all aspects of business
project with risks, benefits, design, roadmap and description of how to achieve the set
requirements.

Q2. In a software development company, development team keeps getting change requests
from the client and other stakeholders. Company is planning to establish a change
management process. Describe the change management process. (10 Marks)

Ans 2.
Introduction
Change is unavoidable; managing change is to ensure that the change is thoroughly examined
and implemented to achieve defined project objectives. It has become inevitable for each
organization to adjust its existing products or processes from time to time to fulfil the growing
demands of customers and to survive in a highly competitive business environment. Any part of
the project, including the project scope, financial aspects, project timing and schedule, and so on,
can change. The role of a project manager is to constantly assess modifications that may occur or
must be made at any point in time of a project tenure.

▪ What kind of change is needed?

▪ What is driving the change?
▪ What resources will be needed to bring that change?
▪ What would be the cost of bringing the change?
▪ What are the potential risks of making the proposed change, risk vs benefits?

Concept – Change Management Process

Change management is a multi-step process that requires systematic planning. The project
manager is the first to receive the change request. The manager must assess whether the
condition for which the change is required may be resolved with a few corrective actions or if the
change must be implemented at all. If the manager is unable to resolve the problem with the
corrective action, the manager must analyze the change and submit the findings to the project
sponsor, along with recommendations. Following that, the sponsor must approve or reject the
change after reviewing the recommendations. The project manager prepares and controls the
budget and timetable for the change request once it is authorized. Change management process is
-

▪ Process for coordinating organizational change

▪ To avoid disagreement, authorizes modifications and coordinates change timelines.
▪ Responsible for governance and not the execution
▪ To assist the change owner and the successful implementation of the change
Change Management Process

The Change Owner has final responsibility for the success of their change. As a way of
mitigating impact and risk for stakeholders/customers, the approved Change Manager is
responsible for the proper implementation of the process. All modifications to the production
environment, including the operational test environment, are managed by Change Management.
This includes changes made by businesses themselves and other third parties. Effective Risk and
Impact Assessment is required and is regarded as the basis of Change Management. The key
elements in company's approach to change management include:

1. Planning: developing and documenting the objectives to be achieved by any change and
the means to achieve it.
2. Defined Governance: establishing appropriate organizational structures, roles, and
responsibilities for the change that engage stakeholders and support the change effort.
3. Committed Leadership: ongoing commitment from the leadership of an organization
and across the organization to guide organizational behavior, and lead by example.
4. Informed Stakeholders: encouraging stakeholder participation and commitment to the
change, by employing open and consultative communication approaches to create
awareness and understanding of the change throughout the company.
5. Aligned Workforce: identifying the human impacts of the change and developing plans
to align the [Your Company] workforce to support the changing organization.

Prior to the adoption of any modifications that affect the services they receive; all customers are
informed. Through good planning, the number of changes deemed URGENT is minimized to a
pre-specified and progressive measure. There is a CAB, and the Change Manager is the CAB's
ultimate decision-making authority. Prior to change deployment, a change implementation plan
is required. All Service Providers will follow the Change Management procedure when
performing their duties. Without appropriate back up plan and roll out provisions, an RFC should
not be approved for deployment.

Following are the roles and responsibilities involved in a change management process-

▪ Change Requestor- The individual asking for a change to be made. May or may not be
the change owner. The requestor should be the person sponsoring or advocating the
change, usually business.
▪ Change Owner - Individual stakeholder ultimately accountable for the result of change,
seeing it through its lifecycle. Ex: A Network Engineer may be the change owner for a
router upgrade
 ▪ Approving Change Manager- Approves changes for build-test and implementation for
changed owned by their jurisdiction. Accountable for the execution of the change
process in support of the change owner
▪ Change Advisory Board (CAB)- A body that exists to support the authorization and
approval of changes, it also assists Change Management with assessment / prioritization
feedback and provides guidance to the change manager.
▪ Change Coordinator - Facilitates changes process and assists the Change Manager and
Change Owner throughout the change process.
▪ Change Assessor - Responsible for contributing to the business and technical risk and
impact assessment of a change for their domain
▪ Change Builder / Implementer - Individual responsible for performing the build/test
and/or implementation
▪ Authorizing Change Manager(s)- Authorizes changes where their jurisdiction is
impacted, participates in CAB meetings as required

Changes can be segregated into – Significant, Major, minor etc. It can have scope and priority
defined. Changes entered in the system can also have various stages such as requested,
scheduled, planned , IN progress, implemented, completed, not completed etc.

Life Cycle of a Major change in a change management process involves-

1. Submission
2. Planning
3. Approval
4. Implementation
5. Review
6. Closure

Conclusion

Change management process plays a pivotal role in company’s success and organizing and
optimizing day to day operations. When applied correctly, positive changes help reduce waste and
thus reduce costs for a business. Effective change management helps companies make wise
decisions and sift focus rapidly based on change request data. Change management helps increase
productivity, mitigate risk, and improve a company's profitability. Change management becomes
successful when started small and given the time it needs to settle the dust. Companies should
simplify change management by identifying the reasons for resistance and addressing those
concerns. Change management in a company or a project helps in scaling the project and move
the projects/companies in right direction , it provides insight to the stakeholders from change
management data to see where the organization is heading towards. It really helps in better decision
making for the business stakeholders.

