MBA Semester 2

MB0049 – Project Management

Assignment Set – 1

Q. No 1. Explain briefly the life cycle of a project.

Answer: In life cycle of a project, firstly information is collected from the customer pertaining to the
project and the requirements are analyzed. The entire project has to be planned and it should be
done in a strategic manner. The project manager conducts t he analysis of the problem and submits
a detailed report to the top project justification, details on what the problem is a method of solving
the problem, list of the objectives to be achieved, project budget and the success rate of
completing the project. The report must also contain information and the project feasibility, and the
risks involved in the project.

The important tasks of life cycle of a project are as follows :

Specification Requirements Analysis (SRA): It has to be conducted to determine th e essential

requirements of a project in order to achieve the target.

Feasibility study: To analyze whether the project is technically, economically and practically feasible
to be undertaken.

Trade off analysis: To understand and examine the various alte rnatives, which could be considered.

Estimation: To estimate the project cost, effort requires for the project and functionality of various
processes in the project.

System design: Choose a general design that can fulfill the requirements.

Project evolution: Evaluate the project in terms of expected profit, cost and risks involved marketing
phase.

A project proposal is prepared by a group of people including the project manager. This proposal
has to contain the strategies adopted to market the product t o the customers.

Design phase: This phase involves the study of inputs and outputs of the various project stages.

Execution phase: In this phase the project manager and the teams members work on the project
objectives as per the plan. At every stage duri ng the execution reports are prepared.

Control – Inspecting, Testing and Delivery phase during this phase. The project team works under the
guidance of the project manager. The project manager has to ensure that the team working under
his, implements the project designs accurately, the project manager has to ensure ways of
managing the customer, perform quality control work.

Closure and post completion analysis phase upon satisfactory completion and delivery of the
intended product or service the staff pe rformance has to be evaluated. Document the lessons from
the project. Prepare the reports on project feedback analysis followed by the project execution
report.

The phase which involve in the above are:

The preparation stage involves the preparation and approval of project outline, project plan and
project budget.

The next stage involves selecting and briefing the project team about the proposals followed by
discussions on the roles and responsibility of the project member and the organization.

The project management life cycle:

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A Life cycle of a project consists of the following:

Understanding the scope of the project

Establishing objectives of the project
Formulating and planning various activities
Project execution and
Monitor and control the p roject resources

Q.No 2. Examine the Tools used in project planning.

Answer: There are several planning tools which may prove useful for coordinating a project
successfully. In this section we will discuss each of these tools.

Project Organisation:

A project organisation consists of five process groups namely Initiation, Planning, Execution, Control
and Close. Each process groups requires a set of skills and activities as shown in table

Process Skills and Activities

Initiation· Preparing an outline project justification, plan and project budget
Planning · Creating project definition and project plan
· Communicating to the team
Execution · Allocating and monitoring the work and cost
· Ensuring work and team cohesion
· Reporting progress
Control · Monitoring progress and managing changes
· Helping the team to solve project problems

Close · Satisfactory delivery

· Compiling lessons from project experience

Project Structure

Project structure consists of development plan, proje ct tracking and oversight. Figure shows the
development plan of a typical software project

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Project Key personnel

It is crucial to identify those business areas that are within the scope or directly interface with the
scope boundary. These areas are l isted in the “Business area” column of the project assignment
worksheet. The key personnel for each area should be identified and subsequently listed in the
“Person” column of the project assignment worksheet.

Project management team

A senior management team will be accountable for the project. They identify project sponsor, client
representative and technical representative. A project management team consists of the following
roles:

· Stage managers who will plan and manage the project on a day -to-day basis for this stage

· Project coordinators such as client coordinator and technical coordinator who will clearly define
this coordination, control activities and identify the suitable personnel to carry them out.

Key stakeholders

It is important to identify management level personnel who are critical to the success of the project.
The responsibilities of the key stakeholders must be documented.

