Your organization has just completed the Initiation Process for implementing an Email System Upgrade. It was identified in a recent meeting with management leaders from the Sales, Consulting and IT departments that the current email system is causing significant amount of business interruptions and must be updated immediately. You have been assigned the role of project manager to develop the project schedule and budget. As project manager, you are responsible for implementing and enforcing the project schedule and its estimates, expected costs, and the techniques and methods that will be chosen to execute and control the project. The project is being initiated with the following initial project scope in mind:

• There are five email systems currently being used across twelve departments and offices. These will be replaced and consolidated into one email system.
• New Email Standards and Protocols will be established and training provided to all departments.
• All 2000 current email users will be converted to the new system, and 500 new users that did not have email before will be added.
• Users will have both LAN and remote access to email.
• Help desk and support infrastructure will be set-up to accommodate the new system.
• Equipment will be salvaged.

User PCs will be upgraded to accommodate the new email system.

Reading Assignment

Larson: Ch. 10, 17, 18
Optional: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide)—Sixth Edition: Ch. 11

Part 1

You are working again with your project management e-group, and members are eager to learn how things are faring with your project. Others of the group are at an evaluative stage of their respective projects too, so you will read their work as well.

Respond to the following in the discussion: 500-700 words

• Explain how the Decision Analysis Model may be used in your organization?
• What Evaluation Methods are used in your organization?
• Explain their effectiveness at managing the project management process
• Is your organization using these models effectively, if not why and what would you suggest?

Part 2

Now that you have successfully led this project, you feel that it is the right time to introduce the concept of quality management and its application to the project management processes, especially that in your last meeting with the CIO he informed you of how much it had cost the company to rework some work elements in a previous project. Prepare a short report to the CIO outlining the key concepts of quality management strategies and how they impact your project. Explain how you plan to manage and control quality for your project deliverables.

Assignment Guidelines:

• In 850–1,200 words, address the following:
  • How do you plan to manage quality on your project?
  • What are ways in which to improve quality?
  • Examine 2–3 quality management/project management strategies.
    • What are the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy?
    • When should each strategy be used?
  • How can you leverage work done by other researchers with regard to quality management strategies?
  • How can you build a standard to be used in future phases of the quality initiative so that other project managers follow your approach to quality management?
    • How will this standard affect future projects in terms of efficiency and staff involvement? Explain.
    • What barriers might have to be overcome when establishing this standard? Why?