CIS5310: Project Plan for Cloud Computing at North Sydney Council

This report presents a comprehensive project plan for integrating cloud computing technologies into the North Sydney Council's operations. The plan is divided into two sections, with the first section detailing the project planning process, including justification for using cloud computing, objectives, expansion of the ICT unit, estimated costs and resources, PERT and Gantt charts, ethical considerations, and team selection. The second section focuses on cost-benefit analysis, project management recommendations, project integration, implementation plans, and post-implementation strategies. The report emphasizes enhancing data security, improving efficiency, reducing costs, and boosting data mobility. It also addresses the necessary restructuring of the IT system, including software and hardware compatibility, and the importance of technical literacy among staff. The cost and resource structure includes detailed tables outlining required materials, quantities, and costs. The report concludes with recommendations for the North Sydney Council to consider during the cloud computing integration process.

CIS5310: Management of Information Systems
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Written Report

Executive summary
Cloud computing is a new technique brought about by the growth of digital literacy and the
incorporation of this knowledge in the organisational process. North Sydney local government is
not an exception since it is an entity that is concerned with the handling of voluminous data
contents. Information management is an essential aspect of any entity. The success of the
processes carried out in the said entity is determined by how well the organisation manages its
operations. The paper below is divided into two sections. The first section is concerned with the
project plan process covering from the justification of the project, the use of the right tools and
the costs/resources required in the entire plan. The second section stipulates the critical aspects
of cost-benefit analysis, recommendations for project management, project integration,
implementation plan and the post-implementation plan. A recommendation section provides an
outline of the vital consideration that should be made in the North Sydney Council. The
conclusion proves a summation of the main idea captured in the entire paper.
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Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................1
Project plan-Section 1......................................................................................................................3
Assumption with justification about use of cloud computing technologies in North Sydney
Council.........................................................................................................................................3
Outline about objectives/goals of adopting cloud computing technologies and justifications....3
Summary of expanding ICT unit to incorporate cloud computing technologies.........................4
Estimated cost and resource structures and justifications............................................................5
Cost structure...........................................................................................................................5
Resource structure...................................................................................................................6
Cost and resource justifications...............................................................................................7
Timesheet.....................................................................................................................................8
Project PERT and Gantt Charts.................................................................................................10
Ethical considerations in incorporating the cloud computing technology.................................11
Importance of selecting appropriate teams................................................................................12
Written report-Section 2................................................................................................................13
Cost-benefit analysis..................................................................................................................13
Recommendation how the project should be managed.............................................................14
Recommendation for management of project integration.........................................................15
Implementation plan detailing time, cost and resource schedules.............................................16
Post-implementation plan..........................................................................................................17
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................18
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................19
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Project plan-Section 1
Assumption with justification about use of cloud computing technologies in North
Sydney Council
The North Sydney Council is a local government entity that has administrative authority
covering the lower region of North Shore of Sydney. Its mandate is distributed to an area of 10.9
Square Kilometers covering the land which it sits on. Its neighboring local government regions
include Lance Cover, Sydney Harbour, North Beaches and Willoughby regions. North Sydney
Council was established in 1890 to offer the local citizens with reliable administrative and
authoritative forces (Alshumrani, Munir & Baird 2018, p. 604). The council is concerned with
carrying out governmental regulation on traffic, offer fire services, local urban planning, revenue
collection, enforcement of market regulation, road management, amenity services, local
development and humanitarian acts. Due to the vast number of information that circulates in the
working environment of the council, the cloud computing technique is relevant. Cloud
computing is the aspect of using an integrated computer network that acts as a data reservoir that
accumulates a range of data contents without being regulated by the user. Technology is being
ratified in every scope of life with the local administration not being exempted. The key
assumptions include;
 The council will be able to manage the traffic and establish reliable traffic verification via
license reviews of the drivers.
 Amenity tracking about how resources targeting to help the communities have been
utilised.
 Better tracking of the revenue and enforce market regulations reliably.
 Carry out required information tracking of all the activities and roles it pursues.
Outline about objectives/goals of adopting cloud computing technologies and
justifications
Technology is gaining much relevance in all the operations concerning economic, political and
social activities. Digital migration is bringing about tremendous changes concerning how human
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processes are carried out. Cloud computing as an extension of technological application targets
on making significant achievement to be attained in the local administrative authority.