Stage teams

For each stage of project management life cycle, appropriate personnel should be identified. Aft er
allocation of staff to the stage, the team structure is defined and team leaders appointed. It is
important to document the time commitment and responsibilities to be performed by the team
members

Key resources

Individuals assigned to a key resource r ole may work towards gathering “Business key resources” and
“Technical key resources”. They are project coordinators and team invitees.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The entire process of a project may be considered to be made up on number of sub proce ss
placed in different stage called the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

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Q. No 3. Describe the various steps involved in monitoring and controlling a project.
Answer: Any project aimed at delivering a product or a service has to go through phases in a
planned manner in order to meet the requirements. It only by careful monitoring of the project
progress. It required establishing control factors to keep the project on the track of progress. The
results of any stage in a project depend on the inputs to t hat stage. It is therefore necessary to
control all the inputs and the corresponding outputs from a stage. A project management may use
certain standard trolls to keep the project on track. The project manager and the team members
should be fully aware of the techniques and methods to rectify the factors influencing delay of the
project and its product. The methodology of PERT (programmer Evolution Review Technique) and
CPM (critical path method) may be used to analyze the project. In the PERT method one ca r find
out the variance and use the variance to analyze the various probabilistic estimates pertaining to
the project. Using the CPM one can estimate the start time and the finish time for every event of the
project in its WBS (work Breakdown Structure).

The analysis charts can be used to monitor, control, track and execute a project. Typical PERT/ CPM
exercise of a project is worked out at the end of this sub unit - 9.2. The various steps involved in
monitoring and controlling a project from start to end a re as follows-

1. Preliminary work- the team members understand the project plans, project stage schedule,
progress controls, tracking the duels. Summary of the members has to understand the tolerances in
any change and maintain a change control log. The y must realize the need and importance of
quality for which they have to follow strictly quality agendas. They must understand the stage status
reposes, stage and reports, stage end approval reports.

2. Project progress- The members must keep a track of t he project progress and communication the
same to other related members of the project. They must monitor and control project progress,
through the use of regular check points, quality charts. Statistical tables, control the quality factors
which are likely to deviate from expected values as any deviation may result in change to the stage
she duel

3. Stage control- The manager must establish a project check paint cycle. For this suitable stage
version control procedure may be followed.

4. Resources- Plan the resources required for various stage of the project. Brief both the project team
and the key resources about the objectives of every stage, planned activities, products,
organization. Metrics and project controls.

5. Quality control- This is very important in any project: Quality control is possible if the project
member’s follow-schedule quality review, Agenda for quality review, conduct quality review and
follow up.

6. Progress control - It is the main part at assessment -

Progress control assesses - monitor performance, update schedule, update casts, Re -plan stage
schedule, conduct team status review etc.

Along with we create status report, create flash reports, project status reports etc.

7. Approvals - lastly, project sage reviews and the decision s taken and actions planned need to be
approved by the top management. The goals of such review are to improve quality by finding
defects and to improve productivity by finding defects in a cost -effective manner. The group review
progress includes several stage like planning, preparation and overview, a group review meeting
and rework recommendation and follow -up.

Q. No.4: Explain the term ‘knowledge factor’.

Answer: Knowledge Factor (K)

Knowledge is the most powerful mover of the wheels of progress. K f actor is an index of the extent to
which one can manage today with yesterday’s knowledge content and also the extent to which

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today’s knowledge will be used tomorrow. This would render the development process more
productive.
With the opportunities for ju niors to access information from new knowledge bases, seniority is no
more an automated scale for knowledge. It is important for leaders to recognise the knowledge
potential of the younger members. It is equally important for younger members not to suppres s their
knowledge potential from its application. Knowledge can be lost if it is not updated and utilised. It is
the task of every team member to maximise the K -factor in all directions.

