Project Management Report: Northampton University Student Support Desk

This project management report analyzes the implementation of an IT and support desk project at the University of Northampton. The report begins with an introduction to project management principles and then delves into cost estimation, including software, hardware, and staffing expenses. A detailed project plan outlines the various stages, durations, and dependencies of the project, from initiation to closure. Stakeholder analysis identifies key stakeholders, their roles, and the importance of effective communication. The report also includes a scope statement, work breakdown structure, and a Gantt chart to visualize project timelines and tasks. Furthermore, it highlights eight critical milestones and identifies activities on the critical path. The report also analyzes potential risks, creating a risk matrix, and proposes mitigation strategies. A reflective section is included, offering personal insights into the project management process. The report concludes by summarizing key findings and providing references.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
Cost estimation for the project...............................................................................................1
Project plan.............................................................................................................................2
Stakeholder analysis...............................................................................................................4
PART 2............................................................................................................................................4
Scope statement......................................................................................................................4
Work break down structure....................................................................................................5
Gantt Chart.............................................................................................................................7
................................................................................................................................................8
PART 3............................................................................................................................................9
Eight milestones.....................................................................................................................9
Record activities on critical path..........................................................................................10
PART 4..........................................................................................................................................11
Risk matrix...........................................................................................................................11
Mitigation strategy................................................................................................................12
PART 5..........................................................................................................................................13
Individual reflection.............................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Project management can be defined as principals or techniques that helps in completing
the project within stipulated time duration and monitoring it time to time. Present report is based
on the project of University of Northampton which is the first university of UK that has become
the Changemaker campus. University is working on the project where it is planning to provide
support desk and IT desk to the students. It would be work as learning hub where learners will
get in depth information and will be able to resolve their quarries (Chiu-Chi and et.al, 2013). It is
planning to provide 24/7 services to the students so that it can fulfill the expectation of the
learners. Current assignment will discuss the entire project and analysis will be done. Project
scope will be defined in this respect, WBS structure will be made and Gantt chart will be
presented (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta, 2016). Activities that are on the critical path will be
identified in this respect. Risk will be analyzed and mitigation strategies will be develop in order
to reduce the potential risk of the project.
PART 1
Cost estimation for the project
Categories of
expected
expenditures Cost in $
Cost of software
System application 12000
Designing software 12500
Buy from third party 11000
Database system cost 12000
Cost of hardware
that are acquired by
the manager
Total 47500
Development cost 5000
Other 4450
Total 9450
Networking cost
Cost of cables 1550
Hardware equipment 1550
Router 1450
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Charging cables 1500
Staffing cost
Total 6050
Salaries of staff members 150000
Accommodation 5000
Incentive schemes 2000
Total 157000
Other
Miscellaneous
expenditures 80000
Total $ 3,00,000
Project plan
The University of Northampton was the first university of UK which has developed as
Changemaker campus. The University is planning to develop two desks, one is of support desk
and IT desk (Ramazani and Jergeas, 2015). In which it is planning to open one shop in which all
students will be able to enquiry for both IT and operational. Project manager is planning to
provide 24/7 services to the students so that they can resolve their quarries any time. There are
several steps of project plan:
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
The University of
Northampton 180 days
Initiation stage 45 days
Project charter 20 days Fri 6/9/17 Thu 7/6/17 5
Feasibility study 20 days Fri 6/9/17 Thu 7/6/17 5
Defining project scope and
objectives 5 days Fri 6/23/17 Thu 6/29/17 7,8
Planning stage 40 days
Recruitment of team members 15 days Fri 6/9/17 Thu 6/29/17 9
Set project organization chart 10 days Fri 7/7/17 Thu 7/20/17 10,11
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Work breakdown structure 5 days Fri 6/9/17 Thu 6/15/17 711
Contract experts 5 days Fri 6/30/17 Thu 7/6/17 13
Assigning resources 5 days Fri 7/28/17 Thu 8/3/17 14,12
Execution 40 days Fri 6/2/17 Thu 7/27/17
development of deliverables 20 days Fri 6/9/17 Thu 7/6/17 15
Project status report 5 days Fri 6/16/17 Thu 6/22/17 16
Managing change request 5 days Fri 6/16/17 Thu 6/22/17 18
Risk assessment 10 days Fri 6/16/17 Thu 6/29/17 19
Monitoring and control 25 days
Measure objectives 10 days Fri 6/9/17 Thu 6/22/17 20
Check quality deliverables 10 days Fri 6/16/17 Thu 6/29/17 22
Evaluation of performance 5 days Fri 6/16/17 Thu 6/22/17 23
Project close 30 days Wed 6/14/17 Tue 7/25/17
Releasing resources 10 days Tue 6/6/17 Mon 6/19/17 24
Project documentation 10 days Mon 6/5/17 Fri 6/16/17 25
Project punch list 8 days Mon 6/5/17 Wed 6/14/17 26
Sign off project 2 days Mon 6/5/17 Tue 6/6/17 27
Manually Scheduled 1 day Fri 6/2/17 Fri 6/2/17 28
Manually Scheduled
1 day Fri 6/2/17 Fri 6/2/17
Manually Scheduled
1 day Fri 6/2/17 Fri 6/2/17
Initiation is the first phase in which project manager of the University of Northampton
has to prepare the project charter and study the project deeply. This will help the individual in
scheduling the activities. By this way individual will be able to conduct the project in effective
manner (Reason, 2016). Once, feasible study has been done then manager of the project has to
define the scope. Project of opening IT and operational support desk is the good project because
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in which university will be able to resolve the quarries of student significantly. People those who
have any issue will be able to resolve their quarries through online medium or through distance
learning.
