Managing Successful Business Project

This project report analyzes the implementation of cloud technology at Continental Consulting Limited, a business process re-engineering company. It covers project planning, research, data analysis, and recommendations for successful implementation. The report also includes a reflection on the project and a performance review.

Managing Successful Business
Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Devise project aims and objectives..................................................................................1
P2 Produce a project management plan..................................................................................2
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart....................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods..7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5 Analyse research and data.................................................................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................16
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendation...................................................................16
P7 Reflection........................................................................................................................16
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
A business needs to upgrade its technologies to stay in the market for a long time. When
a business upgrades its system then it needs to determine a project that will support modern tools
and techniques (Drucker, 2012). According to the given case study, Continental Consulting
Limited is a business process re-engineering company which deals with small and medium
manufacturing company. It is adopting cloud technology so that it can enhance business
functions. It becomes crucial for to sustain in the competitive market. Through adopting cloud
technology it can increase the business activities through accessing client information that
needed to construct a workflow design for them. This report is covers aims and objective of
project and project management plan. In addition, it also underpins work breakdown structure
along with Gantt chart, research methods and research tools to analyze the needs to upgrade
technology. Further, it also includes the recommendations to update system and application of
the business.
TASK 1
P1. Devise project aims and objectives
It is crucial to analyse the aims and objectives of the project before beginning of project
because it should have an aim for the organisation. As Continental Consulting Limited is
adopting the cloud technology as it is essential to focus on the outcome of the technology
because it needs to invest in the project. Project manger needs to monitor project in an effective
way and understand the objective of firm in order to serve the best services to them. The
company needs to maintain its activities and tasks in ordered and organized manner so that it can
produce fruitful result for the organisation (Eckerson, 2010).
As Continental Consulting Limited is adopting the cloud technology to keep its
information safe and secured. The firm has some ethics to provide a secured services to their
clients so that their privacy may not get harmed. This is the biggest advantage of the cloud
technology that it protects the stored information through using algorithms. It is providing
business process re-engineering services to SME manufacturing through designing their
workflow structure. Firm is focusing towards the privacy of their clients and itself as well. This
will protect the data from attackers that will also attract clients to deal with organisation because
it is providing the secured services.
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On the other hand, firm can also use cloud technology to store its software and
application on the virtual cloud space. So that any other company cannot use its software and
application which are stored in cloud system. This is most beneficial for Continental Consulting
Limited, that its employees can access information and its software anywhere and whenever they
needed. It supports flexible working as authorized employees can use cloud from at any place
because it will be easy for them to manage their work in an effective way. Cloud technology can
made a drastic impact on the organisation's working because there are various changes carried
out upon the organization. Therefore, this is the first priority of the organization to manage these
impacts in an appropriate manner. It enhances the working operations and distribution of
information with legal and authentic way. But firm should analyse outcomes of project which
kind of cloud technology it should adopt because there are various types of it and they all have
different operations (Sparrow, 2012).
Aims - “To determine the significance of cloud technology for upgrading business
activities” A case study on “Continental Consulting Limited.”
Objective
 To determine the concept of cloud technology.
 To analyse challenges encountered by business in implementation of cloud technology.
 To identify the importance of cloud technology to upgrade the business operations.
Research questions
 What is concept of cloud technology?
 How to analyse the challenges encountered by business in implementation of cloud
technology?
 How to identify the importance of cloud technology to upgrade the business operations?
P2 Produce a project management plan
Before start working on a project it is essential to prepare a plan that supports to monitor
and control the activities in an appropriate way. The project manager prepares project
management plan that covers the various aspects of project. As there are several activities and
