Business Case Report: Monash University ICT Centre Project

This report presents a business case for the proposed ICT Centre project at Monash University. It begins with an executive summary and explores the project's need, including service delivery requirements, alignment with the program plan, and critical success factors. The report then analyzes various options, evaluating them against specific criteria to recommend the establishment of a modern ICT facility. A detailed project definition follows, outlining the scope, constraints, deliverables, and key performance indicators (KPIs). The project approach is defined, covering management strategies, procurement, and stakeholder engagement. The report concludes with a discussion of the budget, project timeline, risk analysis, and benefits realization plan, providing a comprehensive overview of the project's feasibility and implementation strategy. Appendices include project schedules, cost plans, risk registers, and financial analysis.

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Business Case
TITLE
Student Name: < Your Name >
Student Number: < Your Student Number >
Course: <Enter Course Details>
Unit Coordinator/
Lecturer: Grant Axman-Friend ([e-mail])
Institution: Queensland University of Technology
Teaching Period: Semester 2, 2017
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report explores the ICT Centre project that is intended to be adopted by
Monash University. The report explores the main aims and objectives of the
project, the scope of the project, the various stakeholders whose input will be
needed, the projects service delivery requirements, key project success factors
which include minimization of costs and management of potential risks,
anticipated constraints such as time factor and limited resources as well as risk
management strategies such as avoidance and transfer that will be employed in
the project implementation. The report also analyses the communication plan
and governance structure and concludes with a budget for the project.
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Business Case
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
1 PROJECT NEED.....................................................................................................................5
1.1 SERVICE DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS.....................................................................5
1.2 ALIGNMENT WITH PROGRAM PLAN.......................................................................5
1.3 PROJECT OBJECTIVES.................................................................................................5
1.4 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS (CSF’S)....................................................................5
1.5 ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE.....................................................................................5
2 OPTIONS ANALYSIS............................................................................................................6
2.1 OPTIONS CONSIDERED...............................................................................................6
2.2 OPTIONS EVALUATION CRITERIA...........................................................................6
2.3 OPTIONS DEVELOPMENT...........................................................................................6
2.4 OPTIONS EVALUATION...............................................................................................6
2.5 RECOMMENDED OPTION............................................................................................7
3 PROJECT DEFINITION.........................................................................................................8
3.1 SCOPE DESCRIPTION...................................................................................................8
3.2 CONSTRAINTS AND DEPENDENCIES.......................................................................8
3.3 SCOPE MANAGEMENT................................................................................................8
3.4 PROJECT DELIVERABLES...........................................................................................8
3.5 PROJECT KPI’S...............................................................................................................8
4 PROJECT APPROACH..........................................................................................................9
4.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY......................................................................9
4.1.1 PROJECT STRUCTURE..........................................................................................9
4.1.2 PROJECT GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK...........................................................9
4.1.3 PROJECT REPORTING STRUCTURE...................................................................9
4.2 PROCUREMENT STRATEGY.......................................................................................9
4.3 COMMUNICATION AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY............9
5 BUDGET, PROGRAM AND RISK.....................................................................................10
5.1 TIMING / PROJECT READINESS...............................................................................10
5.2 BUDGET/COST ANALYSIS AND FUNDING STRATEGY......................................10
5.3 RISK ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.............................................10
5.4 PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.................................................10
5.5 PROJECT COMPLETION STRATEGY.......................................................................10
5.6 BENEFITS REALISATION PLAN...............................................................................10
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6 REFERENCES......................................................................................................................11
APPENDIX A................................................................................................................................12
A.1 PROJECT SCHEDULE..................................................................................................12
A.2 PROJECT COST PLAN.................................................................................................12
A.3 PROJECT RISK REGISTER.........................................................................................12
A.4 BENEFITS REALISATION PLAN...............................................................................12
A.5 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS on OPTIONS.......................................................................12
A.6 STAKEHOLDER ASSESSMENT MATRIX................................................................12
A.7 **********.....................................................................................................................12
A.8 **********.....................................................................................................................12
A.9 **********.....................................................................................................................12
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2-1 | Project options...............................................................................................................7
Table 2-2 | Table 2 footer example – linked to contents.................................................................7
LIST OF FIGURES
No table of figures entries found.
