OMIS 690 Project
Replace Phone system at University x
Background:
the university purchased their own phone system which allows for their own exchange (dedicated prefix 555-731-xxxx) these numbers would be used across the campus (9,000 numbers were given out to desk phones). Over the years, the number of phones decreased. Students were no longer given a phone in their residence halls and the system was upgraded to include IP phones rather than just copper lines. However, copper lines do still exist for fax and Credit Card processing. Today, there are still 5,000 phones deployed across the university to faculty and staff. A recent analysis showed that 75% of these phones only make or receive two calls per month. The estimated cost to the university per phone is $150 per device/month. It is estimated that with the new system, that cost can be brought down to $30 per device/month. Due to the age and the cost associated with this system, the university is looking to modernize the phone system and scale it appropriately, utilizing personal cell phones with a stipend as the alternative. Several vendors responded to the RFP and the university has successfully selected a vendor to implement the new solution.
As a project team, you are to decide how best to implement this system. The goal is to have phones/lines available for critical business functions and understand the need of the university to justify the use of a dedicated phone and number. *Provide any diagrams or data that shows the distribution of any network appliances or other equipment that will be used in the rollout.
Additional things to consider:
· The university employs a service desk
· The university has a dedicated Alumni outreach center
Objective and Deliverables:
· Prepare a team charter
· Prepare a scope statement to include what is in scope and out of scope
· Prepare a solid communication plan –with examples of communication types
· Perform a stakeholder analysis (see chart below for more information)
· Identify, score, and log all Risks and a method of how to handle them (ongoing)
· Create a WBS and identify work packages and tasks including milestones
· Set duration of the tasks based on PERT analysis
· Create a weekly status report on progress
· Document a Change Control process for any changes to scope, budget or time constraints.
· Supply any change documents that were produced from your change process
· Prepare a closing statement once project is complete
· Present the project after close and produce all documentation to the Instructor.
Issues to overcome:
· Several of the staff and faculty are very change resistant.
· There is a feeling among the staff and faculty that communication has been lacking in the past when a change was made to their work environment and they feel that they have no say
· Target of this project is to size the phones appropriately based on use. Determine the acceptable number of calls per phone before the removal of the phone is considered.
Project players:
| Position | Project interest | Time at university | Disposition |
| CIO | Project Executive Sponsor | 3 years | The CIO has worked at several different universities and has implemented this same project at two other institutions. She wants a smooth transition on time and within budget |
| Director of Infrastructure | Project Sponsor | 8 Years | The director of Networking has been at the university for some time and is the service owner of the phone system. He needs to get the system to be the correct size with minimal ongoing support resources needed to run it |
| CFO | Project co-Sponsor | 1 year | Due to continued budget cuts, the CFO wants to reduce the cost of the phone system to the lowest possible level as quickly as possible |
| Service Desk Manager | Stakeholder | 20 years | The SD Manager wants to make sure that there is no interruption in service to the phones at the service desk and is interested in adding features to the system that do not currently exists and are available to purchase, but did not fall under the original cost model. |
| Administrative Assistants | Stakeholder | Between 2-30 years | The administrative Assistants at the university are a close bunch. Several of them have been at the university for decades and feel that they are not viewed as a valued member of the staff. They do a majority of the work for the departments and are set in their ways. Any change to their environment is met with hostility |
| College Deans | Stakeholder | Variable | The college Deans are more focused on their colleges rather that what is happening on the IT side. They meet once a month and discuss university business. They often feel that they have no say in IT changes affecting their colleges. They all have their own IT person who works for the college. However not all communication about IT flows from Central IT to the colleges. |
| Distributed IT | Stakeholder | 1-25 years | The distributed IT people across the university do not report directly to central IT. The College they work for employs them. However central and distributed IT meet once a month to discuss potential changes and there is a list serve that is used to communicate to the distributed IT professionals. In all, distributed IT likes to do things their own way with very little oversite from central IT. This includes communication and support. |