tasks that needs to be carry out in an effective way but they needs a support that makes work
smooth. The project management plan is mentioned below -
Cost – This is the most essential factor of a project that help to determine the total
investment needed. Continental Consulting Limited needed to contract with a company that
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provides cloud technology services (Doherty and Ashurst, 2012). The third party firm will
charge servicing price, machinery and resource that are needed to implement cloud technology.
Thus, the project manager should cater information and document required total expenditure
such as systems, software, human resources, tools and so on. All of these are used to spend the
estimate the cost of cloud technology project (Den and Van, 2010).
Particular Amount
Initial Investment 100000
Expenses :
Operational activities
Research and development
Cost to IT Experts
Licensing Fee
Maintenance
22000
18000
16000
6000
8000
Closing value 20000
Scope - The project manager needs to identify the scope of cloud technology as main
reason to upgrade the systems. One of the most essential aspect of cloud technology for
Continental Consulting Limited is that it increases performance of the company. It also supports
to increase focus on business through providing high level of data security, flexibility and so on.
There is wide scope of cloud technology because it is used to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of work. Company can executes its routine operations through the internet. It will
automatically store data and take the back up for future use so that employees does not need save
the data on various place. As it stores the data itself without any instructions.
Time : It is one of the most crucial aspect because it emphasizes on the duration to
complete the project. As cloud technology is a complex project which needs approximately 4
months for implementation. There are several components which will take time for the final
deployment of the project such as front end which (fat client, thin client, mobile device), back
end (server, storage) and network such as intranet, internet and inter cloud. These components
takes time in implementation.
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Quality – As it is the most beneficial important factor of any product or services.
Therefore, project manager should focus on the quality of cloud technology. As Continental
Consulting Limited is adapting a private cloud that can accelerate the operations and activities of
the firm. Hence, manager needs to ensure the application and infrastructure of technology that
should support firm's application with security. The manager needs to test cloud to eliminate the
errors that can cause of issues to operate the business activities in an effective way (Müller and
Turner, 2010). The project manager analyse Quality of Service which ensures entire project
quality.
Communication – Project manager needs to develop an effective communication pattern
through which they can transfer information among team members. The team member can also
share their problems and perception regarding the project. An effective communication leads to
build an efficient project with various ideas that solve the problems and improves the processing.
In order to do so, manager can use e – mail, text messages, forums and phones where entire team
can involve in discussion. This will use to solve problems among the employees and amend the
working process.
Risk - Besides the above elements, manager should also focus on several risks of the
cloud technology that may affect Continental Consulting Limited. One of the major risk are
funds because lack of finance can stop project before deployment. On the other hand, firm
should also have a skilled employees so that they can utilise the advantages of modern
technology. As if they are not skilled then, entire investment can be waste. Moreover, project
supervisor should also ensure the data security. The stored information confidentiality should be
maintained in an appropriate way. Information should not lost while transmission to the remote
channel neither it can be hacked by the intruders (Crawford and Nahmias, 2010).
Resources – Cloud technology needs several resources like workers, tools and
equipments to accomplish the project on time. Project manager should analyse requirement of
these resources which helps in achieving the task.
These are aspects which needs to be documented by project manager in an appropriate
way. So that cloud technology can be upgrade in an efficient way.
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P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart
Project manager uses two effective tools to manage the work and gain fruitful outcome.
Through work breakdown structure and Gantt chart they effectively manage working of
employees.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – This is used to divide a complex project in small
chunks so that work can be easily managed. It simplifies monitoring process of each section
because they all are divided according to their working. Therefore, managers can analyse the cost
of each portion of project differently and then all the gathered costs will be used to calculate the
entire project cost. As it divides work in sections that's why it becomes easy to estimate the cost
of each module. Hence, manager can identify the cost of investment required in cloud
technology. There are various characteristics of WBS such as it gives an accurate information
and assigns responsibilities to team members. It also establishes targets to achieve through
controlling several aspects. This is also used to estimate the cost, time and risks in the cloud
technology (Ajmal and Helo, 2010).