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PROJECT NEED
For some years the technological capability of Monash University has remained low as
compared to other Institutions that it competes with. The ability of its students to innovate has
been restricted due to this reality. Its technological weaknesses have deprived the institute
various other opportunities including an opportunity to generate income through products
manufactured from within its premises. The University intends to turn things around by
implementing a project to construct a modern ICT Centre that will help alleviate the current
challenges and see it ranked among the best Universities in the technological endowment.
1.1 SERVICE DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS
The viability of a project is determined by the project’s delivery requirements which are the
minimum requirements needed for a project. Service delivery requirements are used in
decision making to determine whether a project should be implemented or terminated. The
minimum service delivery requirements for Monash University ICT Centre project include
1. The project should equip students with additional knowledge and ICT skills
2. It should be able to provide adequate learning space for all students
3. It should be able to make better the experiences of both international and local students
within the institution in as far as ICT is concerned and enhance their technological
innovativeness.
1.2 ALIGNMENT WITH PROGRAM PLAN
There is an alignment between the project plan and service requirements because the overall
project plan is aimed at aimed improving service delivery and increasing efficiency in
different parts within the organization
1.3 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project aims at equipping students with skills and knowledge to help them come up with
technological innovation.
 Increase the number of international and local students joining Monash University by
establishing it as a technologically oriented institution
 To align the Institute’s structure of operations with an ICT strategy
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 Offer opportunities for both members of staff and students to embrace innovation and
create new technological products and improve the institution’s current technology
 To integrate the University’s communication system
 To improve the internet connectivity and internet speed of the university and improve its
global online presence
 Offer an effective learning environment for students within the university to improve
their productivity help them in undertaking multidisciplinary research
1.4 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS (CSF’S)
.
 Availability of the necessary materials needed to construct the housing facility for the
ICT centre
 Management of risks. Risk management is critical during the construction of the housing
facility of the project as well as in the machine installation process to avoid any possible
losses for the institute
 Cost management. Cost of the project needs to be minimized and effectively managed as
much as possible through the elimination of unnecessary activities and phases to avoid
running out of project’s budget before completion of the project
1 OPTIONS ANALYSIS
1.1 OPTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED
Table1: Table demonstrating options to be considered
Head
1
Head 2 Head 3 Head 4
1  Construction of numerous technological units in
different departments within the institution,
 Availing personal computers for students to enhance
their research capability
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 Partnering with ICT companies to enable their
students acquire industrial placements and necessary
workplace experience in these companies
 Installing within the university a high speed internet
infrastructure
 Establishing within the university an assembly for
mobile phone hardware within the university to
facilitate manufacturing of mobiles which can be sold
to individuals and companies.
 Establishment of a modern ICT centre to facilitate
research and innovation within the institution

Table 2-1 | Project options
1.2 OPTIONS EVALUATION CRITERIA
Text and a table structure/template below
An evaluation is needed to establish which among the options indentified above is the most
feasible. Suitability of any of the options will be dependent on the option’s ability to align
with the long term and short term goals and objectives of the organization. Suitability will
also be dependent upon the cost of each of the options as well as anticipated benefits from the
project and the project’s ability to align with the vision and mission of the University (
Heldman, 2011).
Table 2; Options evaluation criteria
Analysis of cost and benefits
Alignment of the project with
the University’s vision
Effectiveness This refers to the objectives that the
project is aimed at achieving and
their achievement upon completion
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of the project.
Output Impact of the project is concerned
with the intended or unintended
outputs of the project both positive
and negative both long term and
short term
significance Significance of the project is
concerned with the alignment of the
project objectives with the needs of
the intended users of the project ie
staff members and students from the
University.
Table 2-2 | Table 2 footer example – linked to contents
1.3 OPTIONS EVALUATION
An analysis will be carried out based on the four options identified above .The options will be
rated to establish which among them will be the most suitable. The option that receives the
highest rating will be the one that the University will adopt.
