Project Management individual project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Project Management individual project - Essay Example ...........................Page 14 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..........................................................Page 15 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...........................................................Page 17 Introduction The objective of this Report is to explain how industry-standard Project Management tools will be used to ensure that a conversion of the Company’s network of Personal Computers will have their operating systems upgraded from Windows XP (presumably the Enterprise Edition) to Windows 7 (also presumably the Enterprise edition). The main work products from this exercise will be to enable:- a) Planning and monitoring the upgrade. b) Ensuring minimum inconvenience to the staff and clients of the Company. c) Dealing with any issues or problems that arise. d) Acquire any relevant knowledge that will be useful for future w ork. This will include, for example, the project duration, the project cost, the problem areas, and the successful areas. This information will be particular relevance when planning future upgrade project, such as form Windows 7 to Windows 8, for example. Much of the material cited below, where it has not been specifically referenced has come from the consensus of practical industry project management experience, for which specific sources cannot be cited, if many cases some years after the event. However, one work that has been most useful is Meredith & Mantel [Project Management : A Managerial Approach, Jack R. Meredith & Samuel J. Mantel Jr., Third Edition , John Wiley & Sons, 1995, ISBN 0-471-01626-8]. This has been extensively quoted from, and the specific references are given where appropriate. Prescribed Project Management Tools a) Gantt Chart These charts, although they have been in use for many years (since 1917!), are still a key tool in managing a project. They are intend ed, in an easy-to-read form, to show both planned and actual progress towards the goals of the project, This is done through a vertical list of tasks that have to be done in order to complete the project, with the horizontal axis showing the expected timescale of the project. Gantt charts are at their most useful when they permit the expedition, sequencing and allocation of resources amongst the component tasks of the project, in addition to showing current progress (or, most commonly, the lack thereof!) of the project. The Gantt chart notation also includes the relevant symbols for designating those aspects of the project that are of most concern for the situation that is being charted. An example form the case under consideration would be the allocation of Windows-trained staff and when they will need to complete the upgrade to each of the Company’s offices. The main advantages to using Gantt charts are that, firstly, although they may contain a large amount of information, they are easy to understand. Secondly, while such charts require frequently require updating (a fairly simple process these days with tools such as Microsoft project and others like it) the maintenance process is relatively easy, providing that the tasks to be performed stay the same(!). This is a classic example of changing requirements wrecking a project(!!). The way to get around this problem in the example under consideration, will be as with all IT-related projects, to adopt a ‘bite and hold’ approach, implementing the upgrade in a series of relatively small