Gantt Chart – It is used to plan schedule through analysing the time and days to
accomplish a project. This is used to monitor a project by focusing on the duration of the tasks.
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Gantt Chart has some features such as start and end dates of tasks, project milestones,
dependencies between tasks. Project manager monitors activities of employees regarding their
assigned job that has to be completed on time (Wikström and Artto, 2010).
It is constructed with a horizontal axis which represents total time of the project including
days, weeks and months. On the other hand, project tasks are shown on vertical axis such as
research, installation of software and equipments. For an example, research will take 7 days to
gather accurate information for cloud technology. Hence, chart will note its starting and ending
time to analyse required time. It will also used to manage time for others task that can finish
entire cloud technology project on time (Ramadani and Gërguri, 2013).
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TASK 2
P4 Carry out small-scale research by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods
Research methodology is a crucial technique which is used to identify, select, process and
analyse information about cloud technology. There are two kinds of research methods that are
mentioned below -
Quantitative research – This is used to cater information from existing and potential
employees/ customers of the Continental Consulting Limited. The organisation conduct a
research to investigate about perception, point of view to analyse requirement of cloud
technology. Thus, the organization can investigate through online surveys, online poll,
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questionnaire, etc. It is mainly focused on collecting numerical data that can predict the
advantages of adopting cloud technology (Morris and Geraldi, 2011).
Qualitative research – Qualitative research is a process understand the need to
understand of adopting cloud technology and its benefits to employees/customers. It does not
inquire about statistical data rather it emphasizes on perceptions and thoughts of the people who
are directly related to cloud technology. This is used to investigate in – depth information
regarding perception and description of targetted people, places and events. This can be done
through direct observations, open – ended surveys, focus groups, in – depth interviews, etc.
Primary research – This is a research methodology which is used by researchers to
collect data directly from the people. It is used to cater the fresh data from sample population in
order to know their perception about cloud technology. This research method collects the
information from actual users of cloud technology rather using the previous information that is
collected by someone else. Primary research is can be conduct through telephone, email survey,
informal face to face or written feedback, interviews, questionnaires, focus group, and so on
(Dahan and Doh, 2010).
In order to conduct a primary research for Continental Consulting Limited, the research
team investigate the perception and ideas of their employees/ customers. There are 30
respondents on which research is going to investigate in order to analyse their point of view
regarding cloud technology (Chesbrough, 2010).
Secondary research – It is used to gather information from other sources. It depends on
the already existing and summarized data that can increase overall effectiveness of research. It
can be gathered through research materials that are published in research reports. This kind of
document can be gathered from newspaper, public libraries, websites, internet, surveys,
government and non-government agencies etc. The core advantage of secondary research
information is readily available through scratch. It is less expensive and saves time to collect the
information from easily available sources (Keil and Lee, 2013).
Questionnaire
1. Are you aware with the concept of cloud technology?
a. Yes
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b. No
2. Is cloud technology is a important for Continental Consulting Limited?
a. Yes
b. No
3. Which cloud technology should be adopted by the company?
a. Private
b. Public
c. Hybrid
4. Does cloud technology helps to enhance business operations?
a. Yes
b. No
5. What is benefit of cloud technology for Continental Consulting Limited?
a. Greater scalability
b. Cost Savings
c. Business continuity
d. Higher availability of information
6. What is the major concern to adopt cloud technology?
a. Data security
b. Data integrity concern
7. How cloud technology affect on upgrading business operations and functions ?
a. Flexibility
b. Reduced Cost
8. According to you, in which manner cloud technology impact on Continental Consulting
Limited ?
a. Positive
b. Negative
c. Neutral
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9. Do you have any suggestions to upgrade business activities?
TASK 3
P5 Analyse research and data
Theme 1. Concept of cloud technology
1. Are you aware with the concept of cloud
technology
Frequency
a. Yes 24
b. No 6
Interpretation : From the above graph it can be analysed that among 30 respondents,
there are 24 employees/ customers who have knowledge about cloud technology. As they are
already using it through their smartphones to keep their information safe and secured. On the
other hand, 6 people are not aware about it as they do not come across to external environment of
the company. This creates a barrier to update their knowledge about current affairs.
Theme 2. Affect on upgrading business operations and functions
2. Is cloud technology is a important for
Continental Consulting Limited?
Frequency
a. Yes 21
b. No 9
10
0
5
10
15
20
25
24
6
a. Yes
b. No