1.4 RECOMMENDED OPTION
The most viable option will be the establishment of Modern ICT facility equipped with
modern computers and other relevant equipment to aids their student’s ability to
undertake research and innovate.
2 PROJECT DEFINITION
2.1 SCOPE DESCRIPTION
The projects scope can be viewed as wide .The project will require construction of a housing
facility for the ICT hub. The holding capacity housing facility will need to be large enough to
accommodate at least 3000 students in a single sitting. For this reason a huge budget will be
needed for the project whose completion will take an estimation of three and half years. The
construction of the building will involve a sophisticated design and will possibly be carried
out by former students from the university as an opportunity for the university to showcase
the capabilities of its former students to the to the rest of the world. Input of various
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stakeholders will be needed to facilitate successful completion of the project. The final details
of project including its estimated cost will need to be approved by the University’s board of
governors. The input of the project sponsor will also be very important. Among the partners
targeted by the project include companies such as Microsoft and Google whose input into the
IT installation will be integral .The two will also be important for future collaboration. The
Institution will also need to partner with construction companies which will undertake the
actual construction. The project duration will be four years in which various risk factors will
have to be considered top ensure successful completion.
2.2 CONSTRAINTS AND DEPENDENCIES
In any project it is normal to have constraints that may have the ability to distract its
implementation. It is expected that implementation of the ICT project will be faced with
challenges and limitations that might have an impact on its budget and timelines (Chin,
2014).Among the constraints expected for the project include
 Inflation. Since the project will be carried out in duration of four years, it is
expected that there will be economic changes which may have an impact on the
projects budget
 Shortage of skilled labor for the project which may affect the timelines for
completion of the project
 Technical challenges which may make it necessary to alter the design of the
project during implementation
 Unanticipated delays in procurement of the required materials which may lead
to delays in project completion
2.3 SCOPE MANAGEMENT
Scope management is concerned with the management of critical functions that are necessary
to facilitate successful completion of a project. Scope management for this project will start
at the planning stage and will be carried out up to the completion of the project. The project
will be aiming at creating a high speed technological network within the in the ICT centre
and other parts of the university. The housing facility for this Centre will be designed in a
way that it can accommodate 3000 students at a go. The housing facility will also be designed
to accommodate offices for the staff members who will in charge of the ICT centre. Also to
be housed in the new building will be laboratories from where students can carry out
technological experiments to facilitate creation of new technological products. Project control
stage will be important to help in monitoring the overall progress of the project and facilitate
adoption or rejection of any changes introduced into the project. This overseeing role will be
carried out by a committee that will be appointed purposely for this role. The committee will
be responsible in ensuring that everything will be carried out as per the specifications of the
project plan and will be authorized to approve any necessary changes to the project design or
any other changes that may be deemed necessary in the course of project implementation.
Scope management will end with the completion of the project upon which the project
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committee will be required to evaluate the entire project to establish whether its deliverables
have been achieved.
2.4 PROJECT DELIVERABLES
Project deliverables are those crucial pillars which require implementation to facilitate
successful completion of a project. Not unless project deliverables are met, a project is
deemed to have failed. The ICT project is made up the following deliverables
 Housing. Construction of housing facility for the ICT centre successfully while
maintaining its initial design and structure
 Hardware: Of significance also are the project’s hardware components .A number of
hardware components will be required for this project including transmission machines,
cables. Reuters and computers. It will be necessary to identify the suppliers of these
hardware components in time and in the required quality so that the quality of the overall
project is maintained (Kloppenborg, 2015).
 Telecommunication. Since this will be an ICT project, telecommunication will be an
important deliverable for consideration of the project is to achieve its objectives. High
quality communication gadgets will be required in the Institution’s ICT Centre to
facilitate actualization of the project’s objectives. Among the gadgets that will be needed
are telephone networks, Reuters and computers. The gadgets will be important in
facilitating communication within and without the university
 High Capacity database system. The system is expected to hold huge volumes of data
which will require the database system used to be of high capacity. Apart from the
capacity, the system should also be in a position to withstand the high traffic data that is
likely to be generated.
