Chapter 3Project Initiation

The stages of a project

Project concept Project proposal request Project proposal Project green light Project definition Project approval Project kick-off Project plan Project approach

Project Concept

The idea or the reason• Problem statement

It may contain the following• Business cases• Benefits• Description of a problem or solutions to a problem• Initial estimate

The project concept can be the result of a special meeting, a initial research, etc

Project Concept -- The initial cost estimation

To reach a figure for the initial estimation, you may have to consider the following• Total number of hours and cost per hour

The size of the team• Cost of management and supporting staff• H/W and S/W costs• QA costs• Consulting or contractor costs• Deployment delivery, and manufacturing costs• Advertising and marketing costs• Cost of producing this estimation• Others (such as kick-off) meeting and final party

Project Proposal

RFQ (request for quotation)• Request for an exact quote for a specific service or S/W

or H/W item RFI (Request for information)

• To garner information before sending a RFP• Verify assumptions and certain requirements• Solicit resumes and team compositions (legal issues)• Other basic communications

RFP (request for proposal)• This is a big one

Request for Proposal (RFP) It consists of the following:

• Introduction• Executive Summary

include a summary of the requesters company and market space. • Purpose

a description of the project, the problem and the proposed solution that the requester needs to achieve.

• Key Business and Technical Requirements include the key business and technical requirements.

• Proposed Project Phases and Milestones include a high level description of project phases (if applicable) and milestones.

• Quality Assurance Requirements include any and all quality assurance requirements including processes, procedures, and

methodologies. • Budget

detail the budget that has been established to complete the project. . • Schedule of Events

include a schedule of events with timelines for the proposal through awarding of contract to vendor

• Proposal Template indicate whether a proposal document template is included and any instructions for

completing it.

The Proposal Introduction Executive Summary

• include a brief history of the company together with some high level financial information

Corporate and Cultural Information• contain additional information about your company and the technical

department(s) that will be involved in the project. It should include a corporate overview and some information about the company culture

Previous Projects and Clients• contain descriptions of previous clients and projects that were similar to the

project the client is proposing or that will demonstrate your organization's expertise and experience in project management and development

Client References• list some of your clients who have agreed to give references

Development Methodologies and Process • include an overview of the project lifecycle, and the documentation that is

produced during each phase. It should also include information about processes and procedures for such things as configuration management, quality management, source control, security, and any other standard processes used during the development of projects

The Proposal Quality Assurance and Testing Processes and Procedures

• Quality assurance processes, procedures and methodologies should be outlined together with an overview of the documentation produced at each step of the lifecycle. There may be testing outside of the quality assurance team that also needs to be accomplished

Development Environment• include a brief description of the development environment such as operating

system, design packages, programming software, unit test software etc Assumptions

• contain both organizational assumptions and technical assumptions. Organizational assumptions include such things as, the expectations the vendor has

from the client as far as involvement in the project; client responsibilities such as testing or documentation; client representatives for the project (project manager, for example).

Technical assumptions will include items such as, client's existing hardware, systems and software that will be used for the project; specific technology will be used in the development of the product; consultants will be engaged for specific areas of development requiring specialized knowledge or skill sets.

The Problem• This section will include a brief description of the problem. This can be taken

directly from the RFP or can be elicited from the client via phone conversations or meetings.

The Proposal Proposed Solution (s)

• include details of the proposed solution or solutions, or alternatives Constraints, Limitations, and Risks

• Note any known constraints, limitations, or risks. This can include things such as the timeline for the starting the project. You may need to complete another project before you would be available to work on this one. Any limitations that you company has with regard to technology, knowledge and skill sets should be identified together with a proposal for how you would manage them should you be awarded the project. Risks are things that are obvious to you based on the information that the client has already furnished

Proposed Project Phases• The project may need to be developed and delivered in phases either

because the client has requested it in the RFP or because you feel that the size and/or complexity of the project warrants it.

Milestones and Deliverables• include high level project milestones and deliverables. At this early stage of

the planning phase, the milestones may be confined to approximate dates for completion of specific documents and a high level timeline for when each of the subsequent lifecycle phases will be concluded

The Proposal The Proposed Project Team

• include the specific roles/positions needed together with some high level qualifications and skill sets. Individuals do not need to be identified yet

Costs and Payment Details • contain high level estimates based on the initial estimates that were created

during the concept phase or the budget information contained in the RFP Terms and Conditions

• include some legal jargon that will most likely be supplied by your legal department. It will contain some disclaimers related the accuracy of the information contained herein, together with contractual requirements for the approval to move forward with the project.

Proposal Submission and Questions • include the contact information of the proposal preparer, the date and time

that the proposal was submitted, and the method of delivery. It will also include any questions the preparer has about anything in the RFP that was not clear

Proposal Acceptance and Approval• By signing this document, everyone involved is in agreement that the

proposal document is accurate and complete and is approved to move forward

Cost of proposal

For large systems, the project proposal can cost a lot if details are required• Sometime the client will pay certain amount

Green light

The project can move to next stage The initial $ is in place However, we may start at different stages

(chapter 4)

Different Types of … Project

• Internal versus external• Desktop versus internet (web based)

Nothing but Web

• Software versus hardware Stakeholders

• People/group/organization who are involved, or have an interest in, the project or the outcome of the project End user/Payer/Payee/The marketing people/The support people

Resources• People/Equipment/Time/Money