In the planning stage project manager of the University of Northampton has to recruit the
team those who are capable to perform their duties well (Archibald and Archibald, 2016). For the
current project it is required for the cited firm to hire talent employees those who have good
knowledge about IT services and operational activities. So that they can understand the issues of
students and can resolve their quarries. For the present project university will require hardware
items, charging cabins, laptops and testing equipment. Apart from this human resource,
computers will also require by the university. Once, team has been recruited then individual will
have to allocate these resources (Devaux, 2015).
Execution is the next phase in which project manager has to manage the request and
assessment of risk is done by the manager. In this project there are many risks associated such as
technical risk, financial risk, human resource risk etc (Burke, 2013). After the monitoring and
controlling is done in order to identify whether the project is going in right direction or not. If
any of the mistake is here then they manager can take immediate action and can resolve the
issues soon. In the past project closer phase project manager of University of Northampton have
to prepare the project documents and punch list has to be prepared by them. At the end signing
off of the project is done by the manager. This project plan helps the organization in achieving
the real objective of the project and by scheduling manager of cited firm will be able to complete
the project within stipulated time duration and budget (Caniëls and Bakens, 2012).
Stakeholder analysis
Stakeholders are the essential part of project, they get directly affected with the entire
project. Main stakeholders in this project are as following:
 Project sponsors
 Co-opt specialist
 Project team
 Students
 Lecturers
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Facility manager of university will be the project sponsor. If this IT projects will get failed then it
will directly impact on brand image of the university and it will get down. Effective
communication between all stakeholders will support in making this project successful. With the
help of clear coordination confusions will be minimized and it will help in increasing
performance of all project team members. Skills of co-opt specialists will help in making
students aware with the benefit of this help\ desk by this way they will be able to resolve their
quarries soon.
PART 2
Scope statement
IT support desk project of University of Northampton is having great scope. Through this
way individual will be able to resolve the quarries of the students and distance learning learners
in proper manner. By this way people will get to know about new software and will be able to
share their feelings well. 24/7 services are very good feature through this way cited firm will be
able to meet with the expectation of the students and it will support the learners and they will get
in depth information about It problems (Reason, 2016).
Work break down structure
Work break down structure is the key deliverable that helps in dividing the projects into
sub group. It is extremely valuable and important tool that helps in scheduling the activities in
effective manner so that overall objective of the project can be achieved. With the help of this
tool project can be break down in easy manageable components. By this way project manager
will be able to allocate the resources to each activity effectively (Chiu-Chi and et.al, 2013). It is
the great technique through this way manager of the University can assign the responsibility to
each team members effectively and it will help in completing the project in systematic manner.
Work break down structure allows the organization for more accurate estimation of cost and risk
can be identified in effective manner. So that project manager can take immediate step to
minimize the risk of the project (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta, 2016).
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Gantt Chart
PART 3
Eight milestones
There are several milestones in the Ms. Project, it is necessary for the project manager o
understand these milestones in order to complete the project on time with full of efficiency.