2.5 PROJECT KPI’S
Key Performance indicators are the measure that are used to ascertain the success of a given
project .For the IT project these key performance indicators will be used to compare the
complete project with the initial plan used for the project to establish whether the project was
carried out as per the initial plan(Luckey & Phillips, 2007).
The ICT project will have the following Key performance indicators
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 Measure of cost performance .This will be used in making a comparison between the
performance of the project and its overall cost to establish whether value for money was
established with the implementation of the project and if the cost is reflected in the
performance
 Return on Investment for the project. Just like any other investment, a project is expected
to have particular returns. Returns generated from the project will be used to measure its
success. Such returns are those that will be generated from Technological products
manufactured from within the University and sold to corporate organizations or
individuals.
 Project timelines. Time schedule represents the estimated time set for completion of the
project .For this project , its duration is supposed to be Four years .Actual time of
completion will be compared with the estimated time to establish whether the project will
have been completed in time or out of time
 Overall resource use. The project will involve estimation of the resources to be used from
the start to the completion of the project .A comparison of the resources used against
those that were estimated in the initial plan will be used to measure the success of the
ICT project.
 Budgetary Considerations. The project will involve an initial budget which will be used
to implement the various activities involved in the project. A comparison of the initial
budget and the actual amount spent on the project upon completion will be used to
establish its success (Lester, 2013).
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3 PROJECT APPROACH
3.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
3.1.1 PROJECT STRUCTURE
Chart 1
The above structure shows the authority hierarchies that will be involved in the
implementation of the project. This is the structure that will be employed throughout the
project and any communication or intended change to the project will have to follow the
above hierarchy.
3.1.2 PROJECT GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK
The project governance structure is the framework upon which project decisions are made.
The project governance framework adopted for a project is supposed to be, robust, logical
and repeatable. The project governance structure for the ICT project will be as follows.
Office
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Steering committee
Project design
team
Project
monitoring
team
Project
manager
Solution
development
team
Resource
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Chart 2.
Project sponsor
The project manager of the project will be the overall head of the project and will be expected
to rally all other stakeholders behind him for the successful completion of the project. It will
be the responsibility of the project manager to execute the project’s communication plan as
well as manage the progress and performance of the governance plan. He will be identified
and selected by the University. On the other hand, the project sponsor will exercise overall
accountability from the initiation to the closure of the project besides approving the project’s
charter. The university will be the project sponsor for the ICT project. The steering
committee will be responsible for the daily activities that will be involved in the project , the
will be responsible for exercising monitoring and control to ensure that the project is being
carried out according to the project charter. They will also be responsible for determining the
tools and techniques that will be used in measuring the objectives and goals of the project
(Ferraro, 2012).Finally the project management office will be responsible for monitoring
risks related to the project and in managing the interdependencies that will exist among the
project’s aspects (Chemuturi & Cagley, 2010).
3.1.3 PROJECT REPORTING STRUCTURE
The structure used in the project governance framework will be used in reporting to various
stakeholders that will be involved in the project. Both downward and upward flow of
information will be used.
3.2 PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
A central procurement for all equipment and materials that will be used in the project will be
done by the procurement officer in consultation with the project and resource managers. A
tendering process will be used to select suppliers of the selected products for the project
(Ferraro, 2012). Payments for the procured goods will be done after delivery and inspection
of the goods to ensure that the intended quality has been met.
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Project
Sponsor
Steering
committee
Project
managem
ent Office
Ooffoffice
Project
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3.3 COMMUNICATION AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Because of the many stakeholders that will be involved in the project as well as the large
project scope, effective communication will be significant.
The following communication plan will be used for the ICT Project.