Every organisation must change to survive in a world of cutthroat co mpetition, constant

technological progress, and rapid communication. But the change becomes effective and
beneficial only if it is be driven by knowledge.
Organisational change can be defined as a set of actions resulting in a shift in direction, attitude or
process that affects the way an organisation functions. It can either be an intentional shift as
planned by leaders within the organisation or an involuntary reaction to outside situations beyond its
control.
Change may affect the strategies an organisa tion uses to carry out its mission, the processes for
implementing those strategies, the tasks and functions performed by the people in the organisation,
and the relationships between those people. Naturally, some changes are relatively small, while
others are sweeping in scope, amounting to an organisational transformation.
Change is a fact of organisational life, just as it is in human life. An organisation that does not
change cannot survive long – much less thrive – in an unpredictable world. Several fa ctors may
create the need for an organisational change, including new competition in the marketplace or
new demands by customers. These types of external forces may create expectations of improved
efficiency, better service, or innovative products.
When organisational change is well planned and implemented, it helps ensure the organisation’s
continued survival. It can produce many tangible benefits, including improved competitiveness,
better financial performance, and higher levels of customer and employee satisfaction.
These benefits may take some time to achieve, however, and the transition period that
accompanies major organisational change usually is a time of upheaval and uncertainty.
Not every individual in the organisation will benefit personally fr om change; some will be casualties
of change, especially if jobs are cut or realigned. But change should make the organisation as a
whole stronger and better equipped for the future.
Organisations will have structures, hierarchies, functions, communication patterns, decision centre,
and most importantly cultures, which define them and make them unique. The organisational
members have to implement changed practices for several reasons.
However, this change process must be managed. An unmanaged change initiat ive can produce
accidental and damaging effects such as:
· poor morale
· loss of trust in management
· workplace jealousy
· lower productivity
Hence, orchestrating the change process is very crucial

Q. No.5: What roles do cross functional teams play fo r project efficiency? Explain with examples.
Answer: It has been found to be useful to have CFTs – Cross Functional Teams for each project who
will be in charge of each project. The strategies to improve the performance can be split into
internal and external project management strategies. They are as below:

Internal Project Management Strategies

Projects fail for many internal reasons, some of them technical, some of them managerial. However,
even the technical failures can often be traced back to a fa ilure on the part of the project’s
executive management to recognise and deal with these inherent managerial risks. The project
manager has a vital role to play in achieving project success and should therefore insist on the
following:

· Executive Support : The executive must clearly demonstrate support for the project management
concept by active sponsorship and control.

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· Competence: The project manager and his team members must be competent. Other functional
personnel assigned to the project must also b e competent.

· Project Team: The project manager should have a say in the assembly of his project team, which
will help him to obtain their personal commitment, support and required quality of service.
· Management Information Systems: Effective project management information and control systems
must be in place.
External Project Management Strategies

On some projects, events external to the project sometimes come as a surprise to the project
manager and his team and are therefore seen as obstacles to pro gress. However, as noted earlier,
projects generally exist only because of that external environment and so it is essential for the
project team to recognise that they must also be responsive to it.
Clearly, the environment will not be the same for every p roject. In fact, it is likely to be determined
principally by three considerations, namely:
· The product or service resulting from the project
· The technology and the manner of its application, and
· Its physical location
To identify potential difficulti es stemming from the project’s stakeholders, to assess their probability of
occurrence, and to try to head them off in advance, the project team must learn to interact
frequently with those individuals and institutions which constitute the most important e lements of the
project’s external environment. Together with the project’s sponsors, owners and users, these people
constitute the project’s direct and indirect stakeholders. Strategies for managing external
environment can be as below:
· Developing a Sound Stakeholder Environment
· Stakeholder Groupings
· Project Public Relations

Q. No 6. Do core groups enhance the performance of projects?

Answer: An office is a small group of people which coordinates various activities responsible for an
enterprise for controlling at least one or more functions. It deals with the external environment with
authority for allocating contracts and controlling all aspects of its execution. Most importantly, it is
headed by one manager who directs controls and is responsible f or the working of the office and its
members. This is shown in figure 5.1.
The role of the Project Management Office is considered to have two layers
· One layer renders traditional project management services for an entire organisation and
· Second layer functions as a governing committee for all projects throughout the organisation.
The PMO strives to standardise and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects.
The PMO is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the pract ice of project
management and execution. Organisations around the globe are defining, borrowing and
collecting best practices in process and project management and are increasingly assigning the
PMO to exert overall influence and evolution of thought to co ntinual organisational improvement.

