Project Cost Management

Harold Johnson is worried about the cost, so he has asked you to review the existing cost estimate to get a solid cost baseline to evaluate performance. Recall that your budget goal is $500,000 for the six-month project. Also, remember from previous projects that even though Code Corp. is a very reliable company, you need to work closely with them to ensure all requirements are being integrated into the software and that the project is kept on track. You need to work with DevAn to define and test scanners to ensure the application will be compatible with the devices. You also need to set up contracts with the selected scanner manufacturers to provide the scanners to customers when the remote capture software is implemented.

Tasks

Prepare a one-page cost estimate for the project, similar to the one provided in Figure 7-1 in Chapter 7. Use the WBS you created earlier, modified, if needed, to make sure you are including outsourced hardware and labor costs. Be sure to document assumptions you make in preparing the cost estimate. Assume a labor rate of $60/hour for the project manager and $50/hour for other project team members. Assume twice those numbers for outsourced labor.

Using the cost estimate you created above, prepare a cost baseline by allocating the costs by WBS for each month of the project.

You notice that several of the tasks that involve suppliers have taken longer to complete and cost more than planned. You have talked to the people in charge of those areas several times, but everyone says they are doing the best they can. Write a paragraph describing corrective action you could take to address this problem.