Planning of projects
It is the first milestone in which project manager of the University has to identify the each
and every aspect of the project in depth in order to develop better understanding about the
project. Individual has to develop the idea and has to register the project first. After that person
has to analyze the benefit for the organization (Burke, 2013). On the bases of these elements
planning needs to be done by the project manager of the University of Northampton in its IT
desk support project.
Receiving the funds for the project
It is another milestone of the Ms. Project in which project manager has to identify that
whether company has sufficient resources of not. That will help in allocating the resources in
effective manner.
Obtaining approvals
It is another milestone of the Ms. Project in which project manager has to take the
permission from the authorities. It has to involve the stakeholders and have to take their point of
views in order to know the potential of success and risk involved in the project. T hat will help
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the manager of University of Northampton to plan or scheduling the activities in effective
manner. With the help of approval individual will be able to conduct the operations in smooth
manner without any complications (Devaux, 2015).
Hiring of staff members
It is another milestone of the project management in which project manager of University
of Northampton is required to hire the skilled people those who know about IT software and are
able to resolve the quarries of the students. Skilled and experienced people are the only persons
those who can contribute well in achieving the goal of the project (Ramazani and Jergeas, 2015).
Key dates and deadlines
It is important in the large size projects. Every project has some fixed deadline and it is
the duty of the project manager that to complete the task on time without any failure.
Monitoring the progress
It is another milestone of the MS. Project in which it is essential for the University of
Northampton that to monitor the progress of IT project on time. It will help the organization in
identifying the loop fall in the system and by this way it will be able to take immediate steps to
improve this mistakes (Dutta and Bose, 2015).
Controlling and reviewing
It is most important milestone of the Ms. Project because without proper controlling
project manager will not be able to complete the project on time. IT project of University of
Northampton needs to be completed within 6 months for that company is required to make
effective control over the activities so that all members perform their duties well and project gets
completed on time (Burke, 2013).
Final submission of the documents
It is the last milestone in which project manager has to complete the final documents on
time so that report from the experts can be gathered soon. It will help in identifying the
effectiveness of the project (Chiu-Chi and et.al, 2013).
Record activities on critical path
Critical path
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PART 4
Risk matrix
Business case and its risks
As per the case scenario The University of Northampton is planning to open stop shop for
the students so that they can resolve their quarries related to IT and operations. University is
planning to provide the services 24/7 hours, it will also provide online support services so that
students can gain knowledge by living in campus or through distance learning. The plan is to be
prepared by considering the time and cost elements (De Bakker, Boonstra and Wortmann, 2010).
The overall budget for the University of Northampton project is set by the authorities £300,000.
The project needs to completed within 6 month and final documents need to be uploaded through
Turnitin before 5th June. There are many risks associated with this project which are as
following: Scheduling risk: One of the major risk which is attached with the University of
Northampton project is that scheduling. To schedule the activities are not easy for the
project manager. Individual has to look upon the variety of factor and accordingly it has
to plan the activities. For example testing can not be done until the developers can finish
their work (Jun, Qiuzhen. and Qingguo, 2011). Thus, in this condition individual has to
bear huge problem and it might be possible that due to improper scheduling project do
not get completed on time. Resource risk: It is another risk which is associated with the University of Northampton
project. For opening the shop for IT and operation support project manager requires many
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resources such as physical resources, human resource, technical, financial resources etc.
If there are insufficient resources then it will create trouble in completing the task on time
and its efficiency will be affected. PC, staff members, hardware items, charging cabinets
etc are required for It supports desk (Kerzner, 2013). Apart from this, budget or financial
resources are required for the project are 300000. Technological risk: It is another risk to the existing project of University of Northampton
because if technical support is not sufficient then individual will not be able to resolve IT
quarries of the students significantly (Mantel, 2011). For achieving the goal of the
company it is essential that project manager pays attention on the advanced software and
provides good technical knowledge to the learners. So that they can get to know about
advanced software and can resolve their IT issues.
 Communication risk: It is another risk to the University of Northampton IT project. In
the absence of formal or informal communication tool, cited firm will not be able to share
its information that would create problem in future for the entity (Meredith and Mantel Jr,
2011).
Risk Level (1 to 5) Severity of risk
Scheduling risk 3 moderate
Resource risk 2 low
Technological risk 4 High
Communication risk 3 moderate
Mitigation strategy
Risk management plan
Risk Mitigation strategy
Scheduling risk It can be resolved by using the RACI matrix
(responsibility, accountability, consulting and
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