Table 3
Stakeholder’s Name Communication Method Frequency
Project manger Face to face meeting and
emails
7 days
Steering
committee
Official Face to face
meetings
Use of progress reports
30 Days
Project sponsor Progress reports
and emails
30 Days
Resource manager Letters Depending on
particular need
Project team
management
office
Face to face
meetings
Daily
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4 BUDGET, PROGRAM AND RISK
4.1 TIMING / PROJECT READINESS
Project’s readiness refers to the extent to which a project is ready to commence. With the
increasing focus on innovation in various institutions of higher learning across the world, the
timing of the ICT Project can be viewed as appropriate because it will improve the ability of
the University’s Students to innovate and have an impact on the global technological
advancement. The various resources required for the project are also readily available which
means that the project is quite ready to kick of (Newton, 2013).
4.2 BUDGET/COST ANALYSIS AND FUNDING STRATEGY
The table below presents the budget for the construction and equipping of the University’s
ICT project.
Table 5
Project Name: University of Monash ICT Hub –(Construction and equipping).
Client’s Name: University of Monash
Item Subtotals($) Total($)
Income
Grant from the Government 1,780,500
Fee income 780,345
Product licensing fee 3,675,290 6,236,135
Expenses
Construction material 1,903,450
Labor cost 458,345
Cost of architecture and
design
270,945
Cost of Purchasing computers 321,678
Cost of installing equipments 158,435
Miscellaneous costs 45,781
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Total Project cost 3,158,634
Project’s Net income 3,077,501
4.3 RISK ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Established risk assessment procedures will be used to analyze the possible risks that will be
associated with the project. Risk analysis will involve identification and ranking of the
possible risks according to their order of severity and their probability of occurring (Young,
2013). The possible risks will be managed through avoidance, transfer, risk control and loss
reduction (Australia& Blanton, 2015).
4.4 PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Project quality management will begin from the onset of the implementation of the
project.The first step in quality management will be the selection of the best suppliers to
provide the necessary resources so that there will be no risk of receiving low-quality
resources. Upon receipt of supplies, they will be inspected to ascertain whether they meet the
required standards before making any payments. Safety and quality standards will be
managed by the project office team.
4.5 PROJECT COMPLETION STRATEGY
The established project quality will be four years. Availing all the necessary resources in time
will be the strategy to be used to ensure that the project is completed within the established
timelines. The strategy will also involve prior identification of the possible risks to facilitate
identification of mitigation strategies which will ensure that no time will be wasted.
Implementation of monitoring and control policies will also be availed in time to facilitate
timely completion of the project. (Fox & Van, 2007).
4.6 BENEFITS REALISATION PLAN
Benefits of the ICT project will be realized through establishing a team that will be mandated
to create awareness on the objectives of the project and how its goals will be achieved to the
benefactors. Completion of the project in time and within the budget will also facilitate the
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realization of the project’s budget. Included also will be regular maintenance of the ICT
systems.
APPENDIX
Table 1: Table demonstrating options considered before implementation of the project
Table 2: Options evaluation criteria
Table 3; communication and stakeholder management strategy
Table 4: Budget/cost analysis and funding strategy
Chart 1: Project structure
Chart:2 Project governance framework
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5 REFERENCES
Australia, C. L., & Blanton, S. (2015). Information Technology Project Management.
Chemuturi, M., & Cagley, T. M. (2010). Mastering software project management: Best
practices, tools and techniques. Ft. Lauderdale, FL: J. Ross Pub.
Chin, G. (2014). Agile project management: How to succeed in the face of changing project
requirements. New York: AMACOM.
Heldman, K. (2011). Project management jumpstart. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Ferraro, J. (2012). Project management for non-project managers. New York: AMACOM.
Fox, W., & Van, . W. G. (2007). A guide to project management. Cape Town: Juta
Kloppenborg, T. J. (2015). Contemporary project management: Organize, plan, perform.
Lester, A. (2013). Project Management, Planning and Control. Elsevier Science.
Lewis, J. P. (2007). Fundamentals of project management. New York: AMACOM Books.
Luckey, T., & Phillips, J. (2007). Software project management for dummies
Lock, D. (2014). The essentials of project management.
Newton, R. (2013). The project management book.
Young, T. L. (2013). Successful project management.
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