Improvement of Performance
It is very easy for projects to go astray, because most of the activities are not repeated. Often 90% of
projects do not meet time/cost/quality targets. Only 9% of large, 16% of medium and 28% of small
company projects were completed on time, within budget and delivered measurable business and
stakeholder benefits. [Standish Group Chaos Report, 1995] There are many reasons for such failures.
As per a KPMG survey of 252 organisations, technology is not the most critical factor. Inadequate
project management implementation constitutes 32% of project failures, lack of communication
constitutes 20% and unfamiliarity with scope and complexity constitutes 17%. Accordingly 69% of
project failures are due to lack and/or improper implementation of project management
methodologies.
Learning will have to take place on the first place. This is where the competent Project Manager
becomes important. When recruiting and building an effective team, the manager m ust consider
not only the technical skills of each person, but also the critical roles and chemistry between workers.
Instructions have to be clear and the progress kept in constant purview with reference to the
milestones. A project manager is often a cli ent representative and has to determine and implement
the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to

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adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the
nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and
above all, client satisfaction, can be realised. As a governing committee, it has to make continuous
reviews of performance of the projects. The PMO must creat e and maintain the ability of the project
manager to remain focused on the client’s requirements and meet them. PMO must have the
necessary tools to that effect. Now let us look at the ways we can have significant improvement in
the performance.

MBA Semester 2
MB0049 – Project Management
Assignment Set – 2

Q. No. 1. Examine briefly the seven steps of performance management of projects.

Answer: It is very easy for projects to go astray, because most of the activities are not repeated.
Often 90% of projects do not meet time/cost/quality targets. Only 9% of large, 16% of medium and
28% of small company projects were completed on time, within budget and delivered measurable
business and stakeholder benefits. There are many reasons for such failures. As per a KPMG survey o f
252 organisations, technology is not the most critical factor. Inadequate project management
implementation constitutes 32% of project failures, lack of communication constitutes 20% and
unfamiliarity with scope and complexity constitutes 17%. Accordingl y 69% of project failures are due
to lack and/or improper implementation of project management methodologies.

A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact
needs of the client, based on knowledge of the fi rm they are representing. The ability to adapt to
the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated
representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, clien t
satisfaction, can be realised. As a governing committee, it has to make continuous reviews of
performance of the projects. The PMO must create and maintain the ability of the project manager
to remain focused on the client’s requirements and meet them. P MO must have the necessary tools
to that effect. Now let us look at the ways we can have significant improvement in the
performance.

Reviews and their purpose

Reviewing and monitoring the work at every stage of the project is very important. This helps i s
detecting early errors and helps in tackling any adversity well in advance. This also ensures that the
project is on track and lastly that same can be used for member recognition for good work. The
reviews are generally divided into four types, which are conducted at different stages of the project.

Types of reviews

A project review is a process where we capture information from the team experience and see the
variances and deviations from the plan. These reviews help in increasing productivity and imp roving
organisational success. They also help the project manager and team to plan for any uncertainty
well in advance. Each of these reviews is conducted after each important phase of a project
management life cycle. Initiation review is conducted after t he project initiation. Planning review is
conducted after planning phase. Project review is conducted after the project execution phase
and quality assurance review is conducted after the warranty phase of the project.
Depending on the manager’s ability, t he reviews can be made more meaningful. Performance
improvement starts with commitment to an agreed plan. The reviews are meant to keep the
activities according to the plan. The purpose of them can be stated as:

· Finding out the feasibility of the projec t and helping management team to take a decision based
on this initial review.