Q3. Describe following IT project risks.

a. Schedule and Budget risk (5 Marks)
b. Technical risk (5 Marks)

Ans 3.a.
Introduction
There are various types of risks involved in an IT project implementation and execution. A risk
can be defined as a variability of return from an investment. Every project is prone to risk, or the
other as certain assumptions are made before initiating any project. One cannot avoid assumptions
in a project as every project is unique in all respects and no project can be identical to the one
executed in the past. These assumptions are related to project cash flows, life of machinery, salvage
value of machinery, etc. However, these assumptions can prove wrong at some point in a project
life cycle, which can lead to a risk. Such risk cannot be handled through quick-fixes, rather a
systematic approach is required to mitigate that risk.
Project risk management is a proactive approach to identify, assess and respond to the possible
future events that may adversely affect a project. It is an on-going process of ensuring that high-
priority risks are aggressively managed and making available the information required to make
informed decisions on issues critical to project success. It is the duty of a project manager to keep
constant tab on risks that may occur at any point and keep them to the minimum by adopting
appropriate tools and techniques.
 MIND MAP OF IDENTIFICATION OF RISKS

Schedule and Budget Risk

Risks can be of two types—high threat or low threat. All types of risks must be identified as early
as possible to have a lesser impact on the project. Identification of risks forms the basis for the risk
management process. It is an ongoing process as new risks may be developed at any stage of a
project. Therefore, it should have a clear path to find out new risks from time to time.
▪ Schedule risks: Every project starts with a defined schedule . However, due to number of
reasons, such as wrong estimation at the initial stage or unavailability of resources, etc.,
the schedule may get impacted, which, in turn, can lead to unnecessary delay in project
completion or increase in project costs.
▪ Budget risks: Budget risks occur due to the wrong estimation of project budget,
overrunning of the cost and the unexpected expansion of the project.
Both Schedule and budget risks fall under quantitative risks , quantitative approaches use
the technique such as expected value ,decision tree analysis, payoff matrices, and modeling
and simulation for mitigating the risks. These risks can be mitigated using following
techniques-
▪ Learning Cycles - identify facts, assumptions
▪ Brainstorming - less structured
▪ Nominal Group Technique -structured
 ▪ Delphi Technique - a group of experts
▪ Interviews
▪ Checklists - structure tools
▪ SWOT Analysis
▪ Cause & Effect (a.k.a. Fishbone/Ishikawa)
▪ Past Projects - lessons learned from past

b. Technical risk (5 Marks)

Ans 3.b.

Technical Risk
Technical risks occur due to the failure of any functionality of the project. It also occurs due to the
complexity in achieving the target, complex project modules, or any other issues in the technical
aspect of the project. This is the risk associated with the evolution of the design and the production
of the system of interest affecting the level of performance necessary to meet the stakeholder
expectations and technical requirements. The design, test, and production processes (process risk)
influence the technical risk and the nature of the product as depicted in the various levels of the
project lifecycle. It can occur due to following reasons-
1. Designing errors
2. IT infrastructure issues
3. Lack of technologies
4. Management errors
5. Shortage of skilled labor and resources at required time.

To overcome the technical risks in an IT project , a program manager involves Systems engineers
the process to develop mitigation plans, monitor progress of the technical effort to determine if
new risks arise or old risks can be retired, and to be available to answer questions and resolve
issues. It needs technical risk assessment to be conducted. There can be risk threshold assigned to
technical risks, When the applicable thresholds are triggered, the technical risk mitigation plan is
implemented. This includes monitoring the results of the action plan implementation and
modifying them as necessary, continuing the mitigation until the residual risk and/or consequence
impacts are acceptable, and communicating the actions and results to the identified stakeholders.
Action plan reports are prepared, and results are shared to the stakeholders and in project life cycle
retrospections and reviews.
Scalability, security, legacy rigidity and agility risks fall under technical risk of an IT project.

Conclusion
In a nutshell, project risk is unavoidable, especially for complex IT projects. Risks must be
categorized for these types of projects into schedule, budget, Programmatic risks and technical
risks so that mitigation for the product can begin during the design process itself. Intolerable
technical risks should be addressed first and include a mitigation and treatment plan, and tolerable
technical risks should be assessed using a cost-benefit or other analysis and include a treatment
plan. Ongoing monitoring of a risk plan is vital to a project’s success. Schedule and budget risks
can be mitigated with less difficulty than technical risk as it would involve more money in the end.
For any project or a business risk will always remain, we should be always planning to mitigate
the risk proactively or as and when we face it. Business as usual and escalation strategies should
be put in place for managing and mitigating the risks.