Info Sec Project Management

Course Learning Objectives:

1- Demonstrate preparedness for executing and leading projects
2- Evaluate Business requirements and Business case.

Theoretical Background:

A project management office, abbreviated to PMO, is a group or department within a business, agency or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the organization. The PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects. The PMO is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the practice of project management and execution.

PMOs may take other functions beyond standards and methodology, and participate in Strategic project management either as facilitator or actively as owner of the Portfolio Management process. Tasks may include monitoring and reporting on active projects and portfolios (following up project until completion), and reporting progress to top management for strategic decisions on what projects to continue or cancel.

The degree of control and influence that PMOs have on projects depend on the type of PMO structure within the enterprise; it can be:

• Supportive, with a consultative role
• Controlling, by requiring compliance for example
• Directive, by taking control and managing the projects

A business case captures the reasoning for initiating a project or task. It is often presented in a well-structured written document, but may also sometimes come in the form of a short verbal argument or presentation. The logic of the business case is that, whenever resources such as money or effort are consumed, they should be in support of a specific business need. An example could be that a software upgrade might improve system performance, but the "business case" is that better performance would improve customer satisfaction, require less task processing time, or reduce system maintenance costs. A compelling business case adequately captures both the quantifiable and non-quantifiable characteristics of a proposed project. Business case depends on business attitude and business volume.

Business cases can range from comprehensive and highly structured, as required by formal project management methodologies, to informal and brief. Information included in a formal business case could be the background of the project, the expected business benefits, the options considered (with reasons for rejecting or carrying forward each option), the expected costs of the project, a gap analysis and the expected risks. Consideration should also be given to the option of doing nothing including the costs and risks of inactivity. From this information, the justification for the project is derived. Note that it is not the job of the project manager to build the business case, this task is usually the responsibility of stakeholders and sponsors.

Scenario: Working as a Project Manager with MNZ LLC you have been assigned a new project to install system/service in the organization to assist the users to perform their business operations effectively. To create and implement this new set of systems/services you have to apply the project management practices. Prepare a plan to implement the new systems/services in your organization

Task:

1) Prepare a Project Management plan for this project. This should include components from the Project Management methodology and supporting charts models like waterfall, spiral etc.

Appendix

Reference sample below:

INTRODUCTION
PURPOSE OF PLAN
BACKGROUND INFORMATION/AVAILABLE ALTERNATIVES
PROJECT APPROACH
PHASE X: SECURE EQUIPMENT
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
BUSINESS GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
SCOPE
SCOPE DEFINITION
ITEMS BEYOND SCOPE
PROJECTED BUDGET
RISK ASSESSMENT
INITIAL PROJECT RISK ASSESSMENT
MILESTONES
ASSUMPTIONS
PROJECT ASSUMPTIONS
CONSTRAINTS
PROJECT CONSTRAINTS
RELATED PROJECTS
CRITICAL PROJECT BARRIERS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACH
PROJECT TIMELINE
PROJECT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
ISSUE MANAGEMENT
COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
ATTACHMENTS/APPENDICES
APPROVALS
SIGN-OFF SHEET.