· Checking if all the necessary activities were done before presenting a customer the proposal or
solution.

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· Checking if all the formal agreements and procedures were formall y accepted and reviewed
between the customer and the project delivery organisation.

· Finding out the deviation and allowing elbow room for changes in the action plan for
improvement.

Thus, you learned the importance of reviews in increasing the performa nce and improving the
productivity of the team members.

Internal Project Management Strategies

Projects fail for many internal reasons, some of them technical, some of them managerial. However,
even the technical failures can often be traced back to a fa ilure on the part of the project’s
executive management to recognise and deal with these inherent managerial risks. The project
manager has a vital role to play in achieving project success and should therefore insist on the
following:

External Project Ma nagement Strategies

On some projects, events external to the project sometimes come as a surprise to the project
manager and his team and are therefore seen as obstacles to progress. However, as noted earlier,
projects generally exist only because of that external environment and so it is essential for the
project team to recognise that they must also be responsive to it.

Q. No. 2. Is substitution necessary?

Answer: Technology Substitution
Technology substitution is based on the fact that several alternate t echnological routes exist to
create a particular device. These alternate routes are normally hidden behind the commonly known
processes, in different forms. Identification of these hidden technologies will open up opportunities
for technology substitution.
Some of the examples of technology substitution are in the fields of Aerospace, Automobile, Water
storage dams, among others.
Here let us study two examples from the aerospace industry. This is to give you enough insight to
think out of the box and come up with concepts, which can change the trend.
In recent years, in aerospace industry, because of the versatility of software programmes which can
be written to simulate a variety of operating conditions, a great amount of work is going on – both in
terms of variety and depth. Hence it was essential to look for better substitution. This resulted in the
following.

a) Substitution of experimentation: Tests are conducted to certify the performance parameters of

Aerospace Systems Wind tunnels. In this process, wind is allowed to blow at speed which the aircraft
is expected to fly and simulation is conducted for the aircraft engine, wings, tails and other parts.
Readings are recorded and analysed.
Now with the use of computer systems this costly and lengthy pro cedure can be substituted by
Computational Fluid Dynamics. The flight testing can be greatly reduced by the use of digital and
hardware – in – loop simulation. This has resulted in significant savings and reduction in simulation
time.

b) Substitution or enhancement of Hardware with Software: This concept has gained significant
attention and a lot of research in past decade. Complex software is programmed on hardware for
effective functionality.
For example, in the case of an Inertial Navigation System, th e Gyro Stabilised Platforms can be
replaced by the strap down systems using On -Board computer and software improving the
accuracy of navigation systems.
In the same way, a wide variety of subsystems for commercial and industrial uses have been
devised. It is well known that many of them find military applications and are made especially for
them. However, these are superior to those used for industrial purposes for obvious reasons. With

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some minor improvements they can be used for superior performance, when such requirement can
bear a little higher cost.

Q. No. 3. In what ways can an ERP package be utilized? Explain.

Answer: The single most decisive element of ERP success or failure is the knowledge, skills, abilities,
and experience of the project manager. An ERP project manager must understand both the
business and the technology. To avoid customization, businesses frequently change their business
processes to fit the new software. An ERP project manager must understand the impact of the ERP
implementation on the business, and work with business managers to ensure a smooth transition from
the "as is" to the "to be" business operating environment.

A project manager must be flexible enough to roll with the changes as the project progresses, and
not lose it when unpleasant surprises pop up as they always do during ERP implementations. They
must be able to work with nearly every individual in the organization, from the most technical IT
staffer or plant engineer, to the mailroom and building maintenance staff. Th ey must also possess the
ability to learn extremely fast, because they will need to understand business issues in areas of the
organization with which they are unfamiliar.

I would suggest that there are several points, which need to be considered.

