Planning and Monitoring for MITI
Phases of the Project
Inception – a proposal is written based upon a business case or specific need invested with a specific sponsor
Preparation – a description of the cost or virtual benefits of the project as determined by the stakeholder
Business Analysis – a return on investment or total cost of ownership breakdown determining feasibility, appropriate costs and sustainability of the intended outcomes
| Activity | Definition | Activities | Documented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Request | A formalized request to undertake an activity that warrants investment in time and resources taking into account the workload of involved departments. | A Project Request can be made by any stakeholder or set of stakeholders on the basis of established criteria. | Approved or denied project |
| Business Case | Justifying the business need behind the project request in order to ensure that the costs and benefits for all projects are weighed before investment is made. | The Business Need is established. Dependencies are identified. A Cost-Benefit analysis is done. Funding requirements and risks are identified. | Business Case |
| Project Charter | The Project Charter establishes the purpose of the project, and explains what business value it will provide to the organization. The Charter becomes a source of reference for the project team. | The project goal and objectives are determined and success criteria are identified. The required effort is estimated. Assumptions, risks and obstacles are identified. | Project Charter |
| Project Governance | The Advisory group structure determines the priority of the project against all other requests. | Each advisory group member has a completed charter upon which to determine the specifics about each request. | Project Priority List |
| Assign Project Manager | Based upon the stakeholders involved, the scope of the project and resources to be assigned, a project manager is selected from IT. | The project manager selects the members of the project team based upon the divisions required to complete the work. | Project Team List |
| Assign Core Project Team | The project team, including stakeholders and other related advisors, is established through consensus. | Team members could be directly affected or could also have constituents affected by the project outcomes. | Project Inception |
Systems Analysis and Design – a technical architecture plan for settling on viable solutions, probable vendor applications to be acquired, suitable consulting necessary and timelines for delivery
Framework – an installation and implementation plan with continuous milestone evaluation key indicators and systematic review of accomplishments
| Activity | Definition | Activities | Documented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Preparation Meeting | Review the Project Charter statement, set expectations, and articulate any risks that are likely to occur and dispel any doubts that the team may have. | The Project Manager calls for this meeting setting guidelines and articulating expectations from the project team. Project timelines, Project Approach, risks, assumptions, and constraints are discussed. | Minutes of the kick-off meeting |
| Project Plan | Establish an approach to implement the project developing an implementation schema, project policies and standards. Affirming the solution and the method of delivering that solution. Planning activities will be validated. | The various methods in which objectives can be achieved are evaluated and best methods are chosen. Measurable objectives are reviewed and agreed upon. | Project Plan Document |
| Work Breakdown Structure | Divide the project into activities, sub-tasks, and achievables. Estimate the duration of the project and determine the required resources and schedule the work. | Taking the project and breaking it into work fragments enables task assignment and achievables/milestones easily understood. | Work Breakdown structure |
| Time and Cost Estimating | Estimate the time and cost for each task. Delineate resource allocation needs for each task. | Time duration estimates, resource availability and technical capability are determined. | Time, Cost and capability estimates |
| Task Focus Development | Document the tasks to be executed, the assigned responsibility for each, and the appropriate timelines. Dependencies between tasks need to be addressed as well. | Resources are assigned. User acceptance testing is planned. The Project Manager is responsible for closely monitoring progress. | Task Focus |
| Risk Management Strategy Plan | Define all risks, determine responsibility of identifying risks, identify how risks will be monitored, and determine risk escalation strategies. | The risk management process is defined. | Risk Management Strategy |
| Communications Plan | Ensure that all team members, constituents and stakeholders have all available information. | Different types and frequency of communication and targeted groups are determined. | Communication Plan |
| Quality Assurance Plan | Major deliverables are completed and implemented with a user-acceptable level of quality. Outcomes meet stakeholders' requirements. | User Acceptance criteria are defined. UAT plans are reviewed for completeness and accuracy. | User Acceptance Testing and Signoff |
| Operational Plan | Bringing a project to fruition through a carefully planned series of transitions from the "project" to the "production" stage. | Defining steps to ensuring smooth transitions and communicated alterations in processing and procedures. | Going Live Plan |
| Vendor Project Plan | The objective of this activity is to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated with associated vendors. | All the plans have considered all relevant factors. | Vendor Integration |
| Activity | Purpose | Highlights | Outputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Risk | The entire team identifies risks for the project. This ensures that all perspectives are taken into account while planning for risks. | Risks identified, categorized and assess likelihood of occurrence and its effect on project objectives. | Risk matrix |
| Team Readiness | The objective of this activity is to ensure that individuals assigned to a project are provided the requisite training in order to perform the job and that key goals and responsibilities are identified for the team members at the start of the project. | Training needs identified need to be met. Team members identify key goals at the start of the project. | Key goals for each team member |
| Progress Tracking | Ensure that the team is making satisfactory progress toward the objectives. Track cost, time, scope, quality and actual accomplishments. | Team meetings are held and information exchanged. Weekly progress reports are shared with relevant stakeholders. | Weekly Reports |
| Schedule Control | Deadlines are measured against actual accomplishments. Schedule delays are explained to relevant stakeholders. | Project Manager exchanges task status information and incorporates into the project implementation plan. All changes are communicated. | Implementation Plan |
| Change Control | All changes to scope are documented and authorized by the relevant stakeholders. | The Project Manager analyzes the change request and the advisory governance structure approves/denies the request. | Approved or denied Change Request Form |
Consolidation – an assessment of the functionality of the solution in congruence with other associated applications incorporate to the services supplied
Adoption – a collection of service level agreements, user acceptance testing, deployment checklists and signoff documents signifying stakeholder agreement that outcomes were reached successfully
Closure – a debriefing of the project management process for the individual item reviewing lessons learned, alterations made to initial goals and objectives, unexpected obstacles and unanticipated benefits
| Activity | Purpose | Highlights | Outputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transition to Production | User acceptance testing has succeeded and stakeholders agree on finished product. All outcomes have been accomplished. | All planned testing is done, all requirements met and the product is fully operational. The stakeholder accepts the finished product. | Customer Sign-off |
| Lessons Learned Meeting | Lessons Learned are captured and issues analyzed. | Problems faced during project execution are discussed. Solutions to such problems and Lessons Learned are suggested. | Lessons Learned Document |
| Administrative Closure | The Project is approved, accepted and closed. | The project is approved and accepted by stakeholders. All documentation and records are reviewed, organized and archived. Resources are released and the project is closed. |
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