 Boosting the operational scope of the North Sydney Council
 Enhancing data security
 Boosting data recovery
 Improving efficiency and reduce data process costs
 Elevate data mobility
The main aim of integrating technology in operation targets on boosting the performance of the
entity. Cloud computing offers a reliable information retrieval system where massive data can be
stored and accessed when need be. Use of cloud computing technologies in the North Sydney
Council aims at boosting data security (Malik et al. 2016, p. 181). There a large volume of data
that are used in tracking the day to day operations of the local government processes. Officers
from the North Sydney Council officers stored information and need security for their stored
data. System breakdown is an inevitable occurrence that faces technical data storage systems. By
the use of the cloud computing technique, data recovery is boosted. Once a system breakdown
occurs, data concerning the local government recordings and reports cannot be lost. Efficiency
and reduction of data process costs is also a principal aim in the adoption of cloud computing
technologies. According to Gani et al. (2014, p. 92), data mobility is as well a central objective in
the establishment of cloud computing. This is the aspect where information from the internet can
be retrieved from many ports provided they have verified user identity. The stated objective
target on boosting the operations that the North Sydney Council pursues in its administrative
process.
Summary of expanding ICT unit to incorporate cloud computing technologies
In the expansion of a technical domain in an organisation, there is a dire need for the entity to
restructure its information technology system (Rezaei et al. 2014, p. 5752). Compatibility is a
dominant consideration that should be made in the implementation of the cloud computing
technologies in the North Sydney Council systems. Software development and hardware
developments are vital units that should be redeveloped. Software readjustment requires a cogent
analysis of the existing technological trend. Software components are affected by the shift in
technology. North Sydney Council should, therefore, consider evaluating the flexibility of
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existing software. It should maintain the required compatibility with the newly integrated cloud
computing provisions. On the same note, the hardware to support this newly integrated software
needs to be evaluated. Software and hardware expansion require resources which the
organisation should be able to provide sustainably. Analysis of the resource availability needs to
be known before the cloud computing techniques are incorporated. According to Liu and Cai
(2013, p. 27), the usability extent of a system is as well a key consideration to be granted
maximum priority while expanding a system. The target parties must have the right skills and
knowledge to operate the high-tech systems. Technical literacy is paramount as it will ensure
proper system monitoring, testing and maintenance.
Estimated cost and resource structures and justifications
Cost structure
The cost structure is a considerable outline that depicts the expected costs that will be injected in
the entire project, which helps in bill management and workflow costs management (DeFelice
2010, p. 51). Incorporation of cloud computing system in the North Sydney Council operations
will require adequate funding. Integration of the said system success is heavily reliant on the
availability of the costs necessary to cover the expenses of each stage (Bowers 2011, p. 46).
From the initiation stage to the final stage of project closure, costs should be availed adequately.
The hiring of experts, stakeholder-seeking, acquisition of the required materials, availing
technicians, system maintenance, system testing and combating the risk call for adequate
funding. Software purchasing, hardware units, planning process and miscellaneous expenses are
the critical consideration that should be made during the cost budgeting processes. The following
table provides and outline of the required materials, number of the materials and the expected
cost of each unit.
Unit Number of units Price per unit ($) Total
Software 4 4500 18,000
Hardware 10 3000 30,000
Stakeholder seeking 1 5000 5,000
Expert hiring 1 12,000 12,000
System testing 1 7,000 7,000
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Servers 5 3400 17,000
Internet drives 7 2500 17,500
Connection hubs 15 1500 22,500
Connector cables 67 500 33,500
Miscellaneous 27000 27,000
Totals 189,500
Resource structure
The resource structure is an outline that specifies the required units in a project and aid in
resource scheduling activities (Zhou et al. 2016, p. 1091). It has a close relationship with the cost
structure since they all describe the central units that should be availed in the development of the
stated plan. In the incorporation of cloud computing techniques in the North Sydney Council,
specifications need to be done to outline the physical or the tangible resources and the intangible
units. The intangible resource constitutes the labour that is offered by the stakeholders and the
project teams who undertake the different roles concerning the system redevelopment. Experts,
technical engineers, consultants, stakeholders and project managers are the fundamental units
that will constitute the workforce resources in the implementation process. Software and
hardware tool constitute intangible and tangible units, respectively. In this case, internet servers,
data transmission signals, database storage systems and cloud links are the software resource to
be incorporated in the integration of the cloud computing techniques in the North Sydney
Council operational sphere. Computers, connector cables, Physical hubs, output machines, data
terminals, and LED notifiers are the required hardware resources. According to Bowers (2011, p.