The first of these is how committed to the process are you and your senior management team? If
there is not a clear and vocal commitment of support to the implementation it will fail. This
implementation will cause and necessitate significant change for your o rganization and the
management must be firm and resolute in ridding out the rough seas, which will come.

Second, do not just pick a package because it looks good, the literature says it is the best and the
sales people do an excellent job in their presen tation. Assemble a team of key users and key IT
personnel and investigate a broad range of alternatives. Demand references. Talk to customers. Use
contacts available from sources. Your objective is to find a set of packages that are best suited to
your primary business model i.e. manufacturing, finance, etc. Not all packages are created equal
and all have their strengths and weaknesses. Finally create a short list of perhaps three candidates
and do a more in -depth evaluation including a desktop pilot using your data, your business
practices and a broader set of your own personnel for the evaluation.

Once you have selected a package, reset and build a team of functional users and IT professionals.
It should be a team of individuals whom you can least afford to commit to the full -time
implementation effort, because they are the individuals who are best understand your business and
have the credibility with everyone. This team must be lead by a strong and confident functional user,
having a broad set of busine ss experiences and sufficient authority in the organization. This individual
should look to form his team around the several modules within the package. This team must
immerse themselves in learning the nuances of the software and they should form user gro ups within
their functon throughout the company to begin the process of mapping out the businesses
processes and practices and matching them to the software processes and practices. (And when
there is a difference, strongly consider adopting the process an d practices inherent in the software.
They are proven, it is very difficult to make changes in the software and if you are as systems poor as
you indicate your processes are likely in need of update.)

Q. No. 4. How is a risk analysis done?

Answer: Risk Analysis
The first step in risk analysis is to make each risk item more specific. Risks such as, “Lack of
management buy-in,” and “people might leave,” are a little ambiguous. In these cases the group
might decide to split the risk into smaller specific risks, such as, “manager decides that the project is
not beneficial,” “Database expert might leave,” and “Webmaster might get pulled off the project.”
The next step is to set priorities and determine where to focus risk mitigation efforts. Some of the
identified risks are unlikely to occur, and others might not be serious enough to worry about. Pareto’s
law studied earlier applies here.
During the analysis, discuss with the team members each risk item to understand how devastating it
would be if it did occur, and how likely it is to occur. This way you can gauge the probability of

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occurrence and the impact created. You can form a matrix based on the likeliness of occurrence
and the impact created as shown in table 11.2. For example, if you had a risk of a k ey person
leaving, you might decide that it would have a large impact on the project, but that it is not very
likely.

In the process, we make the group agree on how likely it thinks each risk item is to occur, using a
simple scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely). The group then rates how
serious the impact would be if the risk did occur, using a simple scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is little
impact and 10 is very large). To use this numbering scheme, first pick out the item s that rate 1 and
10, respectively. Then rate the other items relative to these boundaries.
To determine the priority of each risk item, calculate the product of the two values, likelihood and
impact. This priority scheme helps push the big risks to the t op of the list, and the small risks to the
bottom. It is a usual practice to analyse risk either by sensitivity analysis or by probabilistic analysis.

Quantitative risk analysis

· Sensitivity Analysis: In sensitivity analysis, a study is done to an alyse the changes in the variable
values because of a change in one or more of the decision criteria.
· Probabilistic Analysis: In the probability analysis, the frequency of a particular event occurring is
determined, based on which its average weighted av erage value is calculated. Each outcome of
an event resulting in a risk situation in a risk analysis process is expressed as a probability.
Risk analysis can be performed by calculating the expected value of each alternative and selecting
the best alternative. Now that the group has assigned a priority to each risk, it is ready to select the
items to manage. Some projects select a subset to take action upon, while others choose to work on
all of the items.

