Project Definition Guidelines

Once you have built the case for your project though the Project Justification process
you need to define your project in detail. The purpose of the project justification stage is
to establish the need for the project and present a compelling argument to the decision
makers so that they could decide whether to go ahead with the project or not. The
purpose of the project definition stage is to define the overall boundary of the project
functionally and technologically that would help in the design, development,
implementation and evaluation of the proposed system. Following guidelines would help
you develop exhaustive project definition. Note: This utilizes following project
management model:
Project
Management
Model

Define The
Project

Project
Justiofication

Plan The
Project

Manage The
Project

Project
Definition

The project definition justification relies extensively on the information collected during
the project justification stage. That is why it is important that the customer interviews
conducted during the justification stage should be quite thorough.

Step 1: (Last step of Justification Stage) Based upon the analysis of

alternatives recommend the best possible solution

Recommend the alternative that:

o

Has the best value based upon the feature-benefit analysis and risk analysis

Is aligned with department/organizations vision, objectives and measurables

Fits within the enterprise-wide IT strategy and business plan

Provide an impact statement that outlines the advantages and disadvantages of

implementing or not implementing the solution including the cost, both the
development cost and opportunity cost of not implementing the solution

Step 2: Define Project Scope

The project description that should include details about:

o

The goals and objectives

It should be able to address the purpose of the project why are we undertaking
this project?

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Project Definition Guidelines

The projects business goals specify the impact of the project on the overall
corporate objectives and strategies.
o

Strategic alignment within the organizations

Why it is needed now?

Budgetary impact, efficiency improvements

Fit within overall IT strategy

Business function improvements

Impact on competitive advantages of the organization

End-User Description
o

Who are the customers of the system?

Who are the users of the systems?

Who are the beneficiaries of the system?

What impact would the system have on their job?

What the project would include and what it would not include?

Describe the requirements and Features or the FURPS for the system:
o

Functionality: detail the feature set and capabilities

What are the functions of the proposed system?

How general are they?

Are they business related or technology related?

What are the security implications?

Usability: Consider the user interface for the system

What human factors are impacted by the systems

Detail the aesthetics of the look-&-feel

Address the consistency of features

What are the documentation needs of the system?

Reliability: Details about the systems that address:

Failure frequency and severity

Output Accuracy and Frequency

Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)

Failure recovery

Program predictability

Performance: What are the performance related expectations of the system?

Speed

Response time

Resource consumption

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Project Definition Guidelines

Efficiency

Supportability: What are the support-related expectations and criteria for the
system?

Maintainability: extensibility, adaptability, serviceability

Testability

Compatibility

Configurability

Ease of installation

Ease of problem localization

Identify the staffing needs for the design, development and implementation of the
system.
o

Skill sets

Experience

Availability

Technology Requirements including HW and SW

o

Internally available

To be acquired externally

Dependencies and Interfaces

o

Internal dependencies and interfaces

External dependencies and interfaces

Step 2: Deliverables and Milestones

What would be the final deliverable of the project?

What are various milestones that need to be reached in order to give the final
deliverable?

What are various deliverables associated with these milestones?

How will all deliverables be quantified and measured?

Who would evaluate and certify or sign off on deliverables?

What are the project start and end dates?

What other conditions impact the project execution and implementation?

Step 2: Evaluation and Validation of the Project

Cost Benefit Analysis: This is the financial scope of the project

o

State various types of costs associated with the project

Describe benefits of the project

Perform cost-benefit analysis and total value of the project

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Project Definition Guidelines

What are the risks associated with the project?

o

Risk of doing the project

Risk of not doing the project

Controllable and uncontrollable risks

Risk mitigation strategy

Project Approval
o

Validate the project objectives by involving all affected parties including systems
people, development team, business users, upper management

Get approval for the project objectives and scope

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