51), the availability of the needed resources is what determined the success of the set plan and a
compelling option of a project. Before embarking on the actual aspect of implementing the cloud
computing system, North Sydney Council must avail the listed resources. The chart below shows
the interrelation of these resources.
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Cost and resource justifications
Cost and resource availability hold a significant unit that determines the success of the set
project. During the budgeting process of the cloud computing integration in the North Sydney
Council should be based on the cost and resource outlines which boosts the resource scheduling
processes (Zhou et al. 2016, p. 1091). The cost schedule determines what should be accumulated
and the amount of funds that should be set aside for the ultimate development of the agreed
project. As outline in the cost structure, each required unit is mentioned, the number of the units,
the cost per unit and the expected totals to be used in availing the stated unit. The miscellaneous
expenses are used as the unbudgeted costs that help in covering the subsequent costs that might
be faced during the implementation process. The resource charts speculate the wanted resources
and outlines to which category they belong. For instance, the cloud computing will need software
tools, hardware and human resources required for the entire process (Wehner et al. 2011, p. 9).
Project initiation requires the integration and engagement of the relevant stakeholders. Involving
the right personnel in the right project portion and in the right time is what determines the
success of the entire process. Risks are inevitable occurrences that face technical systems.
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C lo u d c o m p u ti n g
re s o u rc e s Human resources
Expert teams
Technical Engineers
Consultants
Project stakeholders
Project Managers
Software resources
Internet servers
Data transmission
signals
Database storage
units
Cloud computing
links
Hardware resources
Computers
Connector cables
Physical connector
hubs
Output devices
LED Notifiers

Resource and cost inadequacy is a major threat that might limit the pursuit of the set objective of
cloud computing integration.
Timesheet
One of the core aspects of a project is a well-defined time frame which determines the time
which the project will take from its initiation to completion. In the implementation of the cloud
computing techniques in the North Sydney council, the schedule should be well-plotted (Zhou et
al. 2016, p. 1096). The stated time acts as a guide to the parties and units engaged in the project
execution scope to carry out the different portions of the development timely, to avoid system
delays and project failures. Timesheets are automated reports that are drawn by the use of project
software. The critical information captured in the timesheet is the different project processes or
activities and the estimated time that will be taken in pursuing the identified activity (Ballesteros-
Pérez, Larsen & González-Cruz 2018, p. 18). It offers a total summation of the time which the
entire process will be complete by noting down the approximate period to be spent on a single
work package. A timesheet is a required documentation in the development of the cloud
techniques in the North Sydney Council as it will guide the project managers and concerned
stakeholders to maintain the required time. Without proper specification of each task in the
whole process, task overlaps might happen which in turn might lead to project delays. Time
sheet gives a sequential view concerning how the project activities will flow. This is a significant
guide towards the project implementation planning and monitoring of each project unit.
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Project PERT and Gantt Charts
Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) and Gantt charts are helpful tools that guide a
project scheduling process. The Gannt chart, in particular, shows the relation of the different
work packages of the project (Ballesteros-Pérez, Larsen & González-Cruz 2018, p. 19). It noted
down the activities that do not have a close relation and which can run out concurrently since the
pursuit of a particular action does not affect the success of the other activity. The activities which
begin at an early date are said to be of early time while the events that start at a delayed period
are said to be of the late start time. The Gannt Chart, also known as the activity chart, is
generated after the plotting of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). According to Ballesteros-
Pérez, Larsen and González-Cruz (2018, p. 21) the PERT chart, which shows the critical path
notes down the longest route that can be followed in undertaking the project. The longest route,
in this case, is considered the most appropriate as it ensures no project activity is left unattended
compared to the shorter route, which is prone to some activities being skipped. Use of the PERT
and the Gannt Charts in the integration of the cloud computing techniques in the North Sydney
Council will guide the planning parties. The project teams and managers will make a viable
decision concerning which activity to start first and which events that can be delayed and picked
at a later date.
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Ethical considerations in incorporating the cloud computing technology
In the development process of a set project, several ethical considerations should be made to
ensure the required laws and rules are adored (Zgrzebnicki 2017, p. 25). Empathy is a vital
ethical factor to be considered in the incorporation of cloud computing technology in the North
Sydney Council. Due to the differences in opinion, conflicts, disputes and disagreements might
erupt. Such an occurrence might limit the collaboration of the different project units. Considering
empathy and equal judgement of ideas from each individual will limit the occurrence of disputes.
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