Q. No. 5. Why is support software required in p roject management process? Explain some of them.
Answer: Support software supports several business processes and improves automation and
employee level productivity. You would have a fair idea of how and to what extent project
management processes could be automated. However, the challenge of “making things work”
remains unchanged. While software vendors are confident of “making it work”, two yawning gaps
still remain:

1. Business processes which are not covered in such software

2. Integration of multi vendor supported software applications

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The enterprise is normally in a dilemma – whether to look at the same vendors to support such
customisation or not. This normally works out too expensive for their comfort or within their tight
budgets.
Several software vendors have seized the opportunity with offerings that substantially fill these gaps
effectively at a fraction of the costs quoted by the major vendors. The other carrot, which these
vendors offer, is a unilateral transfer of the facility to customis e themselves, which is seen as a huge
advantage. The various support software that may be used for managing projects are:

1. ARROW
2. FEDORA
3. VITAL
4. PILIN
5. MS EXCHANGE SERVER 2003

ARROW Project

It is a consortium of institutional repository soluti on, combining open source and proprietary Software

Why Arrow?

Arrow is preferred support software because it:

· Provides a platform for promoting research output in the ARROW context

· Safeguards digital information
· Gathers an institution’s research output into one place
· Provides consistent ways of finding similar objects
· Allows information to be preserved over the long term
· Allows information from many repositories to be gathered and searched in one step
· Enables resources to be shared, while respecting access constraints
· Enables effective communication and collaboration between researchers

The vision of project ARROW: “The ARROW project will identify and test software or solutions to
support best practice institutional digital repositorie s comprising e-prints, digital theses and electronic
publishing.”

What did the ARROW project set out to achieve? ARROW project wanted to be a solution for storing
any digital output. Their initial focus was on print equivalents such as thesis and journal articles
among others. It provided solution that could offer on -going technical support and development
past the end of the funding period of the project.
What is ARROW now? It’s in a development stage combining Open Source and proprietary software
such as Fedora, VITAL, Open Journal Services (OJS). It is not a centralised or hosting solution. Every
member has their own hardware and software.

Why Fedora?

ARROW wanted a robust, well architect underlying platform and a flexible object -oriented data
model to be able to have persistent identifiers down to the level of individual data streams. It
accommodates the content model to be able to be version independent.
Since the beginning of the project ARROW has worked actively and closely with Fedora and the
Fedora Community. The ARROW project’s Technical Architect is a member of Fedora Advisory Board
and sits on Fedora Development Group.
This association is reinforced by VTLS Inc. VTLS President is a member of Fedora Advisory Board and
VITAL Lead Developer sits on Fedora Development Group.

Why VITAL?

VITAL refers to ARROW specified software created and fully supported by VTLS Inc. built on top of
Fedora. It currently provides:
1. VITAL Manager
2. VITAL Portal

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3. VITAL Access Portal
4. VALET – Web Self-Submission Tool
5. Batch Loader Tool
6. Handles Server (CNRI)
7. Goggle Indexing and Exposure
8. SRU / SRW Support
9. VITAL architecture overview

VITAL is part of creative development of ARROW institutional repositories. VITAL has the following
feature:

1. Inclusion of multimedia and creative works produced in Australian universities

2. Limited exposure nationally or internationally
3. Addition of annotation capability
4. Inclusion of datasets and other research output not easily provided in any other publishing
channel
5. Being developed in conjunction with the DART (ARCHER) Project
6. Exploration of the research -teaching nexus tools that will allow value added services for
repositories
7. Integration with or development of new tools that will allow value added services for repositories
(for instance the creation of e -portfolios or CVs of research output of individual academics)

PILIN – Persistent Identifiers and Linking Infrastructure

There has been a growing realisation that sustainable identifier infrastru cture is required to deal with
the vast amount of digital assets being produced and stored within universities.
PILIN is a particular challenge for e -research communities where massive amounts of data are being
generated without any means of managing this data over any length of time. The broad objectives
are to:
1. Support adoption and use of persistent identifiers and shared persistent identifier management
services by the project stakeholders
2. Plan for a sustainable, shared identifier management infr astructure that enables persistence of
identifiers and associated services over archival lengths of time
3. Deploy a Worldwide Site Consolidation Solution for Exchange Server 2003 at Microsoft
4. Add Picture
5. Use Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to consol idate more than 70 messaging sites worldwide into
seven physical locations