Interpretation :Cloud technology is crucial for Continental Consulting Limited because
it expand the storage capacity where it can store its software and application. These software and
applications are needed to design the work flow of small manufacturing company. On contrary,
there 9 people who voted in against because they are still using the traditional storage systems
that cannot be hacked. But cloud technology has its own importance such as security and ample
storage capacity that can be extended when needed with minimal cost.
Theme 3. Cloud technology should be adopted by the company
3. Which cloud technology should be
adopted by the company?
Frequency
a. Private 15
b. Public 6
c. Hybrid 9
11
0
5
10
15
20
25 21
9
a. Yes
b. No

Interpretation : From the above graph, it can be concluded that there are 15
employees/customers who voted to adopt private cloud and whereas 9 are voted for hybrid cloud
as well. As private cloud is adopted to keep remain the firm's information within the
organisation. On the other hand, hybrid is used to use the information throughout the
organization where anyone can access information. But private has some restrictions that
information will be save by organisation private key. Moreover, public cloud technology is open
for everyone an it is needed in the large companies.
Theme 4. Cloud technology helps to enhance business operations
4. Does cloud technology helps to enhance
business operations?
Frequency
a. Yes 22
b. No 9
12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16 15
6
9 a. Private
b. Public
c. Hybrid

Interpretation : From the above graph, it can be identifies that business operations can be
enhanced through cloud technology. As it can access through employees/customers to mange
their work in an effective way. Thus, 22 employees are voted in favour of cloud technology
whereas 9 people are against it.
Theme 5. Benefit of cloud technology
5. What is benefit of cloud technology for
Continental Consulting Limited?
Frequency
a. Greater scalability 9
b. Cost Savings 7
c. Business continuity 3
d. Higher availability of information 11
13
0
5
10
15
20
25 22
9
a. Yes
b. No

Interpretation : Among 30 respondents there are 11 employees/customers who voted
in the favour of higher availability of information. As they can access the information from
anywhere and at anytime. This improves their efficiency because they can access information to
complete their work. It is also beneficial for scalability of the business which is supported by the
9 people and 7 people also voted for cost saving as well. Continental Consulting Limited, can
gain these profit because because it improves working proficiency and effectiveness of the
company. On the other hand, there are 3 are voted for business continuity.
Theme 6. Major concern to adopt cloud technology
6. What is the major concern to adopt cloud
technology?
Frequency
a. Data security 18
b. Data integrity 12
14
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
9
7
3
11
a. Greater
scalability
b. Cost Savings
c. Business
continuity
d. Higher
availability of
information

Interpretation :From the above graph it can be identify that data security is major concern to
adopt technology which is supported by 18 employees/customers. As they can know that they
can encrypt their information that will be secured and attackers cannot steal their information. In
addition, data integrity is also major concern for them because they can utilise information with
confidentiality and honesty.
Theme 7. Affect on upgrading business operations and functions
7. How cloud technology affect on
upgrading business operations and
functions ?
Frequency
a. Flexibility 16
b. Reduced Cost 14
15
0
5
10
15
20 18
12
a. Data security
b. Data integrity

Interpretation : From above graph, it can be analyse the Continental Consulting Limited can be
upgrade cloud technology that can impact on business operations and functions. There are 16
respondents who favours to flexibility because they can complete their task within time and it
also reduced cost to save information. As previously they captured data on legacy storage
devices like CD, DVD, pen drive, etc. which need to spend more money. But cloud technology
has less cost because it needs one time investment. Later, this space can be extended whenever
required.
Theme 8. Impact of cloud technology
8. According to you, in which manner cloud
technology impact on Continental
Consulting Limited ?
Frequency
a. Positive 16
b. Negative 6
c. Neutral 8
16
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
15.5
16
16
14
a. Flexibility
b. Reduced Cost

Interpretation : There are 16 employees/customers out of 30 respondents who admires
positive impact of cloud technology on Continental Consulting Limited. On the other hand, 6
employees are there who are in against of it. But there are 8 employees/customers are in neutral
state to adopt cloud technology.
TASK 4
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendation
Cloud technology is a crucial technology which is adopting by many organisation to
support their business operations and activities.
 Private cloud technology is beneficial for Continental Consulting Limited because it will
remain within firm and there employees can share information on distributed system. So
that, employees can access information to accomplish their task.
 It will save their storage cost and physical space because it is much less than traditional
disks and flash drive spaces. As it needs high amount to of investment to purchase the
hardware to store the data. But cloud technology gives a huge space to store information
and it needs to invest small amount for expansion.
 The stored information will remain safe and secured and it cannot be hacked by attackers
because the firm will protect it with their own private key.
P7 Reflection
While working on cloud technology project for Continental Consulting Limited I have
came across various factors. I learned how to mange complex project to finish it within time. In
order to complete this project on time I used work breakdown structure and Gantt chart. These
are most supportive tools which are used to manage each small portion so that entire project can
17
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
16
6
8 a. Positive
b. Negative
c. Neutral

