Project Report: Cloud Technology Implementation for Business Growth

This report examines the implementation of cloud technology for Continental Consulting Limited, a business process re-engineering company. It details the project's aims and objectives, emphasizing the importance of cloud technology for business upgrades and data security. The report includes a project management plan covering costs, scope, time, quality, communication, and risk management. It also features a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart for efficient task management. Furthermore, the report outlines both qualitative and quantitative research methods used to analyze the needs for technology upgrades and provides recommendations for system and application updates. The introduction underscores the necessity of technology upgrades for business sustainability, particularly in the context of cloud adoption for SMEs. The report's structure is organized into tasks covering project planning, research, and analysis, culminating in actionable recommendations for the company.

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.
1

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
2

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.
3

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.
4

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.
5

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).
6

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,
7

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
8

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
9

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