Microsoft Model Enterprises (MME)

Objectives

· Maximising the number of management tasks performed centrally

· Decreasing the number of sites through the consolidation of the smaller locations into a smaller
number of RDCs
· Reducing the total number of infrastructure and application servers
· Standardising infrastructure and devices worldwide

Business Benefits

· Four percent overall direct cost savings

· Key enabler of the Microsoft ME initiative, which through fiscal year 2003 has produced millions in
overall consolidation savings including USE

IT Benefits
· Improved server utilisation
· Improved server management
· Strengthened security
· Increased reliability

MBA-II | Subject code: MB0048 Page 12 of 14

Q. No 6. Show your understanding of the use of MS project software.
Answer: Microsoft Project is the world's most popular project management software developed and
sold by Microsoft.

The application is designed to assist project managers in developing plans, assi gning resources to
tasks, tracking progress, managing budgets and analysing workloads.
Microsoft Project creates critical path schedules, although critical chain third -party add-ons are
available from ProChain and Spherical Angle. Schedules can be resource levelled. The chain is
visualised in a Gantt chart.

In general, the PMO is the central organisation that is staffed with skilled delivery Project Managers
providing oversight and leadership services during the planning and execution of the projects within
an organisation. Whether all projects go through the PMO or just the most visible or the projects with
budgets higher than 'x' dollars, that's up to the individual organisation.
The main tasks of the PMO and the PM in preparation for and during an engagem ent are:

• Project Planning
• Project Scheduling
• Risk Analysis
• Project Tracking
Project Planning
• May be undertaken by another entity, senior leadership or Sales, but I fully believe that the
PMO and the assigned PM should be an integral part of this proce ss. Sadly, that is not always
the case. Project Planning involves the estimation of the size of the project and the
timeframe and resources it will demand. The outcome of the Project Planning activities are
usually a price to the customer and a project tha t is ready to be kicked off.
Project Scheduling
The act of project scheduling, or creating a detailed project timeline, may actually initially take
place during the sales process as a way to show the customer that the organisation understands the
undertaking and has the resources and the timeframe to perform the work. This is another reason
why PM involvement in the sales process is critical. In simple terms, Project Scheduling is the act of
breaking the project down into detailed tasks, mapping them out wi th a project -scheduling tool
such as ProjectOffice.net or MS Project and setting milestones and performance indicators.
Risk Analysis
Risk Analysis should be performed by the PM team, lead by the Project Manager, and preferably
with solid input, if not out right involvement from, the customer side project team. Risk Analysis is the
act of identify potential project risks based on known and anticipated factors, weighing their
probabilities, identifying possible risk mitigation actions, and putting them into s ome device or
spreadsheet for on -going tracking purposes.
Project Tracking
Project Tracking becomes the sole responsibility of the Project Manager. This involves on -going
weekly status reporting, leadership of weekly status meetings, monitoring and revisin g the detailed
project schedule/plan, monitoring the team's execution against it, and all the necessary
communication that makes those tasks possible.
All successful PMOs feature four basic components:

• The right processes.

• The right tools.
• The right peo ple.
• Executive level organisation support.
•
Conclusion
The PMO is more than the staff that performs the project activities of planning, scheduling,
communicating with the customer or ensuring the project delivery. Successful PMOs make an
impact on organi sational success by performing the following tasks:

MBA-II | Subject code: MB0048 Page 13 of 14

 • Aligning project delivery with strategic business goals and priorities.
• Requiring that every project have an effective PM.
• Implementing an appropriate PM methodology.
• Consistent management and oversig ht of the project portfolio.
• Obtaining and maintaining company leadership support.

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