be finished in an iterative and continuous manner. I also learn to overcome issues that can occur
at anytime such as integrity compliance which are required to upgrade the technology. Managing
funds are also essential for completion of project. As I have conduct a primary research that is
beneficial to achieve aims and objectives of upgrading cloud technology to enhance business
operations.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be summarized that a project should have an aim and
objectives that can attain successful implementation of the project. A project manager should
consider a project management plan that includes cost, scope, time, resources which helps in
achieving its objectives with available resources and funds. Research also plays an important role
in a project to identify perceptions to analyse the requirement of the project. Cloud technology is
beneficial for the business to enhance business operations.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ajmal, M., Helo, P. and Kekäle, T., 2010. Critical factors for knowledge management in project
business. Journal of knowledge management. 14(1). pp.156-168.
Chesbrough, H., 2010. Business model innovation: opportunities and barriers. Long range
planning. 43(2-3). pp.354-363.
Crawford, L. and Nahmias, A.H., 2010. Competencies for managing change. International
journal of project management. 28(4). pp.405-412.
Dahan, N.M., Doh, J.P., Oetzel, J. and et. al., M., 2010. Corporate-NGO collaboration: Co-
creating new business models for developing markets. Long range planning. 43(2-3).
pp.326-342.
Den Hertog, P., Van der Aa, W. and De Jong, M.W., 2010. Capabilities for managing service
innovation: towards a conceptual framework. Journal of service Management. 21(4).
pp.490-514.
Doherty, N.F., Ashurst, C. and Peppard, J., 2012. Factors affecting the successful realisation of
benefits from systems development projects: findings from three case studies. Journal
of Information Technology. 27(1). pp.1-16.
Drucker, P., 2012. Managing the non-profit organization. Routledge.
Eckerson, W.W., 2010. Performance dashboards: measuring, monitoring, and managing your
business. John Wiley & Sons.
Keil, M., Lee, H.K. and Deng, T., 2013. Understanding the most critical skills for managing IT
projects: A Delphi study of IT project managers. Information & management. 50(7).
pp.398-414.
Lin, A. and Chen, N.C., 2012. Cloud computing as an innovation: Percepetion, attitude, and
adoption. International Journal of Information Management. 32(6). pp.533-540.
Morris, P.W. and Geraldi, J., 2011. Managing the institutional context for projects. Project
Management Journal. 42(6). pp.20-32.
Müller, R. and Turner, R., 2010. Leadership competency profiles of successful project managers.
International Journal of Project Management. 28(5). pp.437-448.
Ramadani, V., Gërguri, S., Dana, L.P. and et. al.., 2013. Women entrepreneurs in the Republic
of Macedonia: waiting for directions. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Small Business. 19(1). pp.95-121.
Sparrow, E., 2012. Successful IT outsourcing: from choosing a provider to managing the
project. Springer Science & Business Media.
Wikström, K., Artto, K., Kujala, J. and et. al., 2010. Business models in project business.
International Journal of Project Management. 28(8). pp.832-841.
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Template for evidence collection to be attached with the report by the learner:
Project Logbook for the chosen organisation:
Name of the learner: Name of the Supervisor:
Project Title: Date:
Update of weekly research/ tasks achieved
(Account for a minimum of six weeks with dates)
 What have you completed?
 Did you fulfil Task requirements?
 Are you on track and within deadlines set?
 Did you need to make any changes to your
project management plan?
Comments
I have completed this project on cloud
technology
Yes
Yes
No
Any risks and / or issues identified?
 Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of
skills required for undertaking research
tasks?
 Did you identify any additional risks/issues
that have an impact on the project
management plan?
Employees of the organisation needs to
be trained to use cloud technology.
Yes, government compliance is the
major issue to upgrade cloud
technology.
Problems encountered Funds and government compliances are
the major barriers.
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 What barriers did you face?
 How did you overcome them? I manage funds by potential resource
and by purchasing rights to work on
cloud technology.
New Ideas and change of project direction
What Have I learnt about myself this week?
 How did I feel when I had to deal with
tasks/problems?
 Did I find it useful to complete the tasks?
 How well have I performed? What did I
contribute?
 What can I improve on next week?
 How might this learning apply in the
future?
Resolving problems and managing
work in small chunks.
Yes
I performed well to accomplish the task
in an effective way.
I can use WBS and Gantt chart in an
easy way.
Tasks planned for next week
 Which tasks are priority?
 Have you set aside sufficient time for
completion?
Research
7 days
Project plan status to date (on, ahead, behind)
Supervisor comments to address
Signature of